NASCAR CUP SERIES
2025 PLAYOFF MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
AUGUST 27, 2025
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the start of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Media Availability Quotes:
What do you consider your team’s strengths going into the playoffs, and what do you see as the challenges?
“I mean, it’s hard to pinpoint one strength because I feel like we have a lot of strengths. Speed is always one, for sure.
We’ve just been through a lot throughout the summer. I think we’ve seen a lot of different things and we’re prepared for almost anything. I think we’re looking forward to the challenge of these next 10 and hopefully we can execute on a high level.”
What do you see as your challenges or weaknesses since you have so many strengths?
“Yeah, I think still the shorter, flatter tracks, so seeing Gateway and New Hampshire in the playoffs is not something that I was thrilled about. But I do think we’ve made our package better on that style of track. You know, I look at Iowa – we were fast and William (Byron) won. Chase (Elliott) was fast. Alex (Bowman) was fast. When we went to Richmond, we were all really good again. Alex finished second, and I think I was in sixth. Chase was probably one of the best cars that night. William was good, as well. I do think we’ve gotten our cars better on those places, but we still need to probably be better. We’ll see when we get to Gateway and New Hampshire.”
Kyle, as the elimination form has gone, how will soon it affect other drivers, you know, facing their experience with it?
“I don’t know… I don’t really notice anything being different. We’re just out there racing. We’re all trying to do the best job we can. And then, yeah, sometimes drivers get into must-win situations and you’ll see different pit calls and stuff. But outside of that, you don’t really see it be too different.”
Erik (Jones) said he wanted to reach out to you about Daytona… has he reached out yet?
“No, I haven’t spoken to him. No, but I’m open to it or at least to hear if he wanted to hear where I was coming from.”
Have you gone back to watch the closing lap yet, and has your opinion changed at all in any of the moves you made there?
“Yeah, I’ve seen the end of it, but it wasn’t like — I think you guys are all asking me and even I listened to his comments, they weren’t even that bad. But then I got approached like he was pissed off and it was this malicious thing, but it wasn’t.
If he wanted to have a conversation, I think he would have reached out by now. But I think him just hearing my side of my interviews and like why I was pushing as aggressively as I was or whatever, I think probably answered all of his questions.”
You said a couple weeks ago that it would be nice if this team could just get some momentum with how the summer has gone. I think it was back-to-back top-10s at Richmond and Daytona. Do you feel like you guys are on the right foot now going into Darlington?
“Yeah, I do. I do think we’re. I would love to have been leading a bunch of laps, but Richmond’s not really the place that we’re going to go lead laps anyways and Daytona’s just a different style race. But it still was good to get two solid finishes in a row and get through another superspeedway without a crash.
And then, it leads into Darlington, which is a great track for us. So yeah, I look forward to getting the playoffs started. I think our team has been through a lot. I think we’ve seen a bunch and we’re prepared for a lot of different things.
But we’ll see. You just have to go out there and execute like any other week.”
Does the racing in the playoffs really change that much? I mean, are people doing desperate things or do you feel like that’s overblown?
“Honestly, in my opinion, I feel like the racing has always calmed down a little bit once you get to the playoffs because everybody’s so conscious of finishing and trying to just get the best finish possible that day. Obviously, when you get to the cutoff races and stuff, maybe it might ramp up a little bit, or teams’ pit calls might get a little bit more desperate. But I feel like it kind of calms down because we’re trying to finish. Other teams that aren’t in the playoffs recognize that we’re racing for something and sometimes there’s a little bit more give and take. But it’s still ultra-aggressive. I mean, it’s Next Gen racing, but I do believe it dials back a little bit.”
How refreshing is it to see tracks that you guys have been to on the schedule already in the playoffs, especially tracks like Bristol that you guys have been great at?
“Yeah, I think there’s definitely a number of tracks in the playoffs that we know we’ll be fast at. You don’t ever know, but you assume you’re going to be fast at them. It’s good to have those tracks, especially in the first round, to get our feet under us; get running strong, hopefully lead in laps and challenging for wins. Gaining some more playoff points would be great leading into the next rounds.”
Do the playoffs seem long to you? What’s it like for you during the ten weeks of the playoffs?
“Yeah, definitely feels long. Not that it feels long, but I feel like the favorite to start the playoffs might not necessarily be the favorite seven weeks from now. It feels so long. The sport still changes a lot and momentum can change quite a bit.”
How hard is it to keep your attention and focus up that much? People watching TV probably don’t know how much it takes…
“Yeah, I mean, at least from the competitor’s standpoint, I don’t think it’s hard to keep your focus because there’s a lot on the line. It’s kind of a three-week mini-series within the 10 weeks.
Getting back on track at Mexico and what you’ve been doing, that was the difference in you getting the number one seed. Why is Cliff (Daniels) so good at that strategy part that no one else can think of?
“I don’t know. I mean, we just never give up, really. It’s not that others, I don’t think, are aware of that. You know, I think people are — if you go to the DVP and can fix your car, I feel like nine times out of ten, teams are doing that. It’s just happened to where our car is still drivable and fast enough to go for that stuff. Like Watkins Glen was a brake fitting. In Mexico, we got smashed, but thankfully our car was driving okay and we were able to go out and get the fast lap. So, yeah, it is cool that it paid off because you don’t know if those little moments are going to pay off, but it was neat that it did.”
I was listening to the radio at Daytona, and Cliff (Daniels) was very complimentary of your fuel saving ability to kind of put you in position for that final stage. How much better do you think you’ve gotten at fuel saving?
“I’m not… I’ve always been great at fuel saving on those tracks.
Is it a skill you kind of practice?
“No, I mean, I don’t know. I guess over time, you get the hang of it. A lot of people act like we’ve never saved fuel before on superspeedways, but as long as I’ve ever been in NASCAR, we’ve always been saving fuel, it’s just now we have SMT and TVs can look at it and stuff, so it’s just a topic. But yeah, we’ve all been saving fuel at those places for over 10 years now, at least in my career.”
So it’s something you just coped over time?
“Yeah, I mean, I guess. I will say, at least for the Chevys, we have the key partners’ stuff that we study. I would say Chase and myself are the most conscious about fuel savings, at least having enough fuel on board to have a short pit stop for the green flag cycle. So that’s really all it is.”
There was a point this year where it felt like it was a theme every week, not just the superspeedways, that it’s a fuel mileage race. Do you expect that will be the case in the playoffs, that it’s always going to be sort of lurking at the end?
“I think at some point in the race, I feel like fuel is always kind of on your mind because you’re setting up for the next pit stop or whatever the case may be. But yeah, I don’t know if that was a circumstance. I think it was kind of circumstantial that a lot of those races have fuel savings on the final to run to the end.
But I don’t know. If a race goes straightforward, it’s not going to be that way. But you just never know when cautions are going to fall.”
Since you’ve raced against (Christopher) Bell probably more than anybody here, what makes him such a formidable opponent? I mean, granted, he’s in Gibbs equipment and you’re in Hendrick equipment, but what distinguishes him as a guy that seems the last three years was capable of making it to the Championship Four?
“Yeah, he’s an extremely great race car driver; very smart and calculated in the NASCAR stuff and dirt stuff. I mean, he’s always been good on dirt. But NASCAR, especially in the playoffs, it seems he’s been like a closer, you know? He’s won when he’s needed to. I’m thinking of like a Homestead or something, you know, he’s quietly been mid-pack during the race, and then boom, there he is at the end winning or whatever the case may be. I think he’s done it at the Roval before and Martinsville. He’s a threat everywhere.”
It has been such a successful season for you and High Limit. What have you learned about being a series promoter?
Yeah, it’s been a great year for High Limit. It’s just cool to see the growth of our series and sprint car racing. I think we just have a long way to go still. You know, our franchise system hasn’t been fully implemented yet. It’ll start next year. I’m curious to see what teams will look at that and want to come race with us. We’re continuing to add big events and everything.
But to this point, yeah, it’s been great. I think our team has done a really good job. Brad (Sweet) has put in a ton of effort, as well as everybody at High Limit. So, yeah, it’s great, and we look forward to the future.”
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