In other news that will shock absolutely no one who has been paying attention for the last five years, Hendrick Motorsports has decided to keep Kyle Larson.
Yes. Really. The man who wins everything short of the coin toss at the driver’s meeting is sticking around. Hendrick has signed the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion — along with majority sponsor HendrickCars.com — to matching five-year extensions that carry this high-speed marriage through 2031. Because when something is working this well, you don’t fiddle with it. You frame it.
And just to make sure no one accidentally bumps the chemistry table, crew chief Cliff Daniels is also locked in with a multi-year extension. Daniels, still just 37, will remain perched atop the No. 5 Chevrolet’s pit box — which is rather like being handed the keys to a rocket ship and told, “Don’t scratch it.”
Since Larson and Daniels were paired in 2021, they’ve won two championships (2021 and 2025) and proceeded to treat the NASCAR stat sheet like it’s a personal to-do list. Wins? Yes. Runner-up finishes? Yes. Top fives, top 10s, laps led? All of it. Larson has 26 victories since joining Hendrick — 10 more than anyone else in that span — and over the last five seasons he’s led 2,058 more laps than the next poor soul trying to keep up.
If this were Formula 1, there would be a new rule written specifically to slow him down.
HendrickCars.com, meanwhile, isn’t just along for the ride. The company will serve as primary sponsor for 35 of 38 race weekends each season — one of the most committed single-team sponsorship deals in the sport. That’s not a logo. That’s a declaration.
“We’re incredibly grateful for this partnership with our teammates at Hendrick Motorsports,” said Jeffrey “JB” Brown, president of Hendrick Automotive Group. “Since 2021, the program has consistently delivered a nearly three-to-one return with record-breaking traffic to HendrickCars.com, over $80 million in television exposure and tens of millions of social media engagements. As we enter our company’s 50th anniversary year, racing has driven results and united our teammates in such a powerful way that extending our relationship with Kyle, Cliff, and this championship team was a no-brainer.”
And that’s really the point. A no-brainer. You have a driver who has 32 career Cup wins — 26 of them in your equipment. You have two championships. You have a marketing arm that’s pulling in a three-to-one return and racking up $80 million in television exposure. You don’t call a meeting to debate that. You call a lawyer to draft the paperwork.
Larson, for his part, sounds exactly like a man who knows he’s in the right place at the right time.
“I’m incredibly grateful to continue my career with Hendrick Motorsports and HendrickCars.com,” Larson said. “This team, this organization and this family have given me everything I need to compete at the highest level. We’ve accomplished a lot together, but I truly believe the best is still ahead. I’m grateful to Mr. Hendrick and JB for believing in me, and I’m excited to keep chasing wins and championships with Cliff and the 5 team for many more years.”
Translation: why on earth would I leave?
Rick Hendrick, who has seen just about everything this sport can throw at a team owner, framed it the way only someone with a trophy room the size of a small airport hangar can.
“When you look at what it takes to succeed at the highest level year after year, it starts with people,” Hendrick said. “Kyle is one of the most complete drivers in our sport. His talent, work ethic and instincts give us a chance to win every time we race. Cliff is a true servant leader who brings out the best in everyone around him and sets the standard for how we go to the track. Having HendrickCars.com alongside this group continues to create real, measurable value for our automotive business. Together, it’s a combination that will keep winning races and competing for championships for a long time.”
Off the track, Larson has quietly built something substantial as well. His Kyle Larson Foundation, launched in 2021, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support youth and families in need. So while he’s busy leading laps at a rate that borders on unfair, he’s also making sure the checkered flag means something beyond a trophy.
As for HendrickCars.com, its footprint now stretches across nearly every corner of North American motorsports — NASCAR’s three national series, INDYCAR, NHRA, IMSA, the CARS Tour, High Limit Racing, and a collection of dirt series that collectively make up the sport’s beating heart. In 2026, it will also serve as the majority sponsor for Corey Day and the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports team in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series.
In other words, the empire expands.
But at the center of it all sits the No. 5 Chevrolet, Kyle Larson’s right foot, and Cliff Daniels on the headset. A pairing that wins races, championships, and apparently marketing meetings.
A no-brainer? Absolutely.
The only surprising thing would have been if they hadn’t signed.
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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