“Maybe I’ve hit stuff enough, I have a short memory.” Kyle Larson’s words after clinching the AdventHealth 400 race show the ultimate approach that a winner can have. The Hendrick Motorsports star has weathered many storms in his career. From getting multiple suspensions in 2020 to missing the Championship 4 race in 2024 despite being the win leader, Larson has had a rough journey. But what matters is how he handles it – forgetting the past and looking ahead.

That is how he tackled Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. Kyle Larson put up a jaw-dropping performance of leading 221 of 267 laps while sweeping all three stages. The fact that this victory came after some crippling setbacks is astounding – but an HMS executive explained it perfectly.

Kyle Larson carries the spirit of his team

Well, Rick Hendrick’s ‘golden boy’ faced on-track trouble for the past two weeks. Preparations for the Double are in full swing in Kyle Larson’s fold, and the star is also gearing up. But during a test for the Indianapolis 500 on 24th April, Larson hit the wall in his first full lap. This crash occurred when Larson maneuvered the IndyCar vehicle for the first time after 11 months. It was hardly the end of Larson’s troubles. In a sprint car race at Lakeside Speedway on Friday, Larson crashed along with his brother-in-law, Brad Sweet, and Kerry Madsen. Then on Saturday, he scrubbed the outside retaining wall through Turns 3 and 4 during Cup Series practice. His No. 5 Chevrolet registered a minor right-side scrape.

Despite this mishap, Kyle Larson topped speeds in pole qualifying, taking the No. 1 starting spot. Then, of course, Larson went on to win the race in Kansas. This tendency to immediately jump back on the glorious bandwagon might seem impossible to people. In a post-race presser, HMS Vice President of Competition Chad Knaus explained Larson’s approach. He showed how Larson’s entry in HMS has been a blessed incident. “A very short memory is all I can think. He just goes and goes and goes. The thing that I’ve always been impressed with Kyle, since he showed up at Hendrick Motorsports, is that he is unfazed. Like nothing really gets under his skin. He doesn’t get wound up. He doesn’t get emotional about, maybe, something that happens on the racetrack.”

Along with his IndyCar and sprint car ventures, Kyle Larson also appeared in Xfinity and Trucks. The HMS star won two Xfinity trophies (Bristol, Texas) and one Truck Series victory in Homestead. So Chad Knaus continued that this indomitable love for racing is what drives Larson out of brooding over his failures. It is also what drives excellence in Hendrick Motorsports overall: “Talking about the Truck race, he’s like, ‘Well. Didn’t have anything else to do, so I figured I would drive it.’ Its just that’s the way he is. He loves driving race cars and he loves competing, and that’s pretty special. When you have a young man that talented that wants to drive all the time, you need to let him do it.”

While there is no dearth of appreciation for Kyle Larson, there is also no doubt about his team. After all, the crew chief allows his driver to realize his potential to the best.

Hailing his partner on the track

Wherever Kyle Larson goes, he spills gold. But wherever he goes, his team also performs. The talented Paul Silva spearheads his Sprint Car program. Larson also has no shortage of brilliant talents around him in the McLaren Racing IndyCar paddock. But more importantly, his full-time job partner spends the maximum time with him and influences all his racing. The No. 5 Chevy crew chief, Cliff Daniels, engineers all of his Cup Series success. Daniels is a former Late Model Stock driver turned engineer. So his passion for racing is something that he shares deeply with Larson. The latter achieved the mark of 10,000 laps led shortly after the end of stage 2 during the Kansas race. Notably, Larson led 6,860 of those laps with Daniels, who also helped him fetch 26 Cup Series trophies and the 2021 championship.

So after clinching his 32nd Cup Series race victory, Kyle Larson hailed his crew chief. He said, “Yeah, I think the only thing I would add would be that we both just have a lot of trust in each other. I trust that nobody works harder than Cliff and the 5 team, and I think he knows that although I’m not at the shop all the time, that’s me — he’s trusting me that I’m working to be the best race car driver I can be. Allowing me to go race all the time and be as crazy busy as I am is only going to benefit us on the weekends. Yeah, it’s been pretty amazing since 2021 and joining the 5 team all the success we’ve had and all of that.”

Clearly, Kyle Larson and his team are propelling HMS to the pinnacle of NASCAR success. As the 2025 season rolls forward, let us see what further magic they can conjure.