Season in review: Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Crew chief: Cliff Daniels
Final 2023 Ranking: 2nd
Key stats: 4 wins, 15 top fives, 18 top 10s, 1,127 laps led
How 2023 ended: Larson finished oh-so-close to claiming his second NASCAR Cup Series championship, ending the year as runner-up behind champion Ryan Blaney. Larson’s four wins, 15 top fives and 18 top 10s equaled his second-best career overall season performance, while his second-place overall season finish was the highest of his career after his championship-winning season in 2021.
Best race: Of Larson’s four wins in 2023, his win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to open the Round of 8 stands out. Larson started from the outside pole and then dominated, leading essentially half (133 laps) of the 267-lap event.
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Other season highlights: Larson had three outstanding finishes that did not result in a win, but were still strong outings, nonetheless. The first was the spring race at Phoenix, where he started from the pole and led a season-high 201 laps (in a 317-lap event), only to finish fourth. The other two races that stood out were his pair of outings at Kansas Speedway, where he started from the outside pole and led 85 laps to finish second in the spring race, and once again started from the outside pole to lead 99 laps and finish fourth in the fall playoff race.
Stat to know: One thing Larson, Daniels and the rest of the No. 5 team are expected to put increased focus on in 2024 is finishing races. Larson failed to finish eight races in 2023 (his most DNFs since 2019), nearly one-fourth of the season’s 36 races: seven DNFs and one DVP (Damaged Vehicle Policy).
Quotable: “I was just not as good as a few guys, especially Blaney and Ross (Chastain) probably. It would’ve been difficult, but my team did a really good job all season. I’m extremely proud of them. We had an up-and-down year, and we finally put together two solid weeks in a row (sixth at Martinsville, third in the season finale at Phoenix). I don’t know if we’ve done that all year. We’ll come back next year and try to be stronger.” – Larson on both the season finale as well as his overall 2023 season performance.
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Looking ahead: Larson was considered one of the favorites to win the 2023 NASCAR Cup championship. While Ross Chastain won the season-ending race, Ryan Blaney finished second to earn the championship and Larson was an extremely close third, finishing just one point behind Blaney. Larson has now reached the championship race twice in the last three seasons, ultimately winning the title in 2021 and runner-up in 2023. He’s a perennial favorite to win the championship, so keep an eye on the No. 5 throughout 2024 as he again chases title No. 2.