NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 11, 2026
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – 2026 DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes:
This is your 13th Daytona 500 start this year, and I am wondering if there has come a point, or will there come a point of urgency to get this one done before you start to become the guy on the graphic with X starts and looking for his first?
“No, I don’t really care about all that. Yeah, it’s a tough race to win and a lot of circumstances go into it and honestly in the past, up until the last few years, I just didn’t think that I was good enough to win. But now I feel like I could see it happening and not be complete luck. So that gets me excited, but that doesn’t guarantee anything. So, obviously we all would love to win this race in our careers, but if it doesn’t happen it’s not going to make my career feel any less to me.”
How does the intensity pick up after that last green flag stop?
“Yeah, it always picks up after any green flag stop, in either of the stages, or in the race. But yeah, at the end of the race it probably picks up more, but it just depends. Sometimes we don’t get to a green flag stop, and we get a pit stop and then it’s a long, little run when we are all good on fuel and its crazy. So, you just have to be ready for anything, and you just hope you have positioned yourself well.”
Regarding the new format, people think you need to work more on consistency. Do you think that is a fair point or is that a bit of a misconception about you?
“I wouldn’t say it’s a misconception, but you can look at the number of DNFs I have had in my career. But I feel like that is something that I have tried to work on and I feel like it’s something that we got a lot better at last year. We didn’t win in the final 20-something races of the year, had the most points in the playoffs, and won the championship without winning a race. So, I think we are definitely consistent. It’s not boom or bust every week like you said, but I feel like everybody is pretty inconsistent in the Next Gen era.”
Kyle, do you have a favorite memory of Greg Biffle?
“For me it’s just that I don’t really remember getting to compete a whole lot with him, but he was always extremely nice to me outside the car and just so down to earth and just very normal. He would just stop and come and talk me, or just going to Millbridge as fans, or anywhere that I would see him out and about. On the lake, at the grocery store, or wherever. We lived near each other, so I felt like we ran into each other a lot. Our youngest went to the same pre-school together, so I would bump into him there as well. Like I said, he was always really nice and complimentary of me which was cool because I have always respected him as a competitor and obviously as a person. Sad to see his passing, and his family and wife, the pilots and everybody on board. So that was definitely a sad day and a sad day for the sport.”
Can you talk about the NASCAR promo featuring you and your wife?
“Yeah, it was just fun to get to do something with a family member of mine. And then I even got to do a Roto Rooter commercial the next week with my kids and both of those were really cool. Katelyn really surprised me because she really enjoyed it and she was really into it. She did a great job with her performance, so it was fun and cool the way it turned out. You don’t really know how it’s going to turn out when you are doing it, but they pieced it together really good and I think it was a great way to promote the sport and promote the event.”
I know this time of year everyone asks you about superspeedways and drafting, but last year you scored the second most points (at superspeedways). How rewarding is it to see that come to fruition?
“Yeah, last year was rewarding because I feel like the last four years our team is one of the best performing teams, but we just haven’t got the finishes to go along with it. I think most of the competitors would agree that we are usually up in the front eight positions. So last year was rewarding because we performed very similar to how we have, we just missed most of the wrecks. So that was good and now all the media members think I have finally figured out superspeedways. But it could quickly change and we could get wrapped up in a wreck again and its back to I suck. But as always, we are just going to try and do what we can to be up in the front and be in the safest position to go and chase the win.”
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