{"id":946886,"date":"2026-10-26T12:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T12:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/946886\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T12:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T12:04:11","slug":"nascar-news-talladega-larson-daniels-press-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/946886\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR News: Talladega Larson & Daniels Press Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kyle Larson and his Crew Chief Cliff Daniels met with the media after they won the NASCAR YellaWood 500 Cup race<\/a> at the Talladega Superspeedway<\/a> Sunday.<\/p>\n

Kyle Larson<\/p>\n

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our race winner, Kyle Larson.<\/p>\n

Talk about what this win means to you.<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it means a lot. I mean, I think there was a long time where I felt really bad on speedways. I feel like, I don\u2019t know, the last however many years I\u2019ve been with Hendrick I feel like we\u2019ve been one of the better teams on these tracks. Just have not had it play out right at the end, whether it be mistakes on my part or wrecks or whatever.<\/p>\n

Yeah, I still try to give it away there on the last lap. Yeah, thankfully everything kind of worked out to get to the lead.<\/p>\n

Yeah, unbelievable. Yeah, I don\u2019t know, crazy, crazy. Happy. All of it. Yeah, glad to finally get a speedway win (smiling).<\/p>\n

THE MODERATOR: We\u2019ll open it up for questions.<\/p>\n

73-point lead heading to two of your best tracks. How are you feeling right now?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: I feel good, yeah. I don\u2019t know, it would be great to gain a handful of points next week and I guess we would have it locked up.<\/p>\n

I also don\u2019t want to let that be in my kind of \u2014 clouded in my thoughts as we prepare this week and run in the race at Martinsville, \u2019cause really have a good day and give ourselves a good shot at Homestead.<\/p>\n

Never in a million years would I have imagined leaving here plus 73, though (smiling). I was shocked when I saw that on the screen. Even more pumped. That makes the win feel even way cooler.<\/p>\n

We heard Cliff\u2019s explanation. Take us through your perspective there on the last lap. Did you or did you not cross the yellow line?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: I don\u2019t know. I haven\u2019t seen it.<\/p>\n

Yeah, I don\u2019t know, I knew it was close. I would have been really pissed at myself if I did go below because, yeah, I mean, we crossed the finish line first. I\u2019ve never done that in a Cup car. To get it called back would have sucked.<\/p>\n

Yeah, I\u2019m not sure. Like I said, I knew it was close. I haven\u2019t seen a picture. I haven\u2019t seen a video. I don\u2019t know. I was fist pumping already. My momentum was taking me past the 47, I was fist pumping before I ever got to the line.<\/p>\n

Yeah, that would have been embarrassing if we didn\u2019t win (smiling).<\/p>\n

How soon after you crossed the finish line did you think, I\u2019ve got a lot of points up now?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: Well, I mean, under the red, I was kind of like you\u2019re thinking about it, but you\u2019re not actually crunching the numbers. Then after the win, I don\u2019t know. I thought I\u2019d like be in the 50s.<\/p>\n

Yeah, when I saw the screen say the 11 I think was second, minus 73, I think I said on TV, like, Holy shit. I was not expecting it to be that large. Crazy.<\/p>\n

Like I said in here yesterday, I know the numbers, I don\u2019t know, what is it, 15 up or 20 more than second you get to winning? 20?<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: It seems like way more once you actually win. Once you see the numbers on paper, it\u2019s like, No way, that\u2019s more than 20 over second.<\/p>\n

Again, that\u2019s what it was like when I looked at the screen. I don\u2019t know. I thought it would be a little closer. Yeah, I was pumped.<\/p>\n

Have you ever raced in a series where you\u2019ve had this type of lead to win a championship? Everything you\u2019ve done in NASCAR I think has been in the elimination-style system.<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, no. When I won that K&N championship, I can\u2019t remember what the point scenario was going into the final race, but it was close with Brett Moffitt, maybe another person. I can\u2019t remember if I was leading going into the last one or behind or whatever. It was close.<\/p>\n

Then the only other championship I think I\u2019ve won was sprint cars. It wasn\u2019t locked up or anything. It was comfortable from what I remember.<\/p>\n

Yeah, I don\u2019t know. There\u2019s still two races. Like, it\u2019s so easy to look at it and be like, Oh, the 5\u2019s got it. We could go to Martinsville, there\u2019s a stack unpredictable in turn 33 on the first lap. I could cave in the radiator and be done. I\u2019m just saying there\u2019s still a lot of racing left. So much in the Chase. All you guys in here are like, This person is out, this person has it locked up. They win or something happens, boom, the picture completely changes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not getting ahead of myself at all. I\u2019m not going to let you guys get me ahead of myself either.<\/p>\n

Coming out of turn two, you\u2019re in 11th place, what went through your head there? How did you maybe flip a switch and get back into the mentality of I can still have a good points day or win this race?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, Austin Hill was doing a good job of helping me whenever he was around me all day. One and two, you can imagine the pushes are going to get more aggressive. I wasn\u2019t getting pushed in the corners and stuff. Yeah, he was giving me shoves in the corner which I was happy about. But as I got close to the transition from banking the flat, I got really loose. I couldn\u2019t turn the wheel. My wheel is straight, I\u2019m going straight up the racetrack.<\/p>\n

Yeah, it just forced him underneath me. I was stalled out, mad at myself. I was like, Man, under that red, lineup for the restart, I\u2019ve got a great shot to win here. This is going to be the easiest speedway win of the history of speedway wins because I have so much Chevys around me.<\/p>\n

Then, yeah, I choked it away off of turn two and was pissed. I\u2019m like, Man, let\u2019s just not crash. I was negative thoughts like there\u2019s going to be a crash, I\u2019m going to get swallowed in it, the good day is going to be terrible.<\/p>\n

There it was, almost a crash into turn three. But I was just kind of stuck in the middle. Then the middle kind of took off. I guess Ross got behind me and picked my momentum back up. Yeah, it looked like those guys in the front were all slicing and dicing to give themselves the best opportunity they had. It was washing them up the track with the moves they were making. I got clear to go left.<\/p>\n

I had such a run and the shorter distance, it worked out. Yeah, off of turn two, definitely did not think I would win. I mean, even off turn four, I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d win. That\u2019s just speedway racing, it\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n

How much it means to Tyler Monn to win a superspeedway, how much does it mean to you, not only for you, but to get him this moment as well?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it\u2019s special for everyone on this team. Tyler and I are tight. We know that spotters, they mean a lot everywhere, but they mean the most here.<\/p>\n

To win a speedway race, it makes me feel good that he gets a lot of the credit. Yeah, it feels good for us each to get our first Cup Series speedway win together. To come in the fashion that it did, with the points that came from it, all of those things.<\/p>\n

Yeah, just proud of him. I promise you, there\u2019s no other spotter that works as hard as Tyler Monn does, not on any race team. He\u2019s the only spotter in the shop two, three days a week. It\u2019s incredible the work and effort that he puts in.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m proud of him, all that he means for our race team.<\/p>\n

Cliff said the mood was super light and jovial even after what happened last weekend. He came in and took responsibility. You guys turned the page quickly. Was that kind of your experience?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I mean, that\u2019s how we always are, I guess. I feel like our team, we don\u2019t do much celebrating whether we win, and we don\u2019t get too down when we have rough races either.<\/p>\n

When you look at a lot of different championship organizations and teams throughout many different sports, I think that\u2019s a common theme that you see. It\u2019s led by Cliff and his leadership.<\/p>\n

Yeah, I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s just what we\u2019ve always been like. I think we\u2019re just really good at refocusing on what\u2019s ahead and not getting too far ahead or behind of what we need to accomplish.<\/p>\n

Tell me what you heard on the radio immediately after the checkered flag.<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: I don\u2019t remember what I heard. I was going crazy coming to the line. I was like fist pumping, already kind of screaming in my helmet.<\/p>\n

Yeah, Tyler, my spotter, I could hear his tone of voice, like, just as shocked and surprised as me. But I couldn\u2019t tell you what was said (laughter). That\u2019s just the craziness of the endings of these races.<\/p>\n

Yeah, it was cool to be a part of it.<\/p>\n

After the race you made the comment your family has not been here for any of these wins. When you see your family running across the grass, what is that moment like for you, especially for a superspeedway win?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it meant a lot. It was a long run I\u2019m sure for them from the motorhome lot.<\/p>\n

But yeah, my kids, they\u2019re getting older. They\u2019re into their own things. Racing a lot on the weekends, so they don\u2019t get to come to really any of my races. Had a race scheduled this weekend, but we decided to pull it off the schedule. Talladega is always fun because MRO does the festival and the trick-or-treating and stuff.<\/p>\n

Yeah, I was glad they were able to come. It is stressful when they\u2019re here \u2019cause, as you can imagine, three kids is craziness. When you do get those wins, it means a lot when they\u2019re here because they come less and less. The wins are so hard to get, too.<\/p>\n

Yeah, it was special to have them here. To get Owen to sit on the roof, Audrey and Cooper next to me, it was awesome. I think they know how badly I want to win a speedway race. I think they were very happy for me.<\/p>\n

Do you just have the sense that you can do it, in other words, coming up 11 spots, doing what you did on the final lap to get the win? It was pretty special today to do that. I asked your crew chief what he thought. He said, We\u2019re not even surprised anymore really by what you can do.<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: Well, I was (smiling). No, like I said, I never once in that last lap after I got stuck in the middle off of turn two did I think I was going to win. Not even until I entered the tri-oval and I had a clear track in front of me did I think I could win.<\/p>\n

I was so far behind that I was like, We made it through all the craziness, I\u2019m going to finish. I was happy I\u2019m going to finish. Oh, my gosh, I\u2019m flying right now, I\u2019m going to win.<\/p>\n

It was just full of surprise. Like, there wasn\u2019t anything special that I did. I didn\u2019t really think on the last lap. It was honestly, like, more mistakes than anything that got me in that scenario.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. Maybe it was just meant to be and the mistake opened up the opportunity for me. Who knows how the race would have played out if I been leading my lane, not being put in the middle. Who knows, I might not have won, I might have crashed.<\/p>\n

It worked out how it was supposed to work out.<\/p>\n

On the Tyler Monn bandwagon, he said that your dedication this year, you\u2019re just taking it to another level. Is there something behind that? You just feel the need getting a certain stage to step it up, or do you feel like you\u2019re trying to keep up with the competition? What\u2019s the impetus behind it?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: I don\u2019t know. I think there\u2019s a lot of things that make it that way.<\/p>\n

I would say early in the year I recognized that we weren\u2019t where we needed to be with our car. Then you hear of all the different drivers in the sim, them having good days, us not. I don\u2019t do any sim.<\/p>\n

I kind of committed myself to, All right, let\u2019s give the sim a chance. That\u2019s one area where I feel like it\u2019s helped us.<\/p>\n

Then I just have more time. I just have more time to dedicate to the Cup stuff. I chose to race less this year in the sprint car stuff. I feel like I found a good balance there.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m at home more. I made the investment to buy an airplane this year. Just all the extra time at home has really helped me to find a better balance not only in the Cup stuff but just in life in general, getting to be around my family more, all that.<\/p>\n

Yeah, I think my mood has been good. I don\u2019t know. There\u2019s just a number of things that have added up to get to the balance that I feel like I\u2019m comfortable with right now.<\/p>\n

You mentioned the celebration putting Owen on the roof of the car. What went into that decision for you? Was that preplanned?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: No. I always think it\u2019s cool when people win speedway races and they pop out of the roof hatch. I think we have a roof hatch all the time. I never used it. I thought that would be cool, he could sit up there.<\/p>\n

A lot of times when I win a sprint car race, we\u2019ll get pushed back from the front stretch around. He\u2019ll sit on my seat behind me. It would be cool if we kind of did that.<\/p>\n

It definitely wasn\u2019t preplanned. There\u2019s not much space for three kids on the right side of the car. We\u2019re trying to find more space as they get bigger.<\/p>\n

Jeff mentioned that he was in shock. Are you in shock? Can you even believe the run you had even happened?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: Well, I wasn\u2019t going to be shocked originally, like I said, because there were so many Chevys around me. I just felt like I had a bunch of allies, I was right where I wanted to be in the bottom line.<\/p>\n

Yeah, the last lap kind of went how it went. So yes, then I am now very shocked that I won, shocked at how the points played out. Yeah, there was a lot to be surprised by there at the end of the race.<\/p>\n

Could you speak to how the other Chevrolet drivers raced with you? With all the talk throughout the race of team strategy, do you feel like supportive of your cause? Do you feel they were racing as wingmen or each individual driver was as much looking out for their own race?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, no, I felt it from the drop of the green really, all the help. Getting me out of tough situations that I was finding myself in, opening holes for me to kind of get in line. Save fuel there in the first stage, there fuel saving was really important. That was really beneficial.<\/p>\n

Just kind of allowing me to carve the way through the pack and just having the trust of them behind me was important. Really all the way to the end of the race, you know.<\/p>\n

They helped me very much. Also at the end we\u2019re fighting to get our own wins. There was a bunch of Chevys up there going for it. Yeah, these speedway races take a lot of teamwork. I feel like obviously I was the beneficiary of a lot of that today, being in the position that we\u2019re in.<\/p>\n

I am so grateful for that. I hope that they know that. I\u2019ve recognized it long before this race, the Chase. The Chevy guys have cut me a lot of breaks.<\/p>\n

Yeah, it\u2019s rewarding to have a Chevy battling for the championship right now. I think through the tough years that Chevy\u2019s had, it\u2019s cool to see the teamwork.<\/p>\n

Now that you\u2019ve got a win here, is it almost a relief, a relief factor knowing you were finally able to get one of these before you step away from stockcars?<\/p>\n

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it definitely is a bit of a relief. I hope that you guys don\u2019t ask me all the time now why I suck on speedways (smiling). I hope the win kind of erases that. Now we can move on and find a new topic of discussion.<\/p>\n

No, it just feels good. I wouldn\u2019t have lost any sleep I don\u2019t think if I ended my Cup career without a speedway win. Certainly it does ease the feeling. Definitely there\u2019s a sense of relief.<\/p>\n

I guess now you guys will ask about Daytona 500s. If you never win a Daytona 500 will you be a failure? All that. Bob already has that teed up for February (smiling).<\/p>\n

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.<\/p>\n

Cliff Daniels<\/p>\n

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Cliff Daniels, crew chief of our race-winning team.<\/p>\n

First win on a speedway for both you and Kyle. Talk about how you finally got to this point.<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, I didn\u2019t know this day was going to happen. We\u2019ve had a lot of strong speedway runs in the past. We were talking this week that if we stick to the plan and do what we need to do to execute for stage points, try to get ourselves up front at the end, eventually sometime it was going to work out.<\/p>\n

Never would have expected it to work out that way off of turn two. I was convincing myself to be okay with a 13th-place finish. Off of four, sixth won\u2019t be bad. Tri-oval, third would be okay. Then we brought it home.<\/p>\n

Glad Kyle stayed with it there at the end. A lot of hard-working effort by our team. When the seas parted, we were there.<\/p>\n

THE MODERATOR: We\u2019ll open it up for questions.<\/p>\n

How confident are you feeling holding a 73-point lead with two races to go, two of your better racetracks?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, I mean, the points can swing a lot. To me the confidence factor just comes from our team. I know the work that we\u2019re going to put in.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know, we\u2019ve discussed this at times, there\u2019s always been this question like what is a comfortable point gap. I don\u2019t know that the Chase so far has shown some volatility. You just never know what\u2019s going to lie ahead.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got two more weeks we have to put in the work. Be prepared. Hopefully it all works out.<\/p>\n

What is the approach going into next week?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, I think in a lot of ways we have to make sure we\u2019re still playing offense well. There\u2019s still stage points to go get, hopefully a good finish to go get. That\u2019s really been the case every week for us. Irregardless of where we are in points, we try to prepare well, understand what it would look like to call just an offensive-type race.<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m remembering correctly \u2014 we reviewed it a little bit this week \u2014 there have been some alternate things that have worked out at Martinsville, depending on when cautions fall, pitting to flip a stage, pitting at a stage, tires are not at the end.<\/p>\n

So there\u2019s still a lot of things we have to be aware of for how our day is going to maximize it. I think that\u2019s the mission, yeah.<\/p>\n

With this new package, what were your impressions of it?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: I would be really curious to hear what our drivers say tomorrow in our debrief.<\/p>\n

From my perspective, it seemed like cars that restarted towards the back, I think of stage two and stage three really, where you could just go hard the whole time, were able to move around and get to the front quicker maybe than what the other package was. That\u2019s my thought after just what I saw play out today. We\u2019ll have time tonight and tomorrow to review it, get everybody\u2019s thoughts on the package.<\/p>\n

Honestly I applaud NASCAR for continuing to try to just provide more energy to the cars, to be able to move around more, with the big spoiler and what we had before, just get locked down. When the pace would pick up, it was really hard to advance.<\/p>\n

It seemed like there was more opportunity today maybe than what we\u2019ve had in the past. Again, would love to hear it from our drivers\u2019 perspective. I\u2019m all in favor to shed drag off the cars, make it harder to drive, put it more in the driver\u2019s and team\u2019s hands for car setup strategy and the way you have to manage something with a little less grip.<\/p>\n

When the three cars took off, you stayed the course, normal strategy. What was going through your mind at that moment?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, we had some conversations early about what a situation like that could look like, somebody pitting off early and going hard. Credit to those guys, they stuck to it. They nailed it. They did it really well.<\/p>\n

We felt like in that hypothetical situation before the race that the field would stick to what we thought the field was going to do, which was going to be save and get to around that lap 50 and lap 60.<\/p>\n

To do it all over again, we\u2019re certainly going to go back I\u2019m sure tonight and tomorrow and look at how to have gotten on board with that sooner, how do you defend that. But in the moment, we really didn\u2019t want to panic and put ourselves in a spot where, knowing that the Fords typically get better mileage than us, that we were going to be too penalized on what our mileage was going to be to try to make pace with that.<\/p>\n

We played it the way we had to. Ended up close on fuel at the end for us. But it worked out.<\/p>\n

Is there any part of you that looks to next week and says let\u2019s put it away? You only need three more points on everybody.<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Try to do that every week, and then Phoenix showed up (smiling).<\/p>\n

Like I mentioned before, we\u2019ve got to play offense. We\u2019ve got to build a fast car, do our homework going into the race. There\u2019s a lot of different things that can play out at Martinsville.<\/p>\n

I think we\u2019ve seen of ourselves that we\u2019re a top 10 capable car, and yeah, we\u2019ve got to put it all together and try to do better than that. Still know there\u2019s certainly a handful of guys, like Blaney, however many years in a row he\u2019s won the fall Martinsville race. Denny is going to be strong. There\u2019s going to be a lot of guys that are strong. We need to score stage points and maximize our day.<\/p>\n

Were you with Jimmie at all in some of these times where you were \u2014 a lot of guys haven\u2019t played this points battle. Anything you can bring from your experience when you have this type of lead with two to go?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: I joined with the 48 right when we went to the Playoff format. My first year on the 48 was the first year we went to the Playoff format, that Harvick won. Maybe I\u2019m missing a year.<\/p>\n

I was not with Jimmie and Chad during the Chase days. But just by being with Jimmie and Chad for all those years, certainly was able to see a great example of just their mindset and their approach going into the NASCAR post-season, if you want to call it that, of how to build the camaraderie within the team, how to build the culture of the team, how to set the standard for preparation, and a lot of the things you have to grind out every week, forcing yourself to push the details, yeah, push the speed of the car.<\/p>\n

Even though I didn\u2019t live that part with them, there was still a lot of that mindset I\u2019m confident that they brought forward. Fortunate to learn from two of the best.<\/p>\n

What was your thought process during the final lap?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, you never know how it\u2019s going to go. Knew that we had a lot of help lined up behind us. At the end of the day, you think you may have or are in a position to have the opportunity to get a good push.<\/p>\n

I think we just got a little loose off of two, I believe. I think the 33 really was trying to push us and move our lane forward at that point. Yeah, once we got loose, we kind of got shucked out in the middle. I kind of assumed that any shot at a top five was going to be over at that point. I wasn\u2019t sure what we can recover to.<\/p>\n

I was really surprised at how broken up everyone got, even through three and four, especially off of four. Nobody was really that formed together. I think we were with the 41, maybe the 34 again. I can\u2019t remember. Once we started building a run, then my optimism came back the other way that it may work out okay.<\/p>\n

Back to stage one, the success of RFK\u2019s strategy in that stage, how is that going to affect how teams approach those longer stages?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, credit to those guys. They nailed it. They had obviously done their homework. They knew the numbers they had to hit to save up to that point. They knew how much fuel they had to get in their car to make it running hard through till the end.<\/p>\n

A lot of that, to your point, we\u2019re going to study and understand what we have to do. Chevrolets typically get a little worse mileage than the Fords. I think they had a little bit in their favor for that scenario.<\/p>\n

But we\u2019re still going to have to study it and do our homework and be prepared for it coming back. We don\u2019t know yet what the stage links are going to look like for next year, but yeah, we\u2019ve got a bit of homework to do.<\/p>\n

Looking forward for a vibe check of what the last week was like in terms of who takes the leadership roles, what are the speeches, the rallying-the-troop moments like.<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Honestly, there isn\u2019t a whole lot, if you look at the life of the 5 that we haven\u2019t experienced in terms of the ups and the downs.<\/p>\n

There is a general vibe of our team knowing how to put last week away and focus on the task of this week. Few more details to answer your question. I walked in Monday and owned it completely. It\u2019s on me for the setup we had in the car. I thought there was more that could translate from our good setup at Gateway to Phoenix than what reality shows for that tire and that track.<\/p>\n

That really wasn\u2019t the team\u2019s fault. It wasn\u2019t Kyle\u2019s fault. There was still a lot throughout the weekend at Phoenix that from a team operation standpoint we did well. I know that sounds difficult to hear or maybe even to think that I could identify with that.<\/p>\n

Our team process of executing practice and qualifying in the race with a car that did not have the right setup, the guys still did a great job being prepared for the things we needed to be prepared for even to make changes on pit road. We did that a lot faster than what we did at Vegas when we had to make front-end changes.<\/p>\n

There were still a lot of healthy things our team could build on even after Phoenix of just how difficult that day was and working through it. Also just the realization that the points can swing so quickly, and everyone is kind of exposed as the races move along. There\u2019s no win in your end guarantee to bring you into the next round.<\/p>\n

Once we kind of got through the disappointment we had on a Monday, we spent more time probably laughing and having fun preparing for Talladega this week than we\u2019ve had in a long time. The spirit of the team was up. Everybody was positive.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve said this quote a couple times after the race already, but a smooth sea does not make for a skilled sailor.<\/p>\n

Even when you have those times of difficulty and the sea is rough, that\u2019s when you have a good group of people that are willing to dig in and work together and believe in each other and the process that we built, and the team exercise that we continue to build on every week, there\u2019s a lot of power in that. When you can unite and identify with that.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m proud of the 5 team doing that this week and showing up prepared for this weekend.<\/p>\n

William yesterday talked about how, to a certain degree, he intended to do what was reasonable to help out you guys, while also recognizing he has a goose egg in the win column. From a stage standpoint, he committed to you guys. How valuable was that?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, it was a huge deal. Big thank you to William and Rudy and their whole team for that commitment of just sticking with us.<\/p>\n

To your point, we need stage points really more than they do at this point. So to help bonus in that position.<\/p>\n

And then we know at the end of the race that they still have a job to do for their team and their sponsors and their season. You never know how the lanes are going to go and the momentum is going to get broken up.<\/p>\n

Those guys did a good job to stick with us. Very appreciative of them. I know that Alex and Chase and their respective teams were willing to help us as well at times throughout the race.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where it\u2019s important for us at Hendrick Motorsports to have the unity across the four teams that we have. Mr. Hendrick has led that a lot. Not only preached that message, but he\u2019s led that message to us where we help each other not because we have to but because we want to. I know William and Rudy wanted to be in a position to help us. Super grateful for that.<\/p>\n

What is the biggest decision that you made today that put Kyle in Victory Lane, and what did he do that made the difference?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Yeah, I mean, I would say one of the biggest decisions for us was staying out to try to get the stage points and the stage win at the end of stage two. Then when we pitted, we got it full of fuel, knowing if it went to a green-white-checkered finish, we\u2019d have enough.<\/p>\n

On his end, when things didn\u2019t work out on the white flag lap, he maintained his composure, figured out how to get hooked up with a couple other guys to get a good run, had a good run off of turn four that brought him home.<\/p>\n

I think a lot of what Kyle has done in the Chase kind of mirrors the way Jimmie Johnson succeeded in those championship years. Does that bring back that kind of memory for you?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: It does. I didn\u2019t live that Chase time period with Chad and Jimmie. Again, I was able to kind of be a student of them in the NASCAR post-season. There\u2019s a lot of discipline that you have to apply in these moments, but you also have to be willing to attack. There\u2019s that tradeoff of the mindset.<\/p>\n

Kyle has leaned into that very well. He\u2019s been putting in a lot of work and a lot of prep every week in the sim, in our team meetings. He\u2019s been to the shop at least two if not three days a week, really stepping up his game and leading just the collective effort for the team to keep the energy behind our process and what we do just to be faithful to the grind and to what you have to do.<\/p>\n

10 weeks is a long time. There\u2019s a lot of things that can change your energy, change your momentum. You\u2019ve got to be very dedicated to the process. Kyle certainly brings that to the table right now. Grateful for that of him. Proud of him for all that he\u2019s done to get us to this point.<\/p>\n

I know you\u2019re very serious and workmanlike, but do you ever sit there and watch Kyle pull off things like he did today and think this is special, this is cool, and even I\u2019m enjoying watching him?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Of course, of course. All the time. In those situations I try really hard not to get too caught up in the momentum, in the fun of what the moment may bring like that, because it\u2019s still my job to make sure we\u2019re prepared for whatever comes.<\/p>\n

Yeah, coming off of turn four, when I heard Tyler calling out, Keep going, knew that Kyle had worked himself into a really good run at that point, you have to smile.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all seen highlight reels of Kyle whether it\u2019s in a sprint car a stockcar. He\u2019s very special at what he does. That\u2019s why it\u2019s fun to work with him and it\u2019s fun to be a teammate with him, to lead our team that way.<\/p>\n

Even when momentum may not always be on our side, you know he\u2019s capable of pulling off something really special. I definitely love and appreciate that of him.<\/p>\n

Either in real-time or taking a look at the replay, did you realize how close Kyle came to going below the yellow line?<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: I had no idea of that until Victory Lane. He\u2019s like, I got to be honest with you, I started cheering before I was even close to the line. I took my hands off the wheel. That\u2019s why I almost went below the line.<\/p>\n

I was like, Bro, are you serious right now (laughter)?<\/p>\n

I have not seen that replay. I only heard him tell the story he told. I can\u2019t wait to see it. Debrief sheet this week. Don\u2019t celebrate too soon (smiling).<\/p>\n

THE MODERATOR: Cliff, thanks for your time.<\/p>\n

CLIFF DANIELS: Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kyle Larson and his Crew Chief Cliff Daniels met with the media after they won the NASCAR YellaWood…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":946887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-946886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946886","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=946886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}