Kyle Larson's journey to 2021 championship started in Hendrick war room
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Larson had already signed with Hendrick Motorsports about 10 days prior to the 2020 season finale.
But it was that event that truly started his path to the 2021 Cup title.
Banished from the racetrack because of a suspension for use of a racial slur during what he thought was a private chat while racing online in April 2020, Larson watched the 2020 championship race from the Hendrick Motorsports war room.
Drivers rarely get that level of insight into the operations of their organization during a race; they're typically behind the wheel of a car. Larson used the opportunity to see the resources of Hendrick and how the engineers at the shop have input into adjustments and strategy.
He also got his first taste of Hendrick’s winning pedigree, as the team celebrated Chase Elliott’s title.
"I definitely remember leaving that room that night after Chase won the championship, being way more excited," Larson said. "I was obviously really excited to be back in a Cup car.
"I remember walking out of that room thinking, ‘Wow, I'm racing for the best team. They just won the championship, going into this season.’ I was extremely pumped up for the season to start as soon as Chase won last year."
Larson is probably also pumped for the 2022 season to start. Or maybe he will be in a couple of weeks, after he comes down from the euphoria of a 10-win season, by far the best of his Cup career. Larson won six races in six seasons at Chip Ganassi Racing before his firing and eventual hiring by Hendrick.
At Hendrick, he's found a family atmosphere with much more depth than Ganassi. He was simply thankful for a second chance, but seeing how much Hendrick put into a race event let him know that it was more than just a second chance.
"I got to sit there and watch the race on all the TVs, looking at all the data they had to look at, to relay it to the teams at the track," Larson said. "That was such a unique experience for me to be able to watch it from that side of things. ... I would never know what they do in that room [without being suspended]. I would just hear about it.
"I actually got to see it. You see the excitement in everybody when Chase won. It was really cool."
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The pairing with Hendrick has allowed Larson to use all the tools he needs, both inside and outside the shop. He still goes to Chip Ganassi Racing to work with Josh Wise, who oversees his physical and mental conditioning for events.
Rick Hendrick has relaxed his policy — pretty much scrapped his policy, actually — of not allowing drivers to compete in non-NASCAR racing events, putting aside worries that a driver could get hurt and not be available to race. That allowed Larson to continue to keep his racing skills sharp, even if there is nothing comparable between a dirt sprint car and an asphalt NASCAR stock car.
"You talk to a driver, and you know in his heart that it's really important to him," Hendrick said. "I told him, ‘Look, I don't want you to get hurt.’ He said, ‘It makes me better. It keeps me sharp. ... I think it helps me in the Cup car.’
"So I just agreed to let him do it. Of course you have reservations, but he convinced me he wasn't going to get hurt. I'm going to hold him to that."
And then there’s the Hendrick team Larson worked with all season, led by Cliff Daniels. The uber-intense, incredibly focused crew chief and the extremely talented, never-gets-flustered driver seem to be a match that could have longevity rarely seen in the sport.
FINAL LAPS: Kyle Larson wins NASCAR Cup Series Championship
Prior to winning the championship Sunday, Larson asked Daniels how he slept the night before the big race.
"I was like, ‘Dude, I haven't slept all year [before races],'" Daniels said of the conversation.
Larson had no idea.
"I was just joking with him, like, ‘Man, how did you sleep last night?’" Larson said. "And he's like, ‘I didn't.’ I was like, ‘Really? I slept like a baby’"
The now-championship crew chief has no plans to change his sleep patterns.
"I never sleep the night before a Cup race," Daniels said. "Probably never will. As long as he's my driver, with Kyle Larson as your driver, you're the weak link — not him. That's the way I see it."
Larson, of course, doesn’t think so. He sees plenty of strong links at a place he hopes to remain for years and years.
"If we're winning races and championships in 20 more years, I'll still be doing it," he said.
Thinking out loud
Chip Ganassi seemed at peace with his decision to sell the team as he talked to reporters Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
There wasn’t much fanfare over his leaving, and that probably is the way he wanted it.
His drivers won 24 Cup races in his 22 years of owning cars in NASCAR. He remains a force in both IndyCar and IMSA, and though his NASCAR teams never achieved the consistent success and championships he has won in other forms of racing, his drivers were a factor several times each year.
Ganassi was the only owner who wanted to take a risk on a sprint-car driver named Kyle Larson about 10 years ago. And while Larson never achieved at Ganassi the success that was hoped for, the signing showed that Ganassi was willing to take risks and not follow the norm. That was already evident when he lured Juan Pablo Montoya to try NASCAR after five years in IndyCar and CART and six years in Formula 1.
It's a little sad to know Ganassi won’t be in the NASCAR garage in February, but it was a good run.
Social spotlight
Stat of the day
Kyle Larson is the third driver in the modern era to win the championship in his first season with a new team. The others: Darrell Waltrip with Junior Johnson in 1981 and Kevin Harvick at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.
They said it
"Life is a crazy thing, and you've just got to stay positive through it all, and everything will hopefully work out for you." — Kyle Larson
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
