Cliff Daniels has become a well-known figure in the NASCAR Cup Series due to the immense success he’s enjoyed as Kyle Larson’s crew chief with Hendrick Motorsports.
On the latest episode of Harvick’s Happy Hour, Daniels joined Kevin Harvick to dive deeper into how that success has been cultivated, crediting Rick Hendrick’s leadership as the gateway to the No. 5 team’s glamour over the last couple of seasons.
“You know this as well as anyone, to be successful in life, in sports or in business, whatever it may be, you know, it takes the collection of just a great group of people, that are like-minded. Leadership matters. Culture matters. Some people may not put as much emphasis on those things nowadays on the daily, but the most successful businesses and teams do,” Daniels told Harvick. “Rick Hendrick, first and foremost, Mr. H is the No. 1 beholder of that. The way he conveys the culture at Hendrick Motorsports. The way he leads all of the people. He’s always there to hold us accountable, if we’re not doing well, which is great. You know, that holding us to the accountability of performance, that’s our job. That’s what he should do.
“And then on the other side of the same coin, if things aren’t going great, and you need some uplifting, he’s the first guy there. So it has to start with him.”
In addition to the boss’ contributions, Daniels has been molded by his experiences, including rubbing elbows with Harvick during some time spent at Stewart-Haas Racing. All of this has contributed to elevating the No. 5 team to arguably the top group in all of NASCAR at the moment.
“Me personally, I’ve been able to be surrounded by a lot of good people through my career path, to this point,” Daniels added. “You know, at Stewart-Haas, I got to know so many of the great people there, and you and Rodney [Childers] were on a heck of a run, you know, the second or the third year that I was there, and kind of seeing the way that you guys led the culture there. I got to know Greg Zipadelli really well. Steve Addington, who was Stewart’s crew chief at the time. I got to know Tony pretty well. All of those relationships really started to mold me, when to be honest, I was really kind of a bit young and immature, on some of the things to get to this level. And then fast forward, to when I go to Hendrick Motorsports, being able to work with guys like Chad Knaus, Greg Ives, Alan Gustafson, Jeff Andrews, who probably doesn’t get enough credit that he deserves. Jeff Gordon, Rick Hendrick, all of those guys. They’re great leaders. They’re great competitors, but they’re great leaders of how to go about doing your job, how to cultivate the culture, and we’ve just tried to continue to embody that on the No. 5 team.
“I think we’re fortunate to have a young group of men that are racers first, and when you have the quality, at this level, of being a racer first, the grind is the grind. You know, it’s not really unforeseen, to a lot of these guys, even when we get a 24, 25-year-old guy on our team, and we get him from years and years of racing experience, the Cup grind is just a different kind of grind. We teach him how to do that, and how to run a Cup car, and how to you know, do the things daily that you have to do to stay operating at a high level. It’s all about the people, and certainly, with what we have at Hendrick Motorsports, and on the No. 5 team right now, is special, and you know, we’re really fortunate to be a part of it.”
Cliff Daniels already has one title with Kyle Larson, and after coming close again last season, the No. 5 team looks primed for success once again in 2024. We’ll see if they can stay the course, and end up on top of the point standings when the dust settles, as they currently sit at No. 1 at the moment.
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