"That team is on fire" - Jeff Gordon hypes Kyle Larson over the other HMS drivers amid stellar playoff campaign

WIth his win in the playoff race at the Roval last Sunday, Kyle Larson strengthened the notion that the #5 team is peaking as the playoffs intensify. Last Sunday's win was Larson's second in the playoffs so far, and HMS vice chairman Jeff Gordon says it shows the #5 team is unlike any other in the garage right now.

Speaking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the 4x Cup champion opened up on Larson and his performances in the Round of 12. Larson entered the Round of 12 on the back of a historic win at Bristol.

He followed it up with a 26th-place finish at Kansas. But at Talladega, a racetrack he hasn't been historically good at, Larson managed a top 5 finish. He followed that up with another dominating win at the Roval.

All of this, in the eyes of Gordon, shows that Kyle Larson and his team are 'on fire' right now. He said,

"I think when we enter the playoffs...really with all four of our teams, but I would probably even highlight Kyle a little bit more..tit's all about trying to survive this round. You got Talladega, that's traditionally not been a great race for them, even the Roval has bit them a couple of times. So, to get through as well as they did at Talladega, as well as dominate at the Roval after the domination of Bristol, this next round I think aligns really, really well for all of our cars, but especially for Kyle. That team is on fire right now."

---

Cliff Daniels on the biggest competition Kyle Larson will face in the Round of 8

Having made his way through the Round of 16 and the Round of 12 with a win in each round, Kyle Larson will now look to book his Final 4 ticket. The three races in the upcoming round are at Las Vegas, Homestead, and Martinsville.

And though Larson has proved his caliber at all of those tracks in the past, he will be up against some of the biggest names in the garage. This is because the other 7 drivers in this round of the playoffs include stars like Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano.

However, according to Kyle Larson's crew chief, Cliff Daniels, the biggest competition his driver will face is himself. Speaking at a press conference after the race, Daniels said,

"I think our No. 1 competitor is ourselves, and I think if we do the things that we need to do, our team can execute. Kyle has been done an amazing job, the pit crew, everybody in the shop. Yes, the competition is going to be there. I think our mission is going to be probably to be as tunnel-visioned as humanly possible to stay on our path and execute the things that we need to."

It'll be interesting to see how Kyle Larson fares in the upcoming round of the playoffs, which will begin this weekend at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.