He's kidding, right? Team director Cliff Daniels can't really say that Chevrolet's advantage over Ford and Toyota at the start of the season wasn't what it seems, right?
Well? Did he really say that after eight Chevrolet drivers led 237 of the 267 laps at the Penn 400 Grand Prix at Las Vegas Speedway?
I think the gap is actually smaller than it seems on paper," Daniels said. His Kyle Larsen's No. 5 Chevrolet team won the Cup by a landslide. "One advantage that we may have at the moment is the continuity of our knowledge of our vehicles. Considering that their (new) cars are different, I imagine that the dynamic balance and some handling characteristics are different.
The continuity of our stuff and deep notes were very helpful. But we're going to have to evolve very quickly, because Ford and Toyota are starting to figure out their stuff, and the gap is going to be narrowed. As I write down my post-fight notes, I'll say the gap across the field is tighter than it was when we won here last fall. ”
Unsurprisingly, Hendrik Motorsport's general manager Jeff Andrews echoed this after seeing HMS claim Team Boss Rick Hendrick's 303rd Cup win since 1984.
We know we have very little room here," Andrews said. "We knew we were facing new cars from Ford and Toyota [so] we had to work as best we could and continue to develop the car. We're still in the early stages of the season and there's still a lot of games to go. As Cliff said, Ford and Toyota will get there. 45 (runner-up Taylor Reddick) is very good, and you see a couple of Fords out there. Anytime you change platforms on a large scale like they do, it takes some time.
Both OEMs certainly have a lot of potential. We've got to keep pushing very, really hard to keep our competitive position early throughout the summer and then get ready for the fall. But I'm really proud of what we've done so far this season. ”
So....The gap between Chevrolet's field-proven Camaro and Ford's all-new Mustang and Hawny and Toyota's all-new Camry XSE may be tighter than it seems on paper. On the track, however, things are different.
Some numbers: Chevrolet is 1-2 in Daytona Beach, 1-3 in Atlanta, 1-4 in Las Vegas; It occupies 11 of the 30 top 10 finishes this year, ahead of Toyota's 10 and Ford's nine; In NASCAR's first three series, Chevrolet went 8-9, 3-3 in the Cup, 2-3 in the Xfinity series, and 3-3 in the Artisan Truck series; And the Butterfly Buckle Gang has 6 drivers in the top 10 in the Cup and XFINITY standings, and 4 drivers in the top 10 in the Craftsman Standings.
Larsen led the most laps, won two stages and earned Chevrolet a third straight early season victory. Teammate William Byron won the opening Daytona 500 Grand Prix, and Chevrolet driver Daniel Suarez won a tight race in Atlanta last weekend. Some argue that Las Vegas is the "real" season opener because of the modest 1With a 5-mile meter, it's slower than Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Speedway, requiring a more traditional chassis setup and more driver input.
Similar to the first two races of the year, the Penn 400 Grand Prix had its moments, despite leading eight of the 267 laps and taking 181 laps, including the final 26. He held off Redick on a Toyota, reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney on a Ford, Ross Chestein on another Chevrolet and Ty Gibbs on another Toyota. Larsen effectively threw the winning block to challenge Redick on the final lap of the race.
The win was his 18th since joining Hendrick in 2021 and his 24th total after winning six races with Chip Ganassier between 2014 and 2020. He was fired by Ganascar for using racist remarks in an iracing game and banished by NASCAR for most of 2020. After nearly eight months of sensitivity training, counseling, and public outreach, NASCAR reactivated him in late 2020.
Hendrick didn't hesitate to recruit him to fill the void left by Jimmy Johnson after he left racing for Indycar. Larsen and Daniels won 18 points games together (plus two All-Star games), made the playoffs for three years in a row, and won the 2021 Cup Series to cap off their 10-win fairytale season.
And now, with the playoffs all but set to be set and the series heads to the 15 venues he's already won 21 times, it might be a good time to bet on Larsen to win another title.
After all, he's playing for Chevrolet, NASCAR's best team.