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_(cropped).jpg) Daniels atMartinsville Speedway in 2024 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Clifton Oliver Daniels (1988-06-30)June 30, 1988 (age 37)[1] Smithfield, Virginia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina at Charlotte |
| Occupation | Crew chief |
| Sport | |
| Country |  United States |
| Sport | Motor racing |
| League | NASCAR Cup Series |
| Team | 5.Hendrick Motorsports |
Clifton Oliver Daniels (born June 30, 1988) is an American crew chief who works forHendrick Motorsports as the crew chief of their No. 5Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in theNASCAR Cup Series driven byKyle Larson. Daniels has won two Cup championships as a crew chief.
Daniels had a short racing career as a driver, racing model cars at short tracks in his home state of Virginia before pursuing a mechanical engineering degree atUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte.[1] After graduating, he joinedRAB Racing in 2011. He then moved toStewart–Haas Racing, where he served as the race engineer of the No. 14Chevrolet driven byTony Stewart from 2013 to 2014. In December 2014, Daniels moved toHendrick Motorsports to serve as the race engineer of the No. 48 Chevrolet driven byJimmie Johnson, helping Johnson win the2016 Sprint Cup Series Championship. Following the2018 season, Daniels moved to Hendrick's competition systems group before rejoining the No. 48 team atSonoma in2019.[2]
On July 29, 2019, following a string of disappointing finishes during the 2019 season, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Daniels would replaceKevin Meendering as the crew chief of the No. 48.[1][3][4]
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On October 28, 2020, Daniels was announced to become the crew chief for No. 5 ofKyle Larson. The 5 car would replace the No. 48 in 2021.[5]
On March 7, 2021, Daniels earned his first win as a crew chief in the2021 Pennzoil 400. He won his first championship as a crew chief in 2021 at Phoenix.
On June 14, 2022, Daniels was suspended for four races due to a tire and wheel loss during theSonoma race.[6]
On March 15, 2023, NASCAR suspended all fourHendrick Motorsports crew chiefs (Daniels,Alan Gustafson,Rudy Fugle and Blake Harris) as well asKaulig Racing No. 31 car crew chiefTrent Owens for four races after it was discovered during practice for the race at Phoenix in March that the hood louvers on all five cars were illegally modified. As a result, each team received an L2 penalty (a loss of 100 driver and owner points as well as the four-race crew chief suspension).
On November 2, 2025, Daniels earned his second championship at Phoenix.