Kyle Larson and crew chief Cliff Daniels open the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season with a clear mindset. Defend the title. The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team earned its 2025 championship through consistency, innovative strategy, and strong points management.
Wins were not the story in the playoffs. Execution was. NASCAR’s return to a 10-race Chase format raises the stakes on weekly performance and punishes mistakes over time.
Kyle Larson sealed his second Cup title with a third-place finish at Phoenix Raceway. The season leaned on stage points, steady finishes, and damage control when problems surfaced. Three early wins kept the team positioned.
During the playoffs, the focus stayed on points, not risk. Larson said the shift from celebrating to preparing came fast, making the offseason feel longer than expected.
Kyle Larson eager to get back on track
“Offseasons are fun and all that to get refreshed. But then, as it approaches the new season, I just get really antsy and ready to go and look forward to being around everybody again and getting into the meetings and preparation and race weekends and all of that that goes into it.”
Larson explained that the week following the championship was busy, but once it ended, the focus shifted straight to 2026. That quick reset changed how the offseason felt compared to past years.
“This year, it was crazy hectic for a week. But then once that week was done, it was like, boom, you’re moved on to the next year. So it’s made the offseason feel longer, I think, for me, and that’s been something I’ve enjoyed.”
The break gave Larson time to reset, but his attention is now entirely on returning to competition and building momentum early in the season.
Chase format reshapes championship fight
NASCAR’s move back to the Chase format removes elimination rounds and replaces them with a 10-race, points-based playoff. The structure reduces the impact of a single poor race and places greater emphasis on consistent results.
“I think probably all of us were happy to hear of the format change. I think your championship contenders in the playoff format are gonna be the same in this format. It’s just that a larger sample size is gonna be much nicer.”
Kyle Larson said the longer format reduces the effect of bad luck and balances the championship battle across different tracks.
“A lot can happen in a three-race mini-series that can take you out of it. The larger sample size is gonna be better, and I think it would suit Hendrick Motorsports better.”
With every race counting toward the final standings, teams must focus on clean execution and steady points accumulation.
Cliff Daniels stresses execution and process
Crew chief Cliff Daniels said the team views 2026 as a fresh challenge despite winning the title.
“That accomplishment is great to have, but at the same time, every year presents its own set of challenges and circumstances. With the Chase format this year, it’s all kind of a different look.”
Daniels said the lessons from 2025 center on preparation, communication, and execution.
“What we can take from one year to another is how we build our daily process, how we execute, how we perform, how we communicate. We apply that to whatever comes our way this season.”
He also pointed to stage points as a key factor last year, especially when races did not finish as planned. Daniels said that approach will matter even more under the updated points system, which adds value to stage results and race wins.
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