{"id":166273,"date":"2025-09-24T14:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T14:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/166273\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T14:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T14:38:09","slug":"kyle-larsons-nascar-cup-series-win-at-kansas-speedway-in-2021-was-more-than-just-a-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/166273\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Larson\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series win at Kansas Speedway in 2021 was more than just a victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

CONCORD, N.C. –\u00a0Crew chief Cliff Daniels<\/a> was on top of the pit box offering his gratitude and reflection as the team was jubilant below him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis for you, Mr. H,\u201d Daniels said over the radio. \u201cFor you and all the teammates of (Hendrick Motorsports<\/a>) from all those years ago. Excellent job. Great team, great job today.\u201d \n <\/p>\n

His team\u2019s driver, Kyle Larson<\/a>, had just put the finishing touches on a dominant win at Kansas Speedway in a Round of 8 playoff race. It was his third win in a row and ninth overall on the season, positioning the No. 5 HendrickCars.com<\/a> Chevrolet as a prohibitive favorite for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship<\/a>. \n <\/p>\n

But more importantly, that celebration had a greater meaning for the Hendrick Motorsports family. That\u2019s because Oct. 24, 2021, date of the race, marked exactly 17 years to the day of the plane crash that tragically took the lives of 10 former teammates, including team owner Rick Hendrick\u2019s<\/a> son, Ricky. <\/p>\n

Reality of the moment brought heaviness into what was an otherwise joyous occasion. \n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Left to right): Kyle Larson celebrates 2021 NASCAR Cup Series title with team owner Rick Hendrick, crew chief Cliff Daniels and vice chairman, Jeff Gordon<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t meet Ricky or the other men and women who lost their lives that day,\u201d Larson said after the race. \u201cBut I felt the importance of this race. So crazy how it all worked out for me to win. So again, thank you Rick Hendrick<\/a>. I know this means a lot to you and I\u2019m glad I could get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: Ricky Hendrick earns first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Kansas<\/a> \n<\/p>\n

While in the winner\u2019s circle at Kansas Speedway<\/a>, it might have struck more than a few teammates in attendance that they were also witnessing something almost familiar. The blue, white and red scheme showcasing Larson\u2019s HendrickCars.com sponsorship may have brought another rush of memories to life.<\/p>\n

It had been a little over 20 years since Ricky Hendrick\u2019s similarly hued No. 17 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series entry had visited Kansas Speedway victory lane in 2001. On that day, the 21-year-old series newcomer scored his first career win in NASCAR national series competition, holding off the late-race charge of Ted Musgrave. \n <\/p>\n

RELATED: Hendrick Motorsports Fan Fest returns on Oct. 3<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI love those colors,\u201d Hendrick told HendrickMotorsports.com after Larson\u2019s first victory for the organization at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier in the year. \u201cWhen we (Hendrick Automotive Group) were going to be on the car, I mean, I wanted to run that paint scheme<\/a> with that number. That meant a ton to me (when Larson won) and to my family just to honor our son. I love the paint scheme, anyway. But Kyle made us proud.\u201d \n <\/p>\n

Rick Hendrick (right) shares a special moment with his son, Ricky, in victory lane a Kansas Speedway<\/p>\n

The win was featured among HendrickMotorsports.com’s list of\u00a0\u201c40 Great Wins in Hendrick Motorsports<\/a>\u201d this past winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d been around Mr. H for a couple of years before that and that was the first time he couldn\u2019t talk,\u201d Lance McGrew said to HendrickMotorsports.com, who was crew chief on Ricky Hendrick\u2019s Chevy Truck that day. \u201cHe couldn\u2019t even speak. That was the first time and only time I\u2019ve ever seen him speechless. \n <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was standing in victory lane with Mrs. H (Linda Hendrick), and he was wiping away tears because he was just so proud.\u201d \n <\/p>\n

As for Larson, win No. 10 would come two weeks later in the Championship race at Phoenix Raceway. It was the final piece to his first NASCAR Cup Series title, completing one of the most dominant seasons in Cup Series history which also included 20 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kansas Speedway<\/a> will always hold a special meaning to Hendrick Motorsports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CONCORD, N.C. –\u00a0Crew chief Cliff Daniels was on top of the pit box offering his gratitude and reflection…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-166273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nascar","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}