kyle larson

On October 28, 2020, it was announced that Hendrick Motorsports signed Larson to a multi-year deal to drive the No. 5 car starting in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. At the time of the announcement, it was also announced that the No. 5 car was not sponsored yet, though Hendrick announced that he would self-sponsor the car through his HendrickCars.com and NationsGuard companies until they found long-term sponsors.[88] It was also announced later on that, although Hendrick normally did not allow their drivers to race anywhere other than their NASCAR team, the team negotiated a clause in the contract allowing Larson to continue racing dirt races, provided that he focused primarily on the Cup program. In only his fourth start with HMS, Larson won at Las Vegas;[90] he had finished second a NASCAR-record nine times on 1.5-mile tracks prior to the victory.] At The Coca-Cola 600, Larson dominated the race, leading 327 of 400 laps on his way to his second victory of the season. Larson's victory was the 269th career Cup victory for Hendrick Motorsports, surpassing Petty Enterprises for the most Cup victories as a race team in NASCAR history. The following race in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, Larson won the race dominantly, leading 58 of the 90 laps, his 9th career victory. A week later, Larson also became the 9th driver to win the All-Star Race more than once after starting from the pole, passing Chase Elliott during the final segment, and holding off a hard-charging Brad Keselowski to claim his second million-dollar check. Larson also became the 8th driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win the Coca-Cola 600 and the All-Star race in the same season. Larson earned his 10th career win at Nashville, leading 264 of 300 laps and winning a third consecutive race (All-Star races, as they are not points-paying, are not included). At the Pocono doubleheader the following week later, Larson was on the verge of becoming the 9th driver in the Modern Era (since 1972) to win four consecutive points races as well as his first Cup victories at the track until he blew a tire and hit the wall going into Turn 3 during the final lap of the 1st race, which resulted in teammate Alex Bowman claiming the victory while Larson was able to cross the finish line in 9th place. Despite resorting to a backup car the following day as a result of the incident, Larson rebounded to finish 2nd to Kyle Busch after a fuel gamble.

At Road America, Larson appeared to be in line for a Top 5 finish before being accidentally spun by Bowman, who had lost his brakes. Larson would finish 16th, while Bowman would finish 22nd after being forced to pit due to tire rub. The next week at Atlanta, Larson was running 4th before being penalized for speeding on the final round of pit stops, finishing 18th. He would finish 7th at New Hampshire, the highest placing Chevrolet in the field.

On August 8, 2021, Larson passed Martin Truex Jr. for the lead during the final pit cycle at Watkins Glen and once again held off his teammate Chase Elliott to capture his fifth win of the season, a career-high.

After the Watkins Glen race, Larson and Denny Hamlin were tied for the points lead in the Regular Season standings. Larson moved up to 1st in the regular-season standings after Hamlin got spun out by Chase Briscoe at the Indianapolis road course. Following the 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, Larson clinched the Regular Season Championship.[

Entering the Round of 16, Larson would lead the most laps at Darlington but finished 2nd to Hamlin. Following a 6th place finish at Richmond, Larson would lead 175 laps and make a pass on Kevin Harvick to win his 6th race of the season at Bristol. His win would somewhat be overshadowed by an altercation between Harvick and Chase Elliott after the race due to an on-track incident.

In the Round of 12, Larson finished 10th at Las Vegas and 37th at Talladega. At the Charlotte Roval race, Larson overcame early technical issues to pass Hamlin for the lead with eight laps to go and would go on and win his 7th race of the season. Larson's victory at the Charlotte Roval and earlier victories at Sonoma and Watkins Glen made him the first driver in NASCAR Cup history to win three different road courses in the same season. Larson also became the first driver since Kasey Kahne in 2006 to sweep both Charlotte races.

In the Round of 8, Larson won in dominating fashion in the 2021 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway for his 8th win of the season to secure a spot in the Championship 4 for the first time. The following week, Larson earned his 9th win of the season in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Larson became the first Cup driver since Dale Earnhardt in 1987 to have two instances of winning three straight races.

In the 2021 Season Finale 500 at Phoenix Raceway, Larson earned his tenth win of the season and became the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion over Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, and Chase Elliott. Larson became the first driver to have 10 wins and a championship in the same season since Jimmie Johnson did it during the 2007 season. Larson ended the 2021 season with 10 wins, 18 stage wins, 20 top fives, 26 top tens, and an average finish of 9.08.