BRISTOL, Tenn. — A week after Kyle Larson spent most of the race in the garage at Darlington, he spent most of the race in the lead at Bristol en route to his second victory of the season.
Both races may prove critical in Larson’s bid for a second Cup title and Hendrick Motorsports’ quest for its first Cup championship in four seasons — a drought for NASCAR’s most successful organization.
A week ago, Larson’s mistake sent his No. 5 car into the wall less five laps into the race. He spent more than 160 laps in the garage as his team made repairs. Larson only gained one position — going from 38th to 37th — but there was more that crew chief Cliff Daniels and the team got from the experience.
“There are so many valuable things that we took away just from a process standpoint and even working with NASCAR,” Daniels said. “Something I will highlight is how keen they were on us rebuilding the car with all the proper safety aspects still in the car. Daggone it, if we didn't hit the wall again in the same spot, and the car was safe, and all those things were done.
“It was two-fold, and a team exercise of getting a car that was put together well, back on track that we could go work on performance.”
Sunday at Bristol, Larson led 411 of 500 laps to score his second consecutive victory at this high-banked half-mile track.
“ … To make a deep run in the playoffs, you have to know how to push that edge of your team to go do the execution items to qualify well, to pit from the front, to keep it up front, Kyle managing the lanes as the leader, restarts, communication, timing,” Daniels said. “A lot of those things are just vital components.”
But work remains for Larson’s team — and those of his teammates at Hendrick Motorsports — to give the organization its first title since Larson won the 2021 crown. Only once since 1995 has Hendrick Motorsports gone four consecutive years without winning the Cup crown.
“We have high standards,” said Jeff Gordon, chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. “So it's been nice. And I think we've been happy (with performances this year). But no, we're definitely not satisfied. … I think we're still behind when it comes to ...
