NASCAR Cup Series
Chase Media Day
Team Chevy Driver Quotes
September 2, 2026
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase Media Day Quotes
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“I don’t even know what the third track is, but yeah, I don’t know. It’s just important to get good runs in at every track. Obviously, if you can start the Chase off with some solid results, some solid points, you’ll just give yourself better hope throughout it. I mean, 10 weeks is a long time, but I think you can quickly feel like you’re out of it and you don’t want to do that.”
On how he feels going into the postseason:
“I don’t know, I’m not as confident as I’ve been, for sure, in other years. But I wasn’t, honestly, sitting here that confident last year, and we were able to win the championship. I know there’s a path to do it. We did it last year without winning a race in the final 10 races, and we weren’t even really all that consistent, from what I remember. I think if we can be ultra-consistent in these final 10 races, there’s no doubt that I could see ourselves winning the championship.
I mean, I could also see ourselves winning four or five races in the Chase. You know, things have to go perfect, but we do have a lot of good tracks for us in these final 10. We just need to execute at a high level, and I think our team is definitely capable of that. We’ll try and do our best.”
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“Yeah, I mean, the good thing is we’ve gotten to live through 26 races of it. I know it’s not with the pressure of the final 10, but still, you get to realize how much consistency really matters. You know, there was a point before we started having our 30th-place finishes where it was like, man, we could get to third in points in the regular season. And then, come Daytona, we had an opportunity to finish 12th in the regular season points. So yeah, it can quickly kind of go either direction. We rattled off a good string of races with four top-fives in a row. We scored a lot more points than I think even Denny (Hamlin) had at that point. So yeah, we just have to work hard at it.”
On the different tracks in the Chase:
“Gateway would be a track that doesn’t really tend to suit our style of setup and stuff. But we were really good there last year. I actually thought that we were maybe the best car there last year, just the strategy got away from us.
And then, I don’t know, Talladega could go great or go bad. Phoenix, we suck, so I’m glad that’s not the final race anymore (laughs). We were horrible there, so that’s maybe our worst track on the schedule.”
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“I don’t think it changes the way I think about a race or approach a race. You show up and do the best job you can every week. I mean, there’s no guarantee that I’m going win a dirt race when I show up either. So, it’s the same at a NASCAR race. I feel like I have a better opportunity sometimes, but this series is just really tough and the teams are good. There’s a team or two that are just way faster than everybody right now. So, we as a team, are working really hard to get back to that point to make wins a lot easier, like they once were.
I mean, I think for me, again, you’re just trying to do the best job you can. You realize early on in the race kind of where you’re at for speed and stuff and you adjust your sort of expectations and goals mid-race to that. And then, you try to match it or do better.
On racing at Gateway:
“I mean, Gateway, I don’t look at Richmond as really mattering towards that. It’s a totally different surface, totally different track, everything. There’s nothing like it. I think, last year, we were actually really good at Gateway, so I look more at that. Do I think that we’ll be the best car going again this year? I don’t know…hopefully. We have a good baseline for that track. I think it’s pretty solid.”
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“Well, I mean, the ceiling is a championship. We’ve done it twice. I know it’s a previous format, but we would have done it in this format last year. There’s still a way to do it. So, absolutely, I think we can win the championship. It’s going to be tougher than most years, just with where we are at with the speed and deficit in points. But it’s absolutely doable.”
On the change for the postseason format:
“I think for the sport, I’m happy with the change, for sure. And then, also, I mean, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m going to show up and race whatever format they bring. But I think this format, so far, has proven to be really exciting still.”
Inaudible…
“Well, I mean, you can recognize it your whole career. I feel like, when I was back at Ganassi, there were a lot of weekends where I would go to the racetrack knowing I would have no shot to win. But you have other goals, you know? So, it’s all kind of the same. It’s just, where’s that bar leading into that weekend?
But I think this year, I think it’s fair to lower your expectations a little bit some weekends, just based off where you’re at realistically. And I think that, a lot of times, that can help you execute better days, you know? You’re not reaching for something that’s not reachable. I think we’re in a really, really good spot as a team. We’re continuing to get our cars better. You know, we have gotten our cars better. I feel like from where we were in April, or even early May, we’re way better. I’m proud of our team for that, and we still have 10 weeks to get better. 10 weeks is a long time.”
On the pressure heading into the Chase:
“I don’t know how I feel, either way. You know, I’ve come into playoffs before as the number one seed, and I didn’t feel any more or less pressure then than I do now. It’s just about trying to execute on a high level and try to do a good job. I just enjoy this time of year. It’s fun for all of us to be a part of it. Do I feel like we’re flying under the radar? No. You just kind of go out there and focus on yourself and try to do the best you can.”
On the announcement of Days of Thunder 2:
“Oh, I don’t know. I mean, it’s whatever they want. I think it would be a cool opportunity, for sure, but I’m also not an actor, so I don’t want to make the film worse. It was awesome to get the opportunity to meet him (Tom Cruise). He’s a celebrity like I’ve never met before in my life. You could tell he was different than the rest of us, in a cool way, like really, really cool. We got to meet him in a prior meeting before the driver’s meeting, and it was just cool to hear him talk about us. He kind of already knows a little bit about us, so I thought that was neat. I look forward to kind of seeing the process of them making a movie and having, hopefully, us involved in some form or fashion of helping to build a storyline, be a part of the movie or whatever.
I would love them (Hendrick Motorsports) to be involved, and I don’t think there’s another team in the sport that would do as much or as good of a job of helping build the best film possible than Hendrick Motorsports. They just go above and beyond on everything, and they have the experience of helping out with the last one. I haven’t heard if they’re a part of it or not. I hope they are. I think that’d be just really cool and awesome to see that kind of happening within the walls of Hendrick Motorsports. I hope they can do something to work it out to be a part of it because I think it would make the movie even better.”
Is the pressure different in this format compared to the previous?
“Yeah, it’s probably a different pressure, for sure. I mean, you wanted to be consistent in the previous format so you didn’t want to have to rely on wins. Thankfully, I don’t think I was ever in a must-win situation in my time of being in a competitive car in the playoffs, so I don’t really know what that pressure is like. But for me, I think it’s pretty straightforward. You want to maximize your days in any format, so we’re going to try and do that.”
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