May 30, 2021 | By Lee Spencer

Larson enjoys the ride as he delivers Hendrick Motorsports' milestone win

The new kid on the block delivered Rick Hendrick’s milestone 269th Cup win on Sunday at his home track—Charlotte Motor Speedway—making Hendrick Motorsports the winningest team in NASCAR history.

Kyle Larson accomplished the feat in dramatic fashion. He won all four stages, led a career-high 327 laps and held a 10.051-second advantage at the line for his first win in the Coca-Cola 600.

Hendrick came over the radio and told Larson, “Thank you, buddy. Great job, man. Great job. You spanked them good.”

Larson, the 20th driver to win for HMS, bookend the accomplishment behind the wheel of the No. 5 Chevrolet replied, “You built a hell of an organization.” Geoff Bodine scored the first win for the company at Martinsville Speedway in 1984.

“It feels great to be the guy to help Mr. Hendrick break that record, finally,” Larson said. “This is awesome. We haven’t seen this many fans in forever. Thanks to all you guys for coming out. I hope we put on a good show. Thanks to Metro Tech, Chevrolet, HendrickCars.com, and everybody who allows me to drive this No. 5 car.

“And thanks to my No. 5 team tonight, too. They were great tonight. My pit crew did awesome. We had awesome pit stops, especially on the green flag stops, too. That really allowed us to get the win tonight.”

Chase Elliott completed the Hendrick perfecta to break the record held by Petty Enterprises since 1999. Kyle Busch, William Byron and Alex Bowman rounded out the top-five.

All four Hendrick drivers felt the pressure to achieve the goal entering the weekend. Larson had an edge on his teammates after winning the pole on Saturday and securing the first pit box. With the exception of green-flag pit stops, Larson held the point throughout the first stage.

Larson held serve through pit stops but as the track cooled down, Elliott was able to make a green-flag pass for the lead on Lap 132. Kurt Busch, who was forced to start at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments to the No. 1 Chevy, had raced into the top 15 when the accessory belt for the power steering malfunctioned on Lap 140. His teammate Ross Chastain suffered a similar issue in Stage 1. The team worked to repair the issue in the garage.

Elliott stayed out front for 17 laps—until the second-stage round of green-flag stops. The driver of the No. 9 Chevy, who won last weekend’s inaugural event at Circuit of the Americas, conceded that Larson had the best car on Sunday.

"He definitely did a better job for sure," Elliott said of his teammate. "I thought he did the best job driving and being able to make pace and not abuse his tires each run. Yeah, best driver, best car won tonight. There's no doubt.

"I think for us, we just look ahead, and I'm excited for more opportunities. That's all you can do when you get beat is look ahead and be excited for another chance."

Larson cycled back to the front on Lap 153. Kurt Busch returned to the track on Lap 172—but the car blew up on the backstretch to trigger the second caution. Bowman, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano elected to take two tires for track position, but the Hendrick duo of Elliott and Larson came charging to the front. Elliott took the lead on Lap 185, then Larson followed on the next circuit. The No. 5 sailed off to the stage 2 win.

Larson used the third stage to establish his own records. On Lap 266, he passed the 200-laps led mark for the third time this season. By Lap 289, Larson became the first driver in 2021 to lead 1,000 laps—the second time in his career he surpassed four figures. But Larson’s 2-plus-second lead over Byron diminished as he attempted to pass Erik Jones—who was running 18th.

“Make him work for it,” spotter Rick Carelli told Jones. Larson finally got around the No. 43 on Lap 293. Two laps later, Ryan Newman, who was running 12th, hit the wall in Turn 3 after cutting a right front tire. Larson held on to win Stage 3.

Once again, Larson came out of the pits with the lead to start the final stage. Although the stage was set for a Kyle and Kyle (Busch) rematch, the No. 18 Toyota wasn’t strong enough to stay with the top Chevys. Larson extended his lead and Elliott followed. Byron traded positions with Busch for third on Lap 308.

Martin Truex Jr. pitted after hitting the wall on Lap 340. The team initially could not remove his left front tire and he dropped from the lead lap to 19th, five laps off the pace.

Larson made his final pit stop on Lap 347 and returned to the point five laps later. While Kyle Busch continued to give his teammates fits, Larson cruised to his eighth-career Cup win.

“It feels good,” Larson said. “It was not easy. I felt like I had to fight off William and Chase (Elliott) a lot. It kind of worked out there in that last run. The No. 43 (Erik Jones) had to pit and pulled out in front of me, and I just towed with him for a while and stretched my lead out. We had a good car there in that last run. Awesome!”

For the second time in his career, Larson amassed three second-place finishes before scoring this win—his second of the season. A year ago, when Larson was on the sidelines, he could not have imagined the success he’s having right now.

“When I got to talking to Ricky Stenhouse last year, I was like I think I’m going to end up in the No. 5 or the Hendrick cars and he was like, you’re going to be really good in that thing,” Larson said. “And I was like, I don’t know.

“But it’s been better than I could have ever imagined. For us to lead as many laps as we have this year and contend for as many wins as we have, and now to get our second win at a Crown Jewel event, too, it feels great. I’m just very lucky that Mr. Hendrick was able to put together a deal for me. It’s just awesome. I’m living a dream, for sure.”