At Hendrick Motorsports, there’s a special tradition where a driver celebrates a win by ringing a victory bell. This allows every employee who helped achieve the win to participate.
Kyle Larson took part in this celebration after his impressive victory at Bristol Motor Speedway on a recent fall day. He was joined by his crew chief, Cliff Daniels, and Jeff Gordon, who is the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports.
They visited various departments, starting in the fabrication shop, then moving to the engine department, and finally to the gift shop, where employees had the chance to ring the bell for Larson.
When they reached the merchandise store, there happened to be a Hendrick Automotive Group leadership summit happening in another building nearby. When Gordon noticed young fans shopping, he invited them to come over and ring the bell too.
After the celebration, the trio attended the leadership summit, where they were only asked to give a brief talk about the importance of communication to several hundred dealership executives.
When Larson walked into the large auditorium, he received a standing ovation, and one executive even stood up and loudly rang two smaller bells on the table.
This celebration marked Larson’s 22nd victory since he joined Hendrick in 2021. Just four days later, he won again at Charlotte Motor Speedway. As they sat in director chairs in front of the audience, Gordon mentioned that even though Larson had only been with the team for four seasons, he couldn’t remember a time when Larson wasn’t part of Hendrick.
That’s how quickly Larson found a new home after spending over seven seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing, which brought him from sprint car racing into NASCAR. Larson was let go early in the pandemic when drivers started using iRacing to entertain fans, and he used a racial slur during a late-night session.
Ganassi wanted to keep his rising star, but pressure from sponsors to sever ties won out, and Larson was suspended by NASCAR for the rest of the season.
Once he was reinstated, Rick Hendrick quickly signed him, teamed him up with crew chief Cliff Daniels on the No. 5 Chevrolet, and the team has been successful since.
They broke many records in their first season with 10 wins and Larson’s first championship. The success is due to their strong communication and Daniels’ straightforward approach. He has the same intense mindset as Hendrick’s Hall of Fame crew chief Chad Knaus, who led Jimmie Johnson to a record-tying seven championships.
“For us, just like any relationship, it always evolves. I’ve been very thankful for the opportunity to be with Kyle, to be in this position with the 5 team,” Daniels said.
“There are so many core values that we hold true to our team of taking care of each other, having the relationship, having the communication really across the team.
“Of course, it has to be with me and Kyle and race day as well and trusting each other to do our jobs in the moment and to make calls and to know that we’re going to have to ride some ups and downs together.”
Now Larson and Daniels are working hard to save their season, even with six wins that lead the Cup series. Hendrick Motorsports initially had all four of its cars in the round of eight.
However, Alex Bowman was disqualified after failing post-race inspection in the Charlotte elimination race that Larson won. The three remaining drivers who advanced still haven’t secured a spot in next week’s winner-take-all finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Larson may need to win again and have another bell-ringing celebration to compete for a second title. Joey Logano, who took Bowman’s place in the round of eight, and Tyler Reddick have already secured two of the spots. Christopher Bell from Joe Gibbs Racing and Larson’s teammate William Byron are ahead of the cutline and looking to qualify for the last two slots.
Larson goes into Martinsville below the cutline, seven points behind Byron. Both he and Byron made the final four last year but lost to Ryan Blaney, with Larson finishing as the runner-up in the standings.
While Larson doesn’t have to win on Sunday in Virginia to advance, it is the only sure way for him to move on. He would need some bad luck to hit either Bell or Byron to advance without a win.
This season has been a wild ride for Larson, despite his six wins. He has finished 30th or worse six times, hasn’t had more than two top-10 finishes in a row this season, and lost the regular season championship by just one point after missing the Coca-Cola 600 due to rain affecting his day at the Indianapolis 500.
However, in the playoffs, he has won the elimination race in both of the first two rounds.
“I’m proud of our team for how we’ve rebounded through so much adversity throughout these playoffs,” Larson said. “I think there probably hasn’t been a team that’s dealt with as much as we have and been able to still be in the hunt to make the final four.”
