TOUGH FIGHT IN TALLADEGA: Kyle Larson secured a fourth-place starting position for Sunday’s 500-mile race at Talladega Superspeedway. The 31-year-old driver scored 12 stage points, earning a third-place finish in the opening stage and a seventh-place run in the second segment. In the final stage, Larson was in contention for his first superspeedway win but was involved in an on-track incident on the final lap that left him with a 15th-place result.
PLAYOFF PERFORMER: Heading into the Round of 12 finale, the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy is now seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series driver points standings, 15 markers above the elimination line. During the 2023 playoffs, Larson holds the best average running position (6.86), along with the most laps run in the top five (1,033) and top 10 (1,270). In the Round of 16, Larson earned the best average finish all-time in the opening round of the elimination playoffs and the second-best average finish through the first three playoff races all-time (2.33).
THE ROAD TO PHOENIX: The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion is no rookie at navigating the playoff road to Phoenix Raceway. Larson has earned a spot in the Cup Series playoffs seven times and won at all five of the remaining tracks in the playoffs: the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix.
READY FOR THE ROVAL: This weekend, NASCAR returns to the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Larson has had past success at the 2.32-mile course. In his championship-winning year of 2021, Larson overcame early adversity to take the No. 5 team to victory lane in the 109-lap road course race. In his four starts at this track, Larson has led the third-most laps (60) behind Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott (94) and William Byron (80).
ROAD COURSE RANKS: Larson has the third-most wins (four) on road courses among all Hendrick Motorsports drivers. He trails team vice chairman and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon (nine) and Elliott (seven). Larson’s road course wins have come at the Charlotte ROVAL, Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International. He is tied for third on the active list of drivers with victories on serpentine tracks. In 2021, the Elk Grove, California, native became the first and only driver to win three road course races in one season.
IN 2023: This season, Larson has led the most laps (898) and is tied for the most top-five finishes (13). He is in a four-way tie for fourth in top-10 finishes (15), has the third-most laps run in the top five (3,217), the second-most laps run in the top 10 (4,793) and holds the third-best average running position (11.30). He also ranks second-best on restarts, based on data from Racing Insights.
POWER OF THE PIT CREW: The No. 5 HendrickCars.com pit crew has the second-fastest average four-tire pit stop time of the season at 11.145 seconds. The group has two of the nine fastest four-tire pit stops this year. The team’s five-man pit 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).
SEEING DOUBLE: Keep your eyes peeled in the fan zone this Sunday for a special Hendrick 1100 display celebrating Larson’s attempt to run the “double” in 2024. The collaborative HendrickCars.com paint schemes for both the Coca-Cola 600 in the Cup Series and the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar race were revealed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August. Fans can see the blue and papaya-colored schemes for themselves near the Chevy display on race day when the midway opens at 9 a.m. ET. View the livery for each car here.
HENDRICKCARS.COM IS HOME: The greater Charlotte area is home to 25 Hendrick Automotive Group dealerships. This Sunday’s race at the ROVAL marks the last home race for the HendrickCars.com team this season. Respectively, the No. 5 driver and crew can be found in their white firesuits 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 on 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 Charlote-themed hat will be revealed Thursday and can be seen here.
WIN A CHEVROLET COLORADO Z71: Want to drive Larson’s 2023 Chevrolet Colorado truck? One lucky winner will win his ride. Fans can donate now to enter a drawing for a chance to take home the Z71 Crew Cab 4WD package with custom features and styling. This special sweepstakes raises funding for the Kyle Larson Foundation’s “DRIVE FOR 5” campaign that supports youth, families and communities in need. The campaign is nearing its fundraising goal of $500,000. Click here to check out this sweet custom ride and enter to win today. The drawing closes on Sunday, Dec. 3, and the winner will be chosen on Monday, Dec. 11.
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on racing at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL: "I like the (Charlotte Motor Speedway) ROVAL, I think it's fun. It’s a sketchy cut off race. I feel like I’ve gotten caught up in more messes there than I have clean finishes. We did win there a couple of years ago (2021), so I know we can have a good run again this weekend. We have just got to execute a little bit better than I did last year and try not to crash to make it to the next round."
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the team's outlook as it looks to advance to the Round of 8: “We’re going to look at everything we possibly can to make sure that we get the right number of points in the bank to transfer out of this round (of 12), which of course is very important to us. We also want to make sure we have a fast enough car and try to strategize ourselves correctly to get a great finish. We’ve learned a lot this year with road courses and improved our package a good bit. Hopefully, we’ve got a good car and make the right adjustments. There’s so many different things that can play out here with strategy. We’ve got to be smart and know what our objectives are to get the points that we need to transfer (to the Round of 8)."
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