Kyle Larson opens up about significance of Martinsville for Hendrick Motorsports

The significance of Martinsville Speedway to Hendrick Motorsports has been far from lost on Kyle Larson since he joined the team.

Martinsville is a big part of Hendrick’s story. Geoff Bodine captured the first win for the team at Martinsville in 1984, kicking off the start of one of NASCAR’s true pillars. However, tragedy struck Hendrick at the track as well, as the infamous 2004 plane crash that killed multiple members of Hendrick’s brass happened on the way to the track.

Last season, Larson captured a win for Hendrick at the track, something he never thought he could do when he got behind the wheel of the No. 5. Speaking with the media earlier this week, Larson spoke about his return to Martinsville, and the significance of Martinsville Speedway to Hendrick Motorsports.

Kyle Larson won a year ago at Martinsville. He knew it would be a big win for Hendrick Motorsports, which has a deep history of triumph and sadness at the track. He explains: pic.twitter.com/HhiD5cSGSt

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 1, 2024

“I would say not any more than what I already knew,” Larson said, regarding whether winning at Martinsville under the Hendrick banner showed him what the track meant to the team. “You know, I understand the significance of Martinsville, you know, long before I ever got to Hendrick Motorsports. You could see it when any of their teams won, what that place meant to them. So when I got to come to Hendrick, I knew about Martinsville, and all that. Hoped that I would win there someday, to add to the legacy there. So no, I mean I think, Cliff [Daniels] and myself both probably never expected me to win there, so that made it really good.

“But yeah, I mean just — I don’t know, it’s not really — the winning, the first win there’s talked about a lot, but the tragedy, I feel like, is not mentioned often, at least personally, to me. But it’s always on everybody’s minds anytime get ready to go to Martinsville. So yeah, I’m sure all that makes us want to win there, or have a good run there. Even more so than other tracks, probably.”

As you can tell, it’s always an emotional situation when Larson and the entire Hendrick team returns to Martinsville, bringing up memories of triumph and feelings of pain and loss. Still, they’ve soldiered on, and it’s remained one of the organization’s best tracks year-in and year-out.

We’ll see if Kyle Larson can capture another win in Virginia, or if any of his teammates can join him. He’s off to a great start in 2024, and that’s something he’ll be hoping to continue on Sunday.