Hendrick Motorsports makes huge Kyle Larson pit crew changes ahead of Darlington Cup race

Hendrick Motorsports has overhauled Kyle Larson’s pit crew - replacing all but one member.

Hendrick Motorsports has decided to make huge changes to Kyle Larson's pit crew ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.

Larson's No. 5 team crew chief, Cliff Daniels, addressed the changes, which have seen all but one of the crew members replaced. He explained to RACER:

“It was a decision that we didn’t take lightly and spent a lot of time to try to be calculated with how we went about it.

“I will say, I have nothing but good things to say about the group that we moved off the No. 5 this week. They’ve bled No. 5 car and Hendrick for many years, and I still think they’ve got a bright future ahead at Hendrick Motorsports.

“Why now? We’ve certainly done a lot of our own internal work of looking at the numbers that the other group brings to the table, and they’ve got a bit of speed over the group that we’ve had for a little while, and really (we) just wanted to give them the opportunity as a group to come and deliver on that.”

Brandon Harder, who is the fueler for the No. 5 team, remains in his position. However, the rest of the team has been moved over from Spire Motorsports, which Hendrick supplies pit crew members to.

Jafar Hall will take the position of front tyre changer, Mike Moss will be the rear tyre changer, Eric Ludwig will serve as the jackman, and Allen Stallings will step into the tyre carrier role.

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Logan Riely / Getty Images

Daniels added:

“I think for the Hendrick Motorsports pit department, we’ve had a lot of good leadership over the years, and now the coaches are really pushing the guys just on going and getting that extra little bit of performance.

“The group we’ve had for so long is so solid; they’re so experienced. That’s why I have nothing but love and respect for them, and recently, because of the penalty we had this year, we got to see some of the other guys come in. We got to see it last year (or) two years in a row (that) we’ve had the tyre penalties. So, we’ve kind of seen that group in two different versions.

“Now, to give them the opportunity as a group to come in and showcase what they’re capable of, I think, is a big step for the Hendrick pit department, for us, and there’s no telling what it’s going to look like this week or the next two weeks.

"We certainly want them to get settled in and get comfortable, but we do think there’s a bit of time there that they’re going to bring to us, and hopefully, we can just kind of build on what they’re going to bring to the table now and moving forward to coming back here to start the playoffs in September.”

Larson is currently second in the Cup Series standings with 243 points. The 32-year-old is also preparing to take on the Double, where on 25 May, he will take on the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.