Editor‘s Note: This continues the series of season reviews for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs drivers.
Driver: Kyle Larson
Car: No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Crew chief: Cliff Daniels
Final 2021 ranking: 1st
Key stats: 10 wins, 20 top fives, 26 top 10s, 2,581 laps led
How 2021 ended:
Larson, 29, concluded his season in a place he visited more than any other driver: Victory Lane. That series-best 10th win (at the Phoenix season-ender) also delivered his first NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy. Larson won five of the 10 Playoff races — including four of the final five (at the Charlotte Roval, Texas, Kansas and Phoenix) in one of the most dominant title runs since a fellow Hendrick driver, seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson, also won 10 races in 2007. Larson‘s five Playoff wins equal a historic best Playoff mark set by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart in 2011.
Best race:
Although it would seem like an obvious choice, Larson‘s most memorable performance of his first title season will likely be the season-ending — championship victory. It was the ultimate display of teamwork. Larson led a race-best 107 laps, but the No. 5 pit crew contributed a clutch final pit stop that moved him back into the race lead and allowed him to work his magic out front in the closing 28 laps. He ended up beating former series champ Martin Truex Jr. to the finish line by .398-seconds and the first thing he did after taking the most important checkered flag of his career was to thank the pit crew for their work.
MORE: Kyle Larson through the years
Other season highlights:
It‘s no exaggeration to say Larson‘s 2021 season highlight reel spanned the drop of the first green flag to the flying of the final checkered flag. He finished with career bests in top fives (20) and tops 10s (26). His 10 wins more than doubled his previous best work (four wins in 2017) and his 2,581 laps led nearly doubled his previous top mark (1,352 in 2017) — which is also saying a lot. His average start (6.1) and average finish (9.1) were also career-best marks. His win, top-five and top-10 totals were best in the series and his laps led were more than 1,000 laps better than any other driver — Denny Hamlin was second-best with 1,502 laps out front. And if that wasn’t enough …. Larson picked up a midseason $1 million check for winning his first NASCAR All-Star Race.
Stat to know:
Larson led at least 100 laps in 11 races — five times he led at least 200 laps. Of those 11 races, he won seven and finished runner-up in three of them. His most dominant win came in the Memorial Day weekend Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, when he led 327 of 400 laps. His 2,581 laps led on the season is the most in NASCAR‘s premier series since his “boss,” Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon, led 2,610 laps in his 1995 championship season.
Quotable:
“A big shout-out to my parents for getting me involved in racing, my dad for everything he did, building my go-karts when I was young to get me playing around, my mom for videotaping every lap I ever raced and giving me something I could look at and study and get better.‘‘ — Larson, after raising his first NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy.
RELATED: Shop Larson die casts, gear
Looking ahead:
Unquestionably, Larson was a lesson in the power of second chances — of making the absolute most of an opportunity with the sport‘s premier Hendrick Motorsports team after serving a nearly season-long suspension in 2020. Larson answered with career-best marks statistically but, perhaps more importantly, he responded with an improved attitude, drive and mental toughness that matched his immense natural talent and unsurprisingly resulted in a championship. With the sport converting to a new car, whose first points-paying competition test will be the Feb. 20 season-opening Daytona 500, there are a lot of unknown factors heading into 2022. But Larson‘s amazing talent – driving and winning — in just about every type of race car he sits in may prove to be the big difference next season in comparison to his competition. That successful diversity plus the confidence he and his team gained from a dominant 2021 make him absolutely the favorite next year, too.