Kyle Larson and his chief, Cliff Daniels, will head into 2026 trying to replicate the success of 2025, the yr that noticed them win their second Cup Championship. Not quite a bit can go fallacious, Daniels lately acknowledged, however there are two issues he desires to control.
Heading into the brand new season with a revamped format ought to show favorable given Larson’s constant efficiency through the years, though it was the elimination format that helped him win in 2025 within the first place. Based on Daniels, two hurdles confront Hendrick Motorsports in its 2026 title protection, and neither entails pace, setups, or competitors.
The actual adversaries, in Daniels’ view, are the “Two rules that we’re at struggle towards, complacency and entitlement,” as he revealed her Hendrick Motorsports‘ web site.
He understands that there’s a pure human tendency to chill out, to imagine the work has already been carried out, or to consider the crew’s place on the high entitles it to continued success. That mindset, he feels, is exactly how champions start to lose, and validation shortly turns into a entice. The second a crew believes it has reached the highest, it stops evolving, and NASCAR punishes stagnation swiftly.
“We’re combating the complacency with our dedication to bettering the expansion mindset of each day excellence, after which the entitlement half, I simply actually don’t have lots of time for that,” Daniels continued.
“I at all times consider no matter you simply did, a win, the accolade to go together with that, no matter it might be, somebody is at all times learning to beat that. So, we sort of must beat ourselves. We have now to enhance on what we’ve carried out earlier than, and that’s the one method we’re ever going to win once more,” he added.
Larson resonated completely with Daniels’s thought course of, and he merely admitted to considering alongside the identical strains.
The No. 5 driver thinks and works like a competitor and strikes on shortly. His focus shifts instantly to the subsequent race and the subsequent championship. “It’s not like I’m chasing one other quantity or something. I’m attempting to do job, and all that stuff takes care of itself. Possibly, as soon as I’m nearer to the tip of my profession, I’ll respect that stuff much more than I already do, or at the least be extra vocal about it.”
For now, Larson and Co. stand able to compete once more, starting with the Daytona 500 on February 15.
