NASCAR Cup Series
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Team Chevy Driver Quotes
October 3, 2026
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The current points leader and three-time Cup Series winner at the 1.5-mile Nevada circuit will be sporting a special paint scheme this weekend to honor Kyle Busch.
Media Availability Quotes:
Kyle, you are running a special paint scheme this weekend. Do you want to talk about that, how that came together and what that’s all about?
“Yeah, it’s a tribute and a throwback to when Kyle (Busch) ran at Hendrick Motorsports. He got a few wins in that paint scheme. Yeah, it was just important to at least mention it, to try and convince them if we could do it. And thankfully, everybody at HendrickCars.com and Hendrick Motorsports were all on board. It’s a beautiful paint scheme, and definitely I think for everybody, it brings back some cool memories. Excited to get it on track at his home track and hopefully have a good weekend.”
In the process of having the scheme designed and unveiled at the shop, did anyone within company leadership talk about their favorite stories of that time or them working with Kyle? Is there any kind of standout story that was shared amongst the group?
“I mean, I haven’t been around it enough or around the shop this week to get the intimate stories, but I’m sure throughout the weekend, we’ll all hear a lot of that as we get back to the shop. And hopefully, after a good weekend, we’ll hear more. I wasn’t around this whole week to be in the shop, to see it on the shop floor and dressed up. But, yeah, like I said, I’m sure when we get back, we’ll all hear more and reminisce.”
As the Next Gen car has evolved on intermediate tracks, whether it’s just the teams learning how to optimize the car or the various changes they’ve made to the aero and things like that to keep the car rounded, has that changed the fundamental way that you guys race on intermediate tracks, or has it still been pretty similar over the course of four or five years?
“Sure, I’m sure there’s been differences along the way as those small changes have been added. I think the biggest thing for me has been the tires have changed, I think, quite a bit since we first came to intermediates. I remember when we first would come to these style of tracks, you would just build so loose throughout a run. And now, you have that half as bad. I feel like the cars are easier to drive on the tire side of things throughout a duration of a run. And then, just teams getting the cars more optimized probably helps that, as well. So, yeah, it’s definitely more track position dependent than it was when we first debuted this racecar. As you would imagine, things would progress to being this way. Teams have just learned a lot, and it makes executing a solid weekend from start to finish that much more important than it even was before, which it was very important back then.”
It says Tiny Kyle, is that right, on the door? Is that the name you gave yourself, or the name that Kyle and Brexton (Busch) gave you?
“Yeah, that’s what Kyle and Brexton (Busch) always would call me. We put it on the car for the Charlotte weekend, and when we decided to do this paint scheme, I mean, we had to put ‘Tiny Kyle’ on there. That’s what Kyle always called me. And then, Brexton calls me that, as well.”
Did you like that?
“Yeah, I don’t mind it. I never minded it. I always thought it was funny. You know, it’s kind of cool that it’s more of like a joke, I think, on their behalf to me because Brexton’s about my size already, and Kyle was much bigger than me. But yeah, I like it, for sure.”
I know it’s not a two-driver race, at least not yet, but competing against Denny (Hamlin), a good friend of yours, what do you have to do to beat him?
“Well, you have to run good all race, every race. I think he’s got the best average finish in the Next Gen era, probably the best average finish that we’ve seen in a very, very long time. So, with that, you’ve got to be ultra-consistent. He’s just not going to have DNFs, and his bad days would be around 10th. So, with that, you can’t have DNFs. I mean, obviously, you have Talladega out there where anything can happen, but he still seems to find a way to finish those even. So, yeah, you’ve just got to be consistent.”
Obviously the goal is to maximize the points you’re getting, but how critical is it as we’re getting to the halfway point of the Chase now? Is it to build a gap to other Chase contenders and really separate yourself from the rest of the contenders?
“Yeah, I mean, obviously, I would love to. I would love to continue to put together weekends like we have, where we’ve gained a lot of points, just to stretch it out. That way, if you do have a blowup race, you won’t fall down the order a lot. But I mean, that’s not guaranteed.
I mean, that’s really not on my mind when I’m out there. I’m just kind of treating it as just trying to get a good practice, qualify well, get a good first stage, get a good second stage, and a good third stage. And then, you look at the points afterwards. It’s been a good start to the Chase, obviously, at this point, and would just love to keep it going.”
You have talked a lot about the love you discovered of working through struggles throughout the early part of the season. Where would you say your confidence is now compared to where it was during the spring?
“I would say I always had confidence that we would get back to a solid state of performance. I just didn’t know how long that would take, if it would take weeks or months or years. So, yeah, I mean, it’s definitely turned around quicker than I thought it could. So yeah, the confidence is high, but I still wouldn’t say that I’m as confident as I was in 2021 when everything was just so easy and we were putting together weekends like we did last week every week. I still don’t think we’re to that level yet. I don’t know if anybody will ever get to that sort of level again, at least in this Next Gen era. I feel like we’re just in a better place than we were in the summer. I just think when you’re in a team like Hendrick Motorsports, it gives you natural confidence, just being surrounded by great, smart people, that you’re going to dig out of the hole eventually. You just got to stay patient.”
On the Dale Jr. download this week, you mentioned that stage points feel like they have like sort of outsized points right now in the chase. Is there anything that you see that could be a tweak made?
“I don’t know. I mean, I haven’t put like a whole lot of thought into that. I’ve just recognized throughout the Chase, especially, that it just seems very, very important. I think I mentioned it on there, and correct me if I’m wrong, I could be off, but I think Ryan Preece has finished in the top-10 every race in the Chase; four top-10s probably or he’s been right around 10th every time. But he’s probably got five-ish stage points in the Chase, and he’s not made any ground up, it seems. He’s probably got one of the better average finishes out of all of us, yet he’s stuck because others get good stage points, a rotor failure, a crash or whatever, and they earn almost as many points as he does.
So, yeah, I see the upside of stages because people want to argue that you should be rewarded for running up front all race long. But then, there’s also the side of it that you should be rewarded for just good, consistent finishes, even more than what it is right now. A team like his might not qualify in the top-15; you’ve got to just grind your way through the race, and you just run 11th in every stage. And then, you squeak into the top-10 and it’s like you’ve not really gained much on the guys that got a DNF.
So, I don’t know. And I’ve scored the most stage points by a lot, I think, but I don’t know. I just think we’re the only series that gives out those little participation awards in competition.”
I wanted to ask you a little bit, your friendship with Denny (Hamlin). What is that like when it’s the two of you vying for a championship? I mean, you had that last year. You’ve got it this year. Do you guys speak as often as you would normally? Do you play as much golf? What is that dynamic like between the two of you?
“Yeah, I mean, we’re friends, but we’re not like BFFs like I think everybody makes us out to be (laughs). I don’t golf, really, anymore, so with that, I haven’t played in the Golf Guys Tour in the last, I don’t know, three or four years. I couldn’t tell you the last time I played golf with Denny (Hamlin), but that’s not because I dislike him or anything like that. Our lives are kind of separate a little bit in that side of things. But, yeah, I mean, I still talk to him when I see him on the track. I’m still in some group texts with him, so we chit-chat and all that now and then.
But, ultimately, I just have a lot of respect for him as a competitor, and I think the same would go for him for me. He’s been the best in the series, I feel like, for the last couple years. Competing with him as he’s trying to chase his first championship is fun. It’s fun to try to keep him from doing that, and I think it’s fun for him to try to work really hard to beat not only me but others to gain that first championship, too. So, yeah, the competition is a lot of fun. There’s nobody more competitive than Denny Hamlin in all facets of anything. So, yeah, it makes it rewarding when you beat him. It makes you try harder to beat him.”
Your average finish is 2.5 coming into this race. Looking forward, and knowing where Denny (Hamlin) is good and where Denny is bad, where do you expect that he might have trouble in these final Chase races? Where do you expect to or worry about having trouble and how do you approach those tracks?
“Well, I don’t think he’s bad anywhere, truthfully. I mean, you look at all these racetracks. Vegas, he’s extremely good. Charlotte, he should have won the 600. Phoenix, he’s super good. Talladega could go any which way. Martinsville, there’s nobody better. Am I missing any tracks? Homestead, yeah, I would feel like that’s probably the one track ahead that I’m confident that I’m better than him at. So, yeah, I mean, that just makes you have to execute because you know he’s going to be up front all race long at all these races, maybe outside of Talladega. But again, that’s just fun to compete with somebody that makes you have to level up like that.”
Are you worried about any of the tracks for you?
“Well, I mean, all of them. But yeah, Talladega can go either way. And then, Phoenix is, on paper, we’ve finished well there, but it’s probably our worst track on the circuit. So, yeah, hopefully we can get better there.”
I’d like to circle back to something you said earlier about Hendrick Motorsports. There’s a lot of smart people in the room and Cliff Daniels is one of those smart people. Last week, he got a little bit of a spotlight shine on him after the race. But I wanted to know just a little bit more about Cliff Daniels outside of the racetrack. What’s your favorite off-track memory you have of him as you guys have worked together over the years?
“Well, I mean, I can just speak on his leadership. I just think there’s nobody better on that side of things. He just takes his role extremely serious, and he’s so good at it. He’s just pushing people and pushing himself to be better. He works every bit as hard on that side of things as he does on making the racecar fast, so yeah, again, I think that’s what makes him special. I’ll never forget our first championship and spending it with him afterwards, so hopefully we have more of those celebrations.”
A lot of comparisons can be drawn to Cliff Daniels and Chad Knaus. How do you see that relationship as you’re in the walls of Hendrick Motorsports, and what’s that dynamic like between the two of them?
“Yeah, I mean, I think they’re two very similar people in how they approach success, work ethic and all of that. I’m sure Cliff (Daniels) learned a lot from Chad (Knaus) working underneath him as an engineer for those years that he did with Jimmie (Johnson). I’m sure a lot of his foundation was set then in on how he is. I’ve always heard of Cliff being an ultra-competitive leader even back to his kickball days, so I think it’s just been in him. I think he enjoys the fact of being compared to Chad. I also enjoy the fact that we’re both compared in the same sort of categories as Jimmie and Chad because they’re the greatest of this modern generation. When you can be in the same sentence as them, you feel like you’re doing something good.”
Under the previous playoff format, there would be 12 drivers, essentially, in contention at this point, whereas right now, you have about half of that. As a competitor, do you like having that condensed crop of title contenders, or would you rather have that 10-plus that you’re trying to fend off for the title at this point?
“I don’t know. I mean, it doesn’t really matter, I guess, at this point because it’s not that way. And who’s to say it’s always going to be like this? I mean, next year, there could be 12 guys in contention if races go a different way, or there could be less. So, I don’t know. I just think at the end of the day and at the end of the season, whoever wins a championship, there’s going to be no argument, or there shouldn’t be. But where the previous format, in the Next Gen cars, I feel like there was always a bit of an argument on if that champion was deserving. So, yeah, I think it’s fine how it is.”
As the leader with the points cushion you have right now, are you looking down at the standings towards like sixth or seventh to see who could make a run, or are you just minding your own race?
“Yeah, I mean, I think for me, I don’t view my gap as anything, where I think a lot of media members, it sounds like, views it that way. And then, I also don’t consider as many people out of it as it seems like everybody else does. There’s just a lot of racing left. There’s a lot of points on the table. There’s a lot of things that can happen. There’s a lot of restarts left. There’s all sorts of things. So, yeah, I think with that, you just stay focused on yourself; stay focused on your team and what you’re doing during the week to improve and prepare for the upcoming race. I think that’s kind of where we’re at as a team, and that’s where we’ve been at all year. So, yeah, just have to kind of keep it going.”
Last night was a big night here for the facility with the Kyle Busch Classic. We saw Owen (Larson) hanging out with Brexton (Busch). How cool is it to see the relationship they carry, learning together and racing together on other tracks, and how nice would it be to continue to see them climb up the ranks together?
“Yeah, Owen (Larson) had a great time here yesterday. He was here all day. I was waiting for him to text us, like, ‘hey, come pick me up, I’m bored now. I’ve been here all day’. But Katelyn (Larson) checked in with him, and he said he was having a blast, so that was really cool. And then, I ultimately ended up coming out here because it was getting late, so I watched the Legends race and then picked him up and stayed here at the track.
But yeah, just to see the enjoyment that he was having there and getting to see the little bits of videos — I think Bob (Pockrass) maybe posted something before the Legends race of them, like, looking at Flo together on Brexton’s phone. Just memories like that, I think, we’ll all remember for a long time. I hope that they’ll remember nights like that together. And yeah, hopefully, they’re racing across the street someday together on this big track. But yeah, it’s fun to obviously follow their careers, but even the others that you might not know about right now that are working really hard to try to make it someday. Grassroots racing is in a great spot right now.”
For you, obviously we’ve seen you in victory lane many times throughout your career, in different series, running different schemes. But if all goes well, what would a Kyle Busch throwback scheme look like in victory lane rank amongst all the cars you’ve taken there? “Yeah, it’s definitely going to add some level of importance and memory to winning in a scheme like that. But you don’t ever want to get ahead of yourself, and I don’t ever like to think about what a celebration might be like. I just try to, again, do a good job. If you end up in Victory Lane, that’s when those emotions happen, and you can never predict what it’s going to be like.”
I want to circle back to how you said you guys kind of had some struggles earlier in the season. One track where you didn’t struggle was here in Las Vegas. You and the entire Hendrick Motorsports organization were actually really well, but you were slightly off of JGR. How do you think the change in the splitter affected you guys last week at Kansas? And although Kansas and Las Vegas are two different tracks, can you take anything away from last week and put it forth towards this weekend?
“Honestly, I had no idea there was anything different with splitters. I don’t get involved in any of that.
And then, yeah, I mean, for Vegas earlier this year, we actually weren’t that good for our standards here. I felt like we were like a, I don’t know, 6th to 8th, 9th-place car. I just remember my balance was just different every run. It was hard to get a good, consistent race because I was always just fighting something different. But, yeah, I mean, Chase (Elliott) was really good. I watched some of his onboard this morning from that, and what his car was able to do is what I feel like I’m typically able to do here. He was really strong at the end of that race. I think our package has come a long way since March or whenever we were here, so excited to get on track. I mean, it’s going to be a lot different. It’s so much hotter, and the surface is going to be slipperier and it usually feels bumpier because of that. So, yeah, we’ll see. I don’t know. I still believe that Toyota’s and Denny (Hamlin) will be the best, but hopefully we’ve narrowed that gap even more here.”
We saw the other night that you were at the Aces-Fever game. What was your experience like there, and how important is it to support the teams in the cities that you’re racing in? “Yeah, that kind of came together last minute, but it was a lot of fun to go there. I’ve honestly been to more WNBA games than NBA games here in the last couple years, and I enjoy it. You know, the atmosphere at those games are way better than watching the men play. It’s loud the whole time. People are screaming, cheering and booing, and the girls are fiery on the court. I enjoy it. It’s a good time. Anytime you get to see Caitlin Clark play, it’s going to be exciting. And, you know, Sophie Cunningham, being a fan of NASCAR, you have somebody to cheer for. So, yeah, I enjoyed watching it, and I’m sure I’ll go again. It was a good time.”
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