Rick Hendrick gambled on youth, including Kyle Larson, and it's paying off
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
CONCORD, N.C. – Rick Hendrick couldn’t escape the irony as he watched Kyle Larson earn the record-breaking 269th Cup victory for Hendrick Motorsports.
"It was kind of neat," Hendrick said Sunday night. "I want any one of them to win, but the first one was five, and this one was the No. 5."
From the first win in 1984, when Geoff Bodine kept the doors open by wheeling the No. 5 to victory lane at Martinsville, Hendrick has seen drivers thrive when he has taken risks and some wondered whether he was making the right move.
He won races and championships with multiple drivers on his team, becoming one of the first car owners to combine economies of scale and intrateam rivalries into trophies.
One of his most recent risks was the hiring of Larson, who was suspended for much of the 2020 season after he used a racial slur during an online racing chat that he thought was on a private channel.
Hendrick knew Larson was a generational talent, but he also knew he would have to bankroll the car through his companies as Larson repairs his reputation. Winning would be absolutely necessary, and Larson, who had six wins in 223 starts while at Chip Ganassi Racing, had not answered the question of whether he could match his stellar sprint-car racing exploits in a stock car.
Now, with two wins in 15 starts for Hendrick, as well as eight top-5s and 10 top-10s, Larson could follow the footsteps of Hendrick superstars Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.
"I've been really blessed, if you look at everybody that's won a race with us, from Bodine to Tim Richmond to [Darrell] Waltrip," Hendrick said. "You can look at Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, with seven championships. All of them have unique features.
"I think Kyle is going to win a lot of races."
That is, if he can outrun his own teammates. Chase Elliott already has a title, William Byron is enjoying a career year, and Alex Bowman continues to be steady. None of them is more than 28 years old.
While Larson dominated the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, three of the four drivers who followed him across the finish line were his teammates.
"We're all just trying to maximize the opportunities," Elliott said. "This is a sport that comes in waves. It's a roller coaster. There's going to be good times. There's going to be bad times.
"I hope we're always this good and always this competitive, but I think the law of averages would tell you that that's not going to last forever. ... We've got to push because May isn't when we hand out the big trophy. We need to make sure we're on our game when it counts."
Larson never seems to notice when it counts. He just goes and races. His crew chief, Cliff Daniels, said Larson is so used to studying how dirt tracks change that Daniels feeds him piles of information on how an upcoming track could change during an event. It’s a natural ability for Larson that many drivers don’t have.
Having driven at Hendrick for just four months, Larson sees why he has had success so quickly (beyond his talent).
"They put a level of effort into everything and pride in everything," Larson said of Hendrick. "That's why I don't think it's a surprise to anybody that our cars are this good.
"He's built such an amazing empire, and everybody there loves to work there, too. I think that's the most important thing. They all respect him ... and love to work for him and want to do a good job for him that results follow."
It also is no surprise that Larson has pushed his teammates, as Hendrick is already one win shy of its 2020 total of seven wins (five by Elliott, who won the championship).
"They’ve certainly gone to work and done their homework," two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch said. "They’ve also plugged in a superstar driver to one of their cars. Chase is no slouch. William is really good.
"But Kyle is arguably one of the best."
Only time will tell if that will cease to be an argument – if Larson will start piling up not just race trophies but also championship trophies. He delivered what likely will be considered one of Hendrick’s most iconic moments.
"You see him in sprint cars and midgets and everything else ... he wants to win," Hendrick said. "He's super dedicated. He's all business. Yeah, he's just got a tremendous amount of talent.
"Cliff has got a lot of talent, and the chemistry there has been much better and quicker than I thought it could be. I just see great things between those two the rest of this year and into the future."
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Hendrick might have wondered if he did the right thing in packing his stable with young drivers following the retirements of Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson over the past several years.
Larson was another instance of proving Hendrick right.
"Chase is already a champion," Hendrick said. "I'm really excited about how William is running every single week, and Alex, too.
"It's like having a bunch of kids. You love them all the same. It's just each one of them has different strengths and characteristics, but at the end of the day, they work well together."
Thinking out loud
While the 600-mile race at Charlotte is the longest of the season, it shouldn’t be worth more than other races. Charlotte, though, is more important than any other race because it has four stages, and, therefore, drivers can earn a maximum of 70 points instead of 60 points.
NASCAR wants to have the stage breaks to help bunch up the field and not allow the cars to get too strung out throughout the event, especially late in the event.
For a driver who struggles at Charlotte, the result can sting more. For a driver who dominates, such as Larson did in winning the maximum 70 points, is it really fair to a driver who dominates another race that isn’t as long?
Social spotlight
Stat of note
Twenty drivers – and 26 crew chiefs – have won Cup races for Hendrick Motorsports.
They said it
"Everything about the compound there at Hendrick Motorsports just down the street is perfect. Everything down to the way they mow the lawn. It looks amazing." – 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!
