Cliff Daniels and the Cheerio in the corner: Inside the mind behind Kyle Larson’s..

Nearly every weeknight, after he, his wife and his two young children have finished dinner, Cliff Daniels will tidy up the kitchen. And not just washing dishes, a cursory wiping of the counters and other typical duties after a meal.

Oh, no, this is Daniels, whose attention to detail and focus on performing at the highest level possible is well known. And this means that he makes sure the kitchen looks pristine.

“My daughter is 4, my son is almost 2, and when we’re done with dinner and the floor is a mess, I still make sure I vacuum and sweep every inch of the floor,” Daniels said. “That’s just my personality.”

This will surprise no one who knows the crew chief for Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team. Ask around the garage about Daniels’ defining characteristics and the responses are near universal: He’s detail-oriented, an exceptional leader and has an unmistakable white-hot intensity. Such attributes are the catalyst behind Larson vying for his second NASCAR Cup Series championship in three years Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.

“Cliff takes the role seriously, embraces it, has the world’s most talented driver, bar none, and leads him,” said Chris Gabehart, crew chief for Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team. “He’s not afraid of it, he embraces it, outwardly and all the pressure and responsibility that comes with it. I think he does a great job. He’s earned the spotlight he’s in.”

Exceptional crew chiefs, the kind whose teams are perennially in championship contention, generally have a keen understanding of the mechanical and engineering elements that go into building fast race cars. These abilities are an absolute must. In a sport where the mechanical margins to find speed keep shrinking, it’s imperative that those leading teams find other avenues to propel their teams to victory lane.

“He strives tirelessly to find performance,” said Chad Knaus, Hendrick vice president of competition. “And that comes in many, many different packages. He does that through simulation, he does it through data, he does it through the human performance element. He’s a very, very good communicator. He’s not afraid to talk and approach and find resolve in a situation. And he’s tireless, like he works all the time. He’s very, very dedicated to his craft.”

It’s easy to dismiss the role a crew chief plays when you’re with an organization the caliber of Hendrick, which has won more championships than any other, and also happen to be aligned with a generational talent in Larson, whose ability frequently draws comparisons to NASCAR multi-time champions Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.

And being with Hendrick and having Larson as your driver unquestionably brings with it certain advantages. But just giving a great chef the proper ingredients doesn’t ensure they’ll produce a five-star meal.

It’s a reality Larson recognizes. He is adamant that, without Daniels, he wouldn’t be the driver who produced a historic 2021 season that saw him win the championship and 10 races, with potentially a second title coming Sunday in Phoenix.

“Cliff holds everybody to a very high standard,” Larson said. “Yes, he’s stern and strict and aggressive at times, but I think at those times, a lot of us need it. And he does a good job of knowing when the right time is to put pressure on people.”

Before 2021, Larson says, he didn’t always have crew chiefs who held him accountable anywhere close to the same degree. There would be times he’d commit an on-track mistake and often it would be excused as a byproduct of him merely trying to get the best finish possible. A great driver pushing his car to its limits; something worthy of a pat on the back.