NASCAR star Kyle Larson gets new team as Hendrick Motorsports reveal shakeup

NASCAR star Kyle Larson is set to have a new team behind him this weekend at Darlington after Hendrick Motorsports revealed a big shakeup.

Larson pilots the No. 5 in the Cup Series and already has one race win under his belt in 2025 after an impressive performance at Homestead last month.

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On top of this, Larson has two other top-five finishes at Atlanta and Martinsville to his name, as well as a top 10 at Las Vegas.

Despite this form, however, Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels has revealed a number of changes to the team ahead of this weekend's action at Darlington Raceway.

Kyle Larson team changes confirmed

Larson's pit crew has seen a total revamp, with Blaine Anderson and Calvin Teague replaced as front and rear tire changers, respectively. RJ Barnette has also been replaced as tire carrier, with jackman Brandon Johnson also exiting.

In their place comes Jafar Hall [front tire changer], Mike Moss [rear tire changer], Allen Stallings [tire carrier] and Eric Ludwig [jackman].

Explaining the decision to the media at Darlington, No. 5 crew chief Smalls said: "We’ve looked at a lot of different factors of really not what the old five group was doing wrong, but what this other group was doing right,”

"We’ve been working really hard within our pit department of just pushing, pushing the edge of performance and whatever that takes to keep moving the needle. Certainly a lot of teams are performing at a very high level on pit road.”

Daniels went on to say that the crew that has been overhauled had been solid so far this year, but not 'outstanding'.

“Solid is certainly a great word to use,” Daniels added. “But we weren’t outstanding over-the-top of times.

"Over the course of this season and over the course of the end of last season, the incoming group has really been putting up really fast times, very consistent, performing at a high level.”

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