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Kyle Larson's most memorable performance of the title-winning season will obviously be the season ending — the championship victory. He lifted the NASCAR Cup Series Championship by beating former champ Martin Truex Jr. by .398 seconds.
Watch Larson race to his victory here:
One of the first things he did after crossing the finish line was thank his team and the pit crew. Taking advantage of a caution, followed by a lightning-fast pit-stop from the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crew, Larson jumped from fourth to first.
Larson was seen weeping after winning the NASCAR Cup Series. When asked about what made him tear up, he said
“I was just thinking about the journey and how tough of a road it’s been to get to this point for so long, but especially the last year-and-a-half.”
Kyle Larson had to watch Chase Elliott celebrate the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series win on television from his living room on November 8. This came after Larson was fired by Chip Ganassi Racing and suspended from NASCAR for using a racial slur during a live broadcast of a video game competition during the pandemic lockdown. On November 7, he beat the defending champion to become the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion. He dominantly won the season securing 10 wins throughout.
Larson won 46 dirt races across multiple divisions during his time away from NASCAR before making a return with Hendrick Motorsports in the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro.
Kyle Larson's clutch pitstop for 2021 NASCAR Championship
Kyle Larson was able to create a special championship win thanks to a nearly perfect pitstop from the Hendrick Motorsports crew. The 11.8 seconds stop helped Larson jump from fourth place to first. He would then go on to hold the lead for the final 24-lap run to the finish line.
Speaking about the brisk pit-stop, Hendrick Motorsports pit crew coach Chris Burkey told Racer.com:
“It was amazing. Those are the moments that the guys live for. If you’re a competitor, that’s what you live (for) – making that last shot. We practice that all the time, and to see it come to fruition is awesome to watch. It really was.”
Kyle Larson was full of praise for the Hendrick Motorsports crew after the victory.
“There were so many points of this race where I did not think that we were going to win and without my pit crew on that last stop we would not be standing right here.”
“They are the true winners of this race, they’re true champions, I’m just blessed to be part of this group.”
The pit crew was one of the fastest in the 2021 season, averaging 13.640 seconds per pit-stop. Their hard work was one of the reasons behind the success of both Hendrick Motorsports and Larson in the 2021 NASCAR Season.
