In his first year with Hendrick Motorsports, Kyle Larson posted his most successful season to date at NASCAR’s top level by winning 10 races, including the season finale at Phoenix Raceway where he captured his first Cup Series championship in convincing fashion.
Larson returns this season with his No. 5 team basically intact and will once again work with crew chief Cliff Daniels, whose first season with Larson proved far more successful than anyone imagined. While another 10-win season might be a reach for Larson – who became the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to reach that lofty mark – a second championship seems achievable.
If Larson can return to NASCAR’s Promised Land, he’ll be the first repeat champion of the sport’s premier series since Johnson earned the last of his record-setting five consecutive championships in 2010.