"We’re trying to be smart" - Kyle Larson's crew chief talks about the challenges of West Coast Swing

With just one day left to start the second NASCAR Cup Series race, Kyle Larson and his team, Hendrick Motorsports, are ready to register their first victory of the 2022 NASCAR season.

The first of the three-week West Coast swings starts with this weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Hendrick Motorsports' crew chief Cliff Daniels spoke about the preparation of the team for the West Coast swing ahead of Sunday’s WISE Power 400. While pointing out the challenges in Fontana, Daniels said:

“The West Coast swing is certainly a lot of work for the teams, but we have gotten accustomed to it over the years. There’s a lot of moving parts and pieces to get the cars and teams back and forth across the country. We don’t have an abundance of Next Gen parts right now, and we’re trying to be smart and diligent about the spare parts we do have. Everyone here at Hendrick Motorsports has done a great job of managing it (the West Coast swing) logistically in the past, and I know we will do so again in the coming weeks.”

Daniels, who is Kyle Larson's crew chief, spoke about the changes at Auto Club Speedway, saying:

“It’s been a couple of years since we have been to Fontana, and I am definitely looking forward to it. Last time we were there (in 2020), we qualified on the front row with Jimmie (Johnson) and had a really strong race but missed an adjustment late that we needed. Now it’s a completely different car, different tire – everything is different. NASCAR is applying resin, which will change the characteristics and dynamics of the track surface. It’s going to be a big ‘guess’ for everyone in the field. And it’s a new weekend format with the short warmup followed by qualifying, but I have a lot of confidence in this HendrickCars.com team that we will be well prepared.”

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Kyle Larson's performance at Auto Club Speedway

2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson is one of the strongest contenders to defend his title. Along with this, he is also the favorite to win the WISE Power 400 on Sunday. Larson secured victory lane for the event in 2017 after leading for 110 laps and holding off Brad Keselowski in the final dash to the checkered flag.

Kyle Larson has finished runner-up in this event on two occasions. In his rookie season in 2014, he finished second behind Kyle Busch and then finished in the same position behind Martin Truex Jr. four years later. Larson was then racing with Chip Ganassi Racing, however, he has not raced in Fontana with Hendrick Motorsports so far.