DARLINGTON DUB: Kyle Larson started last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway from the 18th position in the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and wasted no time moving up through the field. He was in the top 10 by lap 27, finished the opening 115-lap stage in third and came in second in stage two. Prior to a caution on lap 311, Larson was maintaining a top-five position. Following a 10.110-second stop from the No. 5 pit crew, he earned the lead off pit road. From there, he led the final 55 laps and held off challenges on multiple restarts to earn the 299th Cup Series victory for Hendrick Motorsports.
EXTRA SPECIAL: Larson’s success in the opening race of the 2023 Cup Series playoffs locked him into the Round of 12 and earned the Hendrick Motorsports engine department its 500th NASCAR national series win. The victory is Larson and crew chief Cliff Daniels’ first Cup Series win at the prestigious South Carolina track. The 31-year-old’s victory at the track "Too Tough to Tame" tied him with Terry Labonte with 22 Cup Series career wins. Labonte’s 22nd win came 20 years ago at Darlington and was also in the Southern 500 in the No. 5.
PLAYOFF STANDINGS: With the win at Darlington, the Elk Grove, California, native gained five playoff points to give him 22 to carry into the next round. In the driver point standings, Larson ranks second (2,074), just one point behind leader and teammate William Byron (2,075).
SEASON STATS: In 2023, Larson has scored the most top-five finishes (11) and holds the series’ best average starting position (9.93). He is the second-best driver on restarts, according to data from Racing Insights. In addition, Larson has the third-most laps led (679), is tied for the fourth-most top-10 finishes (13) and holds the fourth-best average running position (11.99). The driver of the No. 5 ranks fourth in both laps run in the top five (2,473) and top 10 (3,851).
100 WITH HENDRICK: Larson’s start on Sunday at Kansas Speedway will be his 100th Cup Series race with Hendrick Motorsports. He has a 16% winning percentage (16 wins in 99 starts) with the Rick Hendrick-owned organization. The 2021 Cup Series champion has the most wins before his 100th start for the storied organization and he ranks fourth on the team’s overall win list.
COMING BACK TO KANSAS: During this year’s spring race at Kansas, Larson was leading with one lap to go in the 400-mile race when contact with another competitor on the back straightaway sent the No. 5 entry into the outside wall. Despite that, Larson was still able to post a second-place finish. The 1.5-mile intermediate oval has historically been a strong track for Larson. In his 17 starts at the Sunflower state track, he has one win (in 2021), six top-five finishes, nine top-10s and 540 laps led. Three of those top-five finishes have come in Larson’s five starts at the track with Hendrick Motorsports.
LEADING LAPS: Since the start of 2021, only five drivers have led at least 100 laps at the Kansas City venue. Larson leads the pack, pacing the field for 376 laps. When ranking his most laps led by track, Kansas stands fourth on the list (540) behind Dover Motor Speedway (899), Bristol Motor Speedway (850) and Darlington (770).
HOT AT 1.5-MILE TRACKS: In 19 starts on 1.5-mile tracks with Hendrick Motorsports, Larson leads the series in wins (five), runner-up finishes (five), top-fives (11), stage wins (13), laps led (1,791) and average finish (8.26). His 15 top-10 finishes are tied for the best mark in the series. In the Next Gen era (since 2022), Larson has scored the third-most points (366). Note: Races at Atlanta Motor Speedway since 2022 are excluded in this count of 1.5-mile tracks.
FOUR TIRES FAST: The No. 5 HendrickCars.com pit crew has the fourth-fastest average four-tire stop time of 11.244 seconds. Their four-tire stop of 9.281 seconds on lap 93 in June's race at Nashville Superspeedway is the fourth-fastest four-tire stop of the season. The team’s five-man over-the-wall crew consists of Blaine Anderson (front-tire changer), R.J. Barnette (tire carrier), Brandon Harder (fueler), Brandon Johnson (jackman) and Calvin Teague (rear-tire changer).
HENDRICKCARS.COM IS HOME: The Kansas playoff race marks the 11th home race for the HendrickCars.com team this season. Kansas is home to five Hendrick Automotive Group dealerships. Respectively, the No. 5 driver and crew can be found in their white fire suits this weekend. For every HendrickCars.com home race this season (15 total) there is a unique hat, released the week of the race and only available for sale at the trackside merchandise haulers or available to win on HendrickCars.com. Less than 100 of each limited-edition hat will be made available to the public. This week’s Kansas hat will be revealed Thursday and can be viewed here.
RECOGNIZING A CANCER HERO: This weekend, the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation and The NASCAR Foundation Honor a Cancer Hero initiative will take place at Kansas. Last year’s program generated over $110,000 for the cause. The No. 5 team is honoring Stephanie Kearns, a breast cancer survivor, wife, mother of two and Anaheim, California, native. Kearns’ favorite NASCAR driver is Larson and she is a long-time fan of Hendrick Motorsports. Kearns’ name will be displayed over the driver-side door in place of Larson’s to honor her brave battle.
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his focus for the rest of the Round of 12: "I would say leading into the playoffs I had really no confidence in myself. I think having a good run at Darlington (Raceway) helps but it’s only one weekend. I’m not going to get too far ahead of myself. I want to focus on putting some solid weeks together. I know we are capable of it. We’ve done it before. I just want to remind myself that I can do it consistently and I know that we can do it consistently. There are some good tracks for us coming up and hopefully we can get that confidence up and build some momentum. We got off to a good start. I hope we can keep it rolling here at Kansas (Speedway)."
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the No. 5 team's task for the rest of the Round of 12: "It was such a special moment to get the win (at Darlington Raceway). I think all of us would want to spend a little more time enjoying it. As grateful as we are to have had the day that we did (last) Sunday, that’s the nature of the playoffs and we are really eyes forward to making sure we take advantage of the next nine weeks. Our work is not done. We still have a few points in Kansas and (at) Bristol (Motor Speedway) that we need to go get. We need to put our best foot forward and we’ve got to keep doing that for the next nine weeks. The job is far from complete."
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