Kyle Larson’s start, future and undeniable chemistry with Hendrick Motorsports
Despite the “best driver” superlative that many use to refer to him, there was a time when even Kyle Larson struggled to find a ride in NASCAR. He recalled a stretch of meetings with team owners in 2011 in which only one would entertain the idea of signing him to race their car.
That owner was Chip Ganassi, whose last race in NASCAR was the same one Larson won to become a Cup Series champion Sunday. Larson won the title race for Hendrick Motorsports and said that he now jokes with Jeff Gordon, team co-owner and former driver for the organization, about that early meeting.
“I was star-struck a little bit to be at Hendrick Motorsports and getting to be there with Jeff,” Larson said. “I remember him showing me around the shop.”
He recalled bumping into Gordon’s towering model wife, Ingrid Vendebosch, and reflecting on the fact that he was sitting down with Gordon, someone who he’d looked up to since he was a kid driving outlaw karts in Northern California.
But Hendrick had another driver in its pipeline, Chase Elliott, and Larson was dismayed to learn that the powerhouse team frowned upon the dirt racing he loved. It was one of the many disappointing meetings he had over those few days as a teen. He was also facing the economic pitfall of many NASCAR hopefuls.
“They’re just going through the motions: ‘Nice to meet you. You’ve got a cool resume. Yeah, we need a few hundred thousand dollars for you to race our car next year,’ ” Larson said. “I don’t have anybody to bring money. Then, when I met with Chip, I was feeling on top of the world.”
The meeting would launch Larson’s eventual championship career, one which made significant pivots during the last year and a half. He signed a developmental driver contract in 2012 with the team, then called Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, and made his start with a full season in NASCAR’s lower level K&N Pro Series East as a participant in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program. (Larson is Japanese-American.) He became the first program graduate to win a NASCAR Cup championship in 2021.
His first full-time season in the Cup Series came in 2014 racing for Ganassi, where he remained until the spring of last year until he used a racial slur during a virtual racing event that earned him a NASCAR suspension and cost him his sponsorship and job. Larson spent the remainder of the pandemic-afflicted season out of the spotlight and working with communities of color to educate and improve himself while racking up wins across the country in dirt racing events.
As the 2020 season neared its end, discussions with Hendrick Motorsports began about Larson’s potential NASCAR return. Rick Hendrick, team owner of Hendrick Motorsports and friend of Ganassi, was impressed with Larson’s talent behind the wheel despite a reputation that he “couldn’t close” or would run too close to the wall and wreck. The more they interacted, the more Hendrick said that he became comfortable with Larson’s “heart.”
“He’s good people,” Hendrick said. “I knew he had talent, but I didn’t know his soul. He has really impressed me with the individual that he is.”
This season, Larson pledged to contribute $5 for every lap raced and $5,000 for each top-five finish split among three nonprofits he’s connected to: The Urban Youth Racing School, The Sanneh Foundation and Hendrick Cares. After a dominating season, Larson’s pledge totals $145,000.
When he was announced as the future driver of Hendrick’s No. 5 Chevrolet team, the expectation was that Larson would be competitive as a top driver finally seated in top-tier equipment. But no one, not Larson nor Hendrick nor No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels, was expecting the results they’d achieve: Ten wins plus the All-Star Race with five victories in the postseason to tie Tony Stewart’s 2011 record, in which he won half of NASCAR’s playoff events.
“I thought the team would be good, but I had no idea when the season started that we could win 18 races,” Hendrick said of his four-car operation. “And (Larson) could win 10.”
Stewart tweeted that Larson is the “best race car driver (he’s) ever seen” on Sunday. Larson called Stewart his racing hero, and said that he tries to model his own schedule, which includes sprint car, late model and midget races, after the NASCAR Hall of Fame driver.
Those events are seen as extracurriculars to Hendrick Motorsports, which has softened its stance on its drivers participating in outside races during the season. Larson said those races improve his driving. He scored marquee wins at events like the Chili Bowl (Tulsa, Okla.) and Knoxville Nationals this year, and a Cup Series championship was further proof of his talent. It also hints at the success to come for the Hendrick Motorsports group.
Larson and Daniels are only in their first season together as driver and crew chief. Although the industry’s anticipated shift to the Next Gen car next season leaves many questions unanswered about competitive performance, it’s undeniable that Hendrick is firing on all cylinders. A clutch pit stop by his crew practically handed Larson the final win at Phoenix. A divergent call for a pit stop early in the race by Daniels was questioned on the broadcast, but Larson was back into the top five by the end of the first stage. Hendrick’s teams combined led around 45% of the laps during the 2021 season compared to Joe Gibbs Racing’s combined 30% laps led.
“It takes so many people back at the shop at Hendrick Motorsports to get Kyle back after he was out last season,” Daniels said. “There are so many people behind all of this.”
Hendrick is gunning for more wins next year and beyond with a stable of young talent between Larson, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron. The team owner said Sunday that he hopes Larson retires as a Hendrick Motorsports driver.
“I really like our lineup right now,” Hendrick said. “I like just the chemistry between the four drivers. That’s important — that they get along. Of course, they want to beat each other, but I’ve got a lot invested in William. I’ve got a lot invested in Chase, Alex and Kyle. I hope we can keep the band together because we’ve got such a good core working together.”
“I can’t emphasize enough,” Hendrick continued. “You don’t hear any friction between our guys and our crew chiefs. They really work well together.”
Larson said the same, envisioning his future.
“I hope I’m with his organization as long as I want to race Cup cars,” Larson said. “I don’t know how long that is. If we’re winning races and championships in 20 more years, I’ll still be doing it.”
Larson, once a star-struck teenager entering the shop, will make a return trip to North Carolina as the key figure in Hendrick Motorsports’ record 14th Cup Series driver/owner championship. He’ll also return with a title secured and the hope of many more to come.
