September 8, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Resilience of Kyle Larson's team mirrors that of a certain seven-time champion

Kyle Larson’s comeback at Darlington Raceway on Sunday was very reminiscent of another title-winning team at Hendrick Motorsports—the seven-time champion No. 48 squad. 

Over the previous two decades, no crew fought adversity better than the Chad Knaus-led team with Jimmie Johnson behind the wheel.

And from the 2015 season on, Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels had a master class under the direction of Knaus. So when the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team recovered from three laps down after an engine issue, followed by a spin off of Turn 4 and a loose wheel, to finish 12th in the Southern 500, it was almost a deja vu moment for Daniels. 

“Overall, as many teams that had issues, as much chaos as we saw in that race—and especially our own race—to be three laps down at one point, to take the wave-around and then take the wave-around again, spin out and then lucky again, it was a pretty resilient day for us,” Daniels said on SiriusXM Radio on Wednesday. “And we got all we could.”

A 12th-place result will definitely keep the defending champions in the game for the first round of the Playoffs, particularly considering that eight contenders had issues throughout the evening and nine drivers finished behind Larson. But staying in the hunt was the hallmark of the No. 48 team’s success. 

And Daniels, 34, had a front-row seat as the team’s engineer for the 2016 Cup Series championship. In 2019, he moved to the HMS competition systems group before returning to the No. 48 crew in June of 2019. The following month, Daniels was named crew chief for Johnson and remained with the team through the driver’s retirement. 

In 2020, the team was rebranded with Larson behind the wheel. In their first season together, the team won the Cup championship.

“Cliff has had a very competitive upbringing through his childhood; through racing and sports,” Larson said. “And then yes, I think him being with Chad Knaus on the leadership side of it and the crew chief role, I think all of those together has molded him into a great crew chief. 

“I love having him on top of our pit box, especially for situations like we’ve been put in like this past Sunday, as well as what feels like many other times this year and even some races last year with how he keeps everyone calm. He’s very direct with the questions that he asks, the answers that he gives and the picture that he paints.

“I think it’s just the way he’s wired. He’s very good at keeping everyone calm and leading the team; to follow his lead to be focused and not too down or depressed and let your mind wander.”

If Daniels weren't employed as a crew chief, he could easily be a motivational speaker. While Knaus had no trouble rallying his troops, Daniels is a kinder, gentler, and calmer version. His pep talks to Larson are becoming legendary. 

The Coca-Cola 600 was a prime example. Larson started from the rear of the field after wrecking in practice. He was penalized twice on pit road, hit the wall and caught fire all in the first 128 laps. He restarted 30th and described the race as “the worst of my life.” But Daniels coached Larson from 30th to first in 20 laps (during pit stops) to where he was actually leading laps 170 laps later.

“I know sometimes, like when things aren’t going well for me, I might sound negative and mopey on the radio,” Larson said. “But inside the helmet, inside the car; I’m just as driven as he is to get ourselves out of that situation.

“I never give up with or without words of encouragement from him. I don’t know if it gives me any more desire or that 10 percent; it just kind of refocuses me a little bit quicker and allows me to focus on trying to get the best finish that I can.”

Darlington was a perfect example of the solidarity of the No. 5 crew. After three engine failures this season—including the first Darlington race in May as well as the previous race at Daytona—understandably Larson is skittish. On Lap 78, Larson felt the engine was off, so Daniels called him to the pits. They were unable to diagnose the culprit and Larson was able to return to the track—albeit in 35th-place, three laps down.

“Producing high horsepower engines will always comes at the risk of durability,” Daniels said. “You can’t just sit on your hands or you’ll get beat.”

Larson will certainly need horsepower this weekend when the Cup tour returns to Kansas Speedway. Larson is the defending winner of the race. He finished second to Kurt Busch in May, despite bouncing off of the wall in the new car.

“In the playoffs, you have to be extra careful about everything, for sure in this first round,” Larson said. “I think if you can get through each race somewhat safely, you should make it to the next round safely. I think being cautious and not super aggressive, unless you have to be, is the objective.
 
“I don’t ever plan on going to a track and running the wall and hitting the wall, but it happened more than a few times earlier this year. So just try and learn from the mistakes that I made to get me into the wall, and maybe the positions that I got put in that I overstepped the line and got into the wall. Just try to be more aware and not put our car in harm’s way.”

But if Larson does, there will be a reassuring voice on the other end of the radio to guide him home.

“It’s really tough,” Daniels said. “It’s not really possible to stay that calm unless you have faith and trust in your team….A lot of the core of us have been together for quite a few years. Obviously, with the year we had under our belt last year with Larson—and the relationship that he and I have—I know and trust when things go really bad, our road crew is going to do the best they can to fix the car, the pit crew is always going to do great pit stops, Kyle is going to give his 100 percent behind the wheel. 

“In light of that, losing my cool or screaming about this or that is going to be unproductive. We’re better off to find the fastest solution to an issue that we can find, fix it if we can, and get back out there and battle to the end of the race.”