May 31, 2021 | By Lee Spencer

It's a whole new world for Kyle Larson at Hendrick Motorsports

Kyle Larson had already earned the moniker “Yung Money” when he sat across from me in an interview room at Michigan International Speedway in June, 2012.

He had just won his first K&N Pro Series East race in his sixth start and was preparing for his ARCA debut. At 19, Larson wasn’t media savvy. He had recently signed with Chip Ganassi Racing and was stoked about his eight-year deal.

Despite his elation, my first thought was, ‘What the hell have you gotten yourself into?’

CGR isn’t a place where drivers go to excel. Just ask former Formula 1 winner Juan Pablo Montoya. It’s a company where drivers warm seats. Just ask former NASCAR champions Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

In six full seasons with Ganassi, Larson had one competitive year. In 2017, he won four races, three poles and scored 15 top fives and 20 top 10s. He led a career-best 1,352 laps in 36 races. His best result in the final standings was sixth.

Fast forward to 2021. Coming off of the best dirt season of his career, Larson was recruited by NASCAR juggernaut Hendrick Motorsports. After 15 races, Larson has already posted two wins, eight top fives, 10 top 10s and led 1,105 laps. He dominated the field in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600—winning every stage and the race by a 10-second margin over Chase Elliott.

And he’s just getting started.

“I did not expect to be this good,” Larson said of his Hendrick experience with the former No. 48 team. “I had hoped to. It's still early in the year, but…I knew I would be good. Chase Elliott won the championship last year, and Jimmie (Johnson) had one of the fastest cars every race. They just kind of had some issues, and they didn't get the finishes that they quite deserved.

“I had that in the back of my mind and thought, well, if Jimmie had the fastest car, maybe we would still continue to have one of the fastest cars this year, and (crew chief) Cliff (Daniels) and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, they've probably gotten their stuff even better toward the end of the year, and it's been awesome to see. Like looking at the scoreboard—we had four cars in the top 5 is pretty dang cool.”

When Larson was on SiriusXM Radio leading up to the Charlotte Motor Speedway weekend, he spoke of being surrounded by the smartest people in racing at HMS and the level of detail and preparation that goes into every race.

“It's an amazing place,” Larson said. “Everything about the compound there at Hendrick Motorsports…is perfect. Everything down to the way they mow the lawn. It looks amazing. (laughs). They put a level of effort into everything and pride in everything. 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's probably hard for Mr. H to have a few thousand employees, and I'm sure they all love working for him. That's hard to do. I don't think there's probably another race team out there that everybody that works there loves their boss. But I feel like at Hendrick Motorsports it's that way, and I think because of that, the results follow because everybody is putting 100 percent of their effort in, and us four drivers get to be a part of that and go out there and have some fun on the weekends.”

Fun doesn’t begin to describe the year that Larson is having. In addition to knowing that the No. 5 team can win on any given weekend, Hendrick still gives Larson the freedom to play in the dirt when he doesn’t have a NASCAR conflict.

Certainly, Larson's talent earns him more leeway than the average driver. Although he isn't wheeling the No. 25 Hendrick Chevy, Hendrick recognizes similarities between Larson and the late Tim Richmond who, the boss says could, "Put a car in places that you don't think it'll go and having fun and wanting to win, wanting to lead every lap."

"He just reminds me a lot of Tim," Hendrick said. "All of our guys have unique talent, but he is a racer. I look at William (Byron) and how far William has come. William has been there every single week. I think they're just getting stronger together.

"But Kyle has probably got more racing experience than the other guys. He races everything there is to race, and he says it makes him better. When you can climb in any kind of car and go to a track and win when you've got the guys that win all the races there, I think he's made a statement of how much talent he has."

Can Larson imagine what his life would have been like had Hendrick not come calling?

“Right now I'd be twiddling my thumbs in Indiana waiting to race at Lawrenceburg--which I'm going to do anyways,” Larson said with a laugh. “But yeah, it's much different…I was happy doing what I was doing last year, but I always had the goal of getting back to the Cup Series and didn't really think it was a realistic thing throughout the summer.

“Even when I was winning a lot, I just kind of accepted that this was my life and I was going to have a blast doing it and wasn't going to regret anything at that point. It all kind of came together, and, yeah, for sure it's transformed my life. Getting back into the Cup Series and getting a second opportunity at the highest form of American auto racing is something that I don't think normally happens. Just very thankful for it and want to take full advantage of it.”