Kyle Larson: Five Possible Landing Spots in 2018
By Asher Fair
No. 88 – Hendrick Motorsports
As I talked about in reference to the likelihood of Kyle Larson landing in Kasey Kahne’s #5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports has been the best team in NASCAR in this generation, and that is still the case today. They still have the defending champion and seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson driving their #48 car, and the team has won 12 of the past 22 championships, including streaks of four and five in a row with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, respectively.
As I also referenced, just one of the team’s 12 championships was not won by Gordon or Johnson, two of the greatest drivers of all time. Certainly the team would not mind picking up another future star in the making like Kyle Larson, who could definitely go on a championship run of his own.
The publicity that Larson driving the #88 car would bring may be able to help maintain some of the fans that may just leave along with the current driver of the #88 car. The #88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is currently driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has plans to retire from his full-time NASCAR Cup Series ride following the conclusion of the 2017 season. Earnhardt Jr. is the 14-time defending Most Popular Driver Award winner in NASCAR, and he will more than likely make that 14 a 15 following the 2017 season.
Adding a rising star like Larson to a car already driven by the sport’s undisputed most popular driver could be the first step in helping the sport to recover following the retirement of that particular driver. It would also add another championship contender to Hendrick Motorsports, which is something that they do not lack in any way, shape or form.
Like with the #5 car, this move would team Larson up with another rising star in Chase Elliott in the #24 car, who just had his contract extended, as well as seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson in the #48 car, who also just had his contract extended. Larson driving the #88 Chevrolet would be a win-win for both he and the team.