Kyle Larson has been in fine form in the 2021 Cup Series season winning two Cup races so far in his debut season with Hendrick Motorsports.
His recent win was a dominant outing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Having watched Larson win dirt races for fun and then deciding to replace the legendary Jimmie Johnson with him, Hendrick can boast that he made a good decision going for the driver who was suspended last season.
Is Rick Hendrick’s ‘amazing empire’ just getting started?
When asked if Larson’s driving style reminded him of anyone, Hendrick replied:
“Tim Richmond.”
While Richmond’s career with NASCAR was short-lived as the driver passed away from AIDS in August of 1989, he won 13 races, nine of them for Hendrick Motorsports.
Elaborating on his comparison, Hendrick said:
“(He will) put a car in places that you don’t think it’ll go and having fun and wanting to win, wanting to lead every lap,” said Hendrick. “He just reminds me a lot of Tim. All of our guys have unique talent, but he is a racer.
“I look at William [Byron] and how far William has come. William, every single week, he’s been there. I think they’re just getting stronger together. But Kyle has probably got more racing experience than the other guys. He races everything there is to race, and he says it makes him better. When you climb in any kind of car and go to a track and win when you’ve got the guys that win all the races there, I think he’s made a statement of how much talent he has.”
Win No. 269 wouldn’t be possible without some of our winning drivers. pic.twitter.com/oWgGn05Hkh
— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) May 31, 2021