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NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 Practice & Qualifying Aug 31, 2024 Darlington, South Carolina, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson 5 sits by his car prior to practice during practice for the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Darlington Darlington Raceway South Carolina USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJasenxVinlovex 20240831_bv1_JFV_020
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NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 Practice & Qualifying Aug 31, 2024 Darlington, South Carolina, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson 5 sits by his car prior to practice during practice for the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Darlington Darlington Raceway South Carolina USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJasenxVinlovex 20240831_bv1_JFV_020
The achievements of Hendrick Motorsports are coveted by any team. Holding 15 Cup Series championships since 1984, every team member is aware of the dizzying level of success. Presently, a lot of the focus is on the No. 5 team, which is coming off a fresh title in 2025. However, what sustains this particular team’s excellence is not a single person but the entire team, as Kyle Larson’s close aide reminded recently.
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A good camaraderie in Kyle Larson’s fold
“It’s something that I didn’t realise really until kind of after some of the celebrations were over with, and actually talked to my wife about this for a long time. The first one was almost a little bit selfish for me of, you know, the validation of having the accomplishment. And now that it’s been several years since the first one, we have new team members now and just a different perspective of life for me,” HMS No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels told Kelly Crandall recently.
In April 2025, Kyle Larson‘s team had a big crew overhaul. Besides the fueler, most of the crew people were brought over from Spire Motorsports. This decision was crucial in pushing the No. 5 team to championship glory by year’s end. And when victory was theirs, Cliff Daniels was ecstatic to watch his team members rejoice, appreciating their teamwork instead of crediting his own late-race pit call at Phoenix that landed Larson with the championship.
Cliff Daniels shares what it’s like to be a two-time Cup Series champion crew chief, and how he embraced a different feeling for it this time around and celebration: pic.twitter.com/Lgma0y6xDZ
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) January 30, 2026
“This one was way more about the team and especially some of the new guys than it had anything to do with my accomplishment as a crew chief. I was so proud of the new people on our team and even the guys on our team that were able to be part of it again, and just the journey and the growth of that. That was a cool moment for me to kind of step back and watch some of the guys celebrate either for the first time or for many times,” Cliff Daniels continued.
Ahead of NASCAR’s 2026 season-opening Clash race at the Bowman Gray Stadium, Kyle Larson’s fold is again revamping itself. As reported by Bozi Tatarevic, Cliff Daniels has kept the crew mostly the same. However, war room engineer Nathan Woodby will attend the Cook Out Clash in an on-site engineering capacity. With a fresh year ahead, the two-time championship-winning team is looking ahead again.
“You got to turn the page and get going again,” Daniels said. “There’s a whole new set of challenges to go get this year, and we’re looking forward to it.”
And part of the excitement for 2026 lies in NASCAR’s updated championship format.
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A dialled-up expectation
The biggest anticipation for the 2026 season is probably the elimination of the ‘elimination’ format. Denny Hamlin‘s heartbreaking loss of the 2025 title to Kyle Larson was the final nail in its coffin. Now, NASCAR is moving ahead with a ‘Chase’ style format – and Larson is no less excited. Under the older ‘Chase’ format from 2004 to 2014, HMS fetched seven championships. And considering the focus on consistency in last season, Cliff Daniels believes in Larson’s heightened chances.
“Thinking back to our season in 2025, a lot of what kept us in the hunt for the regular-season title fight was the fact that we had some really good races going until a mechanical failure or a late crash, where we did score a lot of stage points, and that kind of kept us in the hunt,” Daniels said.
Back in 2024, Kyle Larson won 6 races, the highest of any driver that season. Yet he also succumbed to defeat under the elimination-style playoffs as Joey Logano won the title with the worst average finish.
“So we’ve lived it a little bit. We’ve seen it,” Cliff Daniels continued. “And now, of course, it’s going to be more of a highlight of that, where you’ve got to be there during the stages and put a whole race together. I think it’s going to benefit our team, and we’ve just got to make sure that how we strategize our races, how we execute, that we’re getting those points along the way.”
With a whole new season of opportunities ahead, the sky is the limit for Kyle Larson and his team. We can only wait for their magic to unfold.
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