Kyle Larson gains massively from HMS' positive environment amid slump, as per NASCAR veteran

At Watkins Glen, Kyle Larson suffered from a mechanical issue, which compromised his result. Despite seemingly being out of the race at one point, his crew brought his car into the garage, worked on the issue, and had him complete the race.

Larson ended the race with the fastest lap, for which he got a point on a day where it appeared his race would end with a DNF result.

Kevin Harvick pointed out this practice by the #5 team on the Happy Hour podcast. He said that it was 'a typical Hendrick Motorsports type of attitude.'

"Hendrick Motorsports has a great way of navigating the downs to be able to keep their people engaged and motivated, some, just from good business practices more than anything and management, good leadership. So that's the part that I think they'll show back up at some point, but it hasn't been great," Kevin Harvick described.

Harvick claimed that Kyle Larson and his team haven't been at the level they want to be this season. He mentioned that Kyle Larson was lacking the speed on track, which hasn't been the case with William Byron in the #24.

Kyle Larson hasn't recovered from the key result at Indy, where issues began to show

So far this season, Kyle Larson has had three wins to his name. But interestingly, those three wins came within a span of seven races. And since his last win, which was at Kansas, Larson has only had three finishes inside the top 5.

Despite that, Mamba Smith claimed on Happy Hour that the #5 team was 'a sleeping giant.' He mentioned that Cliff Daniels, the crew chief, has figured out something that allows them to gain from a race despite a wreck or a mechanical issue.

This prompted Kevin Harvick to point out the point where the issues began to show up for Kyle Larson in the last few races.

"I think when you look back at it, it's still the issue still started at at Indy. You can definitely point back to where the the the slump started. And they obviously haven't got out of it yet," he said.

Mamba Smith further added that when a team loses an integral part of its personnel, it starts functioning differently. For the HMS team, it was the loss of Jon Edwards, who passed away earlier this year. Smith claimed that it was Edwards' presence and his intricate role within the Hendrick camp that brought a different energy to that team.

Having said that, Smith added that there have been 'quite a few things' that have changed at HMS in the past year.