By james art
JENNA FRYER Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There’s a tradition at Hendrick Motorsports where a driver celebrates a victory with a victory bell that he carries around the motorsports campus so that every employee who contributed to the victory has a chance to ring it.
Kyle Larson performed the ceremony for his dominant win at Bristol Motor Speedway on a recent fall day. He joined crew chief Cliff Daniels and Jeff Gordon, vice president of Hendrick Motorsports, as employees lined up in the fabrication shop, then the engine department and finally the gift shop to pull the long string and make the bell ring again for Larson.
The bell, stopped at the thrift store, was heard—there just happened to be a Hendrick Automotive Group summit taking place in another building on the sprawling campus—and when Gordon saw young fans shopping, he called for them to ring the bell, too.
The trio then headed to the leadership meeting, where all they were briefed on was giving a quick talk on the importance of communication to several hundred dealer executives. Larson received a standing ovation when he entered the huge hall, and one director even stood up and loudly rang two smaller bells placed on the table.
That feat was the 22nd win since Larson joined Hendrick in 2021, and he added another four days later when he won at Charlotte Motor Speedway. As the trio sat in director’s chairs in front of the crowd, Gordon noted that although Larson had only been with the team for four seasons, he couldn’t recall a time when Larson hadn’t driven for Hendrick.
That’s how quickly Larson found a second home after more than seven seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing, which took him out of sprint car racing and gave him a shot at NASCAR. Larson was fired in the early days of the pandemic when racers turned to iRacing to entertain fans and Larson used a racial slur during a late-night session.
Ganassi did not want to lose his budding superstar, but pressure from sponsors to cut ties prevailed and Larson was suspended by NASCAR for the remainder of the season. After it was rebuilt, Rick Hendrick grabbed him, paired him with Daniels in the No. 5 Chevrolet, and the team never looked back.
They broke all kinds of records in their first season with 10 wins and Larson’s first title. Daniels’ communication and no-nonsense approach — he’s as intensely connected as Hendrick’s Hall of Fame crew boss Chad Knaus, who led Jimmie Johnson to a record seven titles — made this such a winning pairing.
“For us, like any relationship, it’s always evolving. I was very grateful for the opportunity to be with Kyle, to be in this position with Team 5,” Daniels said. “There are so many core values that we hold on our team to take care of each other, to have a relationship, to have communication across the team.
“Of course, it has to be with me and Kyle, and on race day and trusting each other to do our jobs in the moment, making calls and knowing that we’re going to have to ride some peaks together and falls. “
And now Larson and Daniels are fighting to save their season despite the six Cup-leading wins. Hendrick Motorsports initially fielded all four of its cars in the round of 16 — Alex Bowman was disqualified for failing post-race inspection in the Charlotte elimination race won by Larson — but the three who advanced have yet to earn a spot in next week’s winner-takes-all the title final at Phoenix Raceway.
Larson may need one more win and one more bell-ringing ceremony to compete for a second title. Joey Logano, the driver who replaced Bowman in the Round of 16, and Tyler Reddick earned two of the spots. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Larson teammate William Byron head to Martinsville Speedway over the line to qualify for the remaining two slots.
Larson goes to Martinsville below the finish line, seven points behind Byron. He and Byron both reached the final four last year, but were beaten by Ryan Blaney, and Larson was the runner-up in the rankings.
He doesn’t exactly need to win Sunday in Virginia to advance, but it’s his only guaranteed path. Larson would need misfortune to beat either Bell or Byron to advance without winning the race.
It’s been a roller-coaster season for Larson despite the six wins: Larson has finished 30th or worse six times, hasn’t had more than two consecutive top-10 finishes this season and lost the regular-season championship by one point. after missing the Coca-Cola 600 when rain interrupted his day at the Indianapolis 500.
But in the playoffs, he won the elimination race in each of the first two rounds.
“I’m proud of our team for how we bounced back through so much adversity in these playoffs,” Larson said. “I think there probably hasn’t been a team that has worked as hard as we have and been able to continue to push for a place in the final four.”