NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson believes Hendrick Motorsports must improve its short track package, admitting that the team is not where it wants to be on tracks one mile or under.
After winning the championship last season, Larson has had a steady start to the 2026 campaign, finishing inside the top 10 at six of the last seven races heading to Talladega.
Last Sunday, the No. 5 team achieved their best result of the year so far, with Larson coming home second, having been edged at Kansas in overtime by 23XI star Tyler Reddick.
That result, though, extended Larson's winless streak in the Cup Series to 33 races, but ahead of Sunday's action, he took the time to assess where he and Hendrick Motorsports were at eight races into the year.
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Kyle Larson assesses Hendrick Motorsports performance
“I think our team is in a good spot in how we operate," Larson told the media at Kansas Speedway.
"You always want to get your cars better. I think the low downforce package, the short track package, is an area that we're not where we want to be currently.
"So just working hard as an organization at Hendrick Motorsports, but also with Chevy, to get better. A lot of focus is going into that and hopefully we can hit on it soon and start just having more consistent runs from track to track.
"Right now, I feel really confident when we come to these style tracks [intermediate tracks], but it’s just a bit unknown every time we show up to a short track on how we might be.
"That's the area where I think we need to get better. But like I said, the processes and where we are as a group with the No. 5 team, I think we're in a good spot.”
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