Kyle Larson’s second Cup Series championship win got the entire field talking. And heading into the 2026 season, there seems to be more pressure on competitors as Rick Hendrick made a confident endorsement about his #5 crew and the winning mentality they present every weekend.

Rick Hendrick’s show of pure confidence lights up Kyle Larson’s team

“When I think about both of these guys, I think about excellence, and that’s the part that rings true with me.”

Rick Hendrick is known for sensing the most competitive drivers, and signing Kyle Larson in 2021 proved it. His coordination with crew chief Cliff Daniels is on point, and there doesn’t seem to be a moment when Larson is left struggling in a season. It’s no surprise that Hendrick finds the Cliff-Kyle recipe perfect for dominating success. In fact, his strong words are sure to make the competition worried.

“They’re there to win every week, and that’s what,” he told the media. “If you’re on a car and you’re sponsoring a car, you own a car, you want to go out, and you want to have an opportunity to win, and with these guys, and I think we know every time we show up at a racetrack we can.”

Larson was first paired with Cliff Daniels back in 2021, when he moved to Hendrick Motorsports. He had proven to be a strong driver, but seemed to be limited owing to some aspects at CGR. But driving with Daniels backing him, Larson managed to win his first Cup Series championship that season itself.

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His performance continued to be rather dominating, winning multiple races every season. He made his way to the Championship 4 once again in 2025. Edging out Denny Hamlin on the final lap, Larson infamously took home his second title.

Owing to their partnership, the #5 Chevy has become one of the strongest driver-crew chief pairings on the field, delivering some of the most consistent performances every season.

The team is looking forward to keeping this pairing for a long time, as HMS announced a five-year extension for them this Wednesday.

How Larson’s trust in his crew chief won him the 2025 title

Despite his very strong performance in the 2025 Cup Series season, Larson wasn’t exactly the center of attraction. Denny Hamlin took most of the limelight as he looked extremely close to winning his first Championship. Up until the last lap in Phoenix, it seemed almost certain that it would be the #11 to take home the title, but Larson’s performance throughout the season suddenly lit up as he made the move to get ahead of Hamlin.

“I think I’ve always had that trust in Cliff,” Larson said. “So when we were making big moves like we were last year, say with pit crew or mechanics and stuff, I wasn’t ever that worried. I was really more so just excited because of the trust that I have in him, and I know the amount of thought that he puts into everything.”

The driver and crew chief need to have strong communication. Races are made or broken through this. And Larson does not only excel in that with Cliff Daniels, but he also trusts in all the moves he makes behind the scenes.

“I knew whatever decision he was making was going to work itself out to be the correct one. It might take time, which it did throughout last year, but then even through the rougher stretches of races that we were having, I wouldn’t have wanted anybody else leading our team to get back on track and get pointed in the right direction to go chase a championship. And I think all that played out that way last year,” Larson added.

It comes as no surprise that a pairing as strong as Kyle Larson and Cliff Daniels manages to dominate the NASCAR field. At the end of the day, Rick Hendrick’s praise for the #5 team seems rather justified. But heading into the new season with the Chase format, will the crew manage to replicate their success from the playoff era?