TALLADEGA, AL - SEPTEMBER 30: Cliff Daniels,crew chief for Kyle Larson (#5 Hendrick Motorsports Valvoline/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet) looks on during qualifying for the running of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff YellaWood 500 on September 30, 2023, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, AL.
(Photo by Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Crew Chief Says Chevrolet Must Adapt Despite Early Dominance

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is already heading to its fourth race week of the season and Team Chevrolet has been lights out as the class of the field to start the season, with the manufacturer going 3 for 3 thus far.

Two of those wins have been by Hendrick Motorsports, including the season-opening Daytona 500 with William Byron.

Kyle Larson dominated this past Sunday at Las Vegas, and Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez holds Chevy's other win at Atlanta.

A lot of that has to do with the fact that Chevy is the only manufacturer that didn't change to a new car body in 2024.

Even with the three wins by "The Big Bow Tie," the signs are there that Toyota and Ford are right on their heels. Ford has won all three poles so far this season, with Team Penske's Joey Logano winning two of the three thus far.

And defending champion Cup champion Ryan Blaney was in the historic three-way photo finish at Atlanta, losing out to Suarez by inches.

Toyota showed strength this past weekend in Las Vegas, as 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick was the only driver that had anything for Larson.

While Chevy continues to win, it knows it won't last forever. Larson's crew chief, Cliff Daniels, hinted at that big-time according to Motorsport.com's Jim Utter.

"It's really fun to be a part of with all the folks at Chevrolet right now," Daniels said. "We don't have a new submission and we know the other OEMs do. Our sense of urgency is there. We know that we've got to keep evolving, just the continuity of our stuff, and keep understanding our stuff better. So, we still have to push."

Despite Hendrick's recent run of success at Las Vegas, Daniels admitted that the team had to make setup changes from the fall because it did not have the long-run pace it needed.

"We still made setup changes from the fall to here because we didn't quite have the long-run pace that some other guys had in the fall. I would still argue we needed a little bit more," Daniels said.

Chevrolet is off to a hot start but all of its teams will have to adapt to keep it strong all season. The Fords and Toyotas will break through soon. How Chevrolet answers the challenge will go a long way towards determining who is driving in the Championship 4 season finale at Phoenix.

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