CREW CHIEF: Cliff Daniels
TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports
POINTS: Second in Cup Series
WINS: Four (Richmond I, Martinsville I, Darlington II, Las Vegas II)
LAPS LED: 1,127
TOP 5s: 15
TOP 10s: 18
STARTS FROM POLE: Two (Phoenix I, Bristol Dirt)
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Larson won four races — two in the regular season and two in the playoffs. He returned to the Championship 4 after being eliminated in the Round of 12 last season.
Larson’s wins included two tracks where he was previously winless — Martinsville and Darlington. He won his first grandfather clock in his 17th attempt and then won his first Southern 500 in his 12th start at Darlington.
Larson’s four wins took him to 23 in his Cup career. This put him in a tie with Ricky Rudd for the 36th-most in series history.
Larson was one of two drivers that topped 1,000 laps led this season. He had 1,127. Teammate William Byron led 1,016 laps. Denny Hamlin was third with 998 laps led.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Larson’s average finishing position (14.6) was his worst since 2019. He had eight DNFs, second-most in Cup. Austin Dillon had the most DNFs this season with 10.
Larson won two races in the first nine weeks of the season. He went winless in the 15 races leading up to the start of the playoffs while finishing 20th or worse eight times.
Larson had DNFs in the first four races at drafting tracks. He completed the second races at Daytona and Talladega but his finishes were 15th and 27th.
Larson struggled during the Round of 12. He finished 31st, 15th and 13th at Texas, Talladega and the Roval. Larson started the elimination race at the Roval in a backup car after hitting the wall in practice.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2024: Larson has won 17 races across the last three seasons, seven in the Next Gen era. He will be a factor once again as he returns to Hendrick Motorsports and the No. 5 team. Multiple wins is possible. A deep run in the playoffs is the expectation at this point of his career.
