Kyle Larson Clears Air on Why NASCAR Won’t Be Affected Despite Increasing Purse Value in Dirt Racing

Kyle Larson‘s impressive skills in NASCAR and other racing disciplines can be traced back to his extensive experience in the Dirt Racing arenas. Over the years, he has been a prominent figure in the dirt racing community, to the extent that he now owns his very own racing series.

In addition to his success on the track, Larson has also made significant contributions to the dirt racing scene by working to increase the value of the prize money given at these races. However, this increase in purse value has raised concerns in certain quarters.

Recently while interacting with the members of the press at Martinsville Speedway, Larson was asked if the dirt guys would limit coming to race in NASCAR if the purses kept increasing. 

Larson responded, “I don’t think that has anything to do with it personally. I mean, I’d have to think about it some more. But, if you could tell somebody they can make and, $3 million versus $500,000, which both are very, very comfortable living, they’re going to take $3 million all day.”

He further explained that though not everyone was earning $3 Million in the Cup Series, it would still be a better style of living with the increase in money coming through. Hence, it would be the first preference.

The HMS driver then gave an example and stated, “I mean, you want to race and like the top form of American auto racing and that’s what the NASCAR Cup Series is. So I don’t I think you could go to Donny Schatz and that present him with the #5 Cup car and he’s probably going to take that. So nobody’s going to turn it down.”

Larson thinks moving from Dirt to IndyCar is too foreign as a concept

Further into the interview, Larson was asked if heading from dirt racing to IndyCar would be a good transition point considering how it would have been his first choice. He responded that the transition from Dirt to Indy would be deemed “Too Foreign” in his opinion.

He added, “Foreign from the driving style and all that… I don’t thing they will turn it down. I don’t see that ever being an opportunity for somebody to go from USAC… Only if they had a karting background. I just don’t see it happening.”

Considering that IndyCar is open-wheel racing, someone coming out of the dirt racing series heading into the sport would not be a plausible approach for both the driver and the teams. However, with the similarity of the tracks and the overall racing style, NASCAR would be something that would suit the drivers more.