“I had my own little world going on”: When Kyle Larson’s right-hand man described his ‘special’ crown jewel moment

Kyle Larson's crew chief Cliff Daniels revealed that there was a sense of personal achievement when he brought the #5 Chevrolet to victory at Darlington Raceway in 2023. The win marked an incredible achievement for Hendrick Motorsports as it was their engines' 500th win.

Larson brought himself to victory in Darlington back in 2023, marking the 500th win for the HMS engines. As remarkable as this achievement was, it was a personal victory for his crew chief Cliff Daniels as well. During his career, as he mentioned, his record at the Darlington Raceway had been subpar with multiple drivers. He stated that even Larson had not won there despite leading many times.

Daniels told Hendrick Motorsports:

“Darlington just brings about a lot of misses for my career and for Kyle. Kyle at Darlington in his career has led so many laps (1,048) and to date has only won once at Darlington, which is crazy to me. Then, for me in my Cup Career with Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, led a lot of laps and ran up front a lot with both of those guys and never came home with a win."

However, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season changed this for Daniels. His record at the track cleared up as Kyle Larson brought the Chevy to victory. It was Hendrick Motorsports' 299th win and a remarkable 500th win for their engine.

Talking about the memorable victory, Cliff Daniels said:

"You sit back and look at all the success of the Hendrick engine shops from the early days on. You think of Randy Dorton and all the people that have come through there and knowing how big of a deal it was to them made it even more special."

"I had my own little world going on of how special that win was to me and Kyle had his own little world going on because of the misses we’d both had," he added.

Kyle Larson finished the 2023 season in second place on the points table and has continued to race with HMS since.

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Kyle Larson to reattempt "The Double" in 2025 after failure to do so this season

NASCAR: 2024 NASCAR Awards Banquet - Source: Imagn

The NASCAR-Indy500 "Double" is one of the most challenging feats in motorsports. It involves participating in both the IndyCar Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte Motor Speedway) on the same day.

Kyle Larson stepped in for the challenge earlier this year. He was prepared to race in the Indy500 with Arrows McLaren and then return to Charlotte to participate in the Cup Series race. However, things didn't go as planned because harsh weather conditions delayed both the races. He did not get the chance to step back into his #5 Chevy at Charlotte, however, was given a waiver by NASCAR.

Arrows McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports announced in September that Kyle Larson was to take part in the challenge once again in the 2025 season.