Kyle Larson might have stepped over a line when speaking on the Harvick Happy Hour podcast this week. He told host Kevin Harvick that he wanted to “embarrass” other Xfinity Series drivers, and even NASCAR!
Advertisement
Of course, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had his reasons for saying so. The Xfinity Series drivers for being a little too confident in their own abilities — “hey don’t know where the bar is really at”, were his exact words. And NASCAR, for the restrictions the body has placed on the number of races Cup Series drivers can run in other formats.
Nevertheless, Larson’s words were met with criticism from fans on the internet. Many perceived him as being arrogant and cocky. And Dale Earnhardt Jr., the co-owner of JR Motorsports, did not like much of what Larson said either.
The icon explained why he was at odds with Larson on Dale Jr. Download. Junior doesn’t understand what the #5 Chevrolet driver is complaining about, when he wasn’t even making complete use of the opportunities available to him. The number of races that a Cup Series driver can race in the lower tiers is limited to five. But, as Junior pointed out, Larson has chosen to race only two.
His two appearances were at Homestead-Miami and Bristol — two tracks that he is extremely good at. On Saturday, for instance, Larson led 276 of 400 laps to win the race at Bristol. He did embarrass the Xfinity Series field. But the question is, will he be able to dominate similarly on a different track? One at which he is not so good?
Junior had an answer for these questions: “He picked Homestead and Bristol because he knew those two would give him a great shot at winning. He wanted to win two triples this year so he could tie with Kyle Busch, who has done that twice. And then, he doesn’t have another race on the schedule. He goes, ‘I want to embarrass them every time I drive.'”
He then went on to throw down an open challenge: “I wish he would sign up for some more races now. Because I know one race team and one owner and 160 employees that would love another shot.”
That ought to sting the Hendrick Motorsports driver. But it remains to be seen whether it will needle him enough to bring him back to the Xfinity Series track once again this year.
Away from the differences in opinion, Junior and Larson did agree on the fact that there needs to be an elite driver who keeps the Xfinity Series field in check. Junior pointed out that Mark Martin played that role back in the day, and then was followed by Kyle Busch. The only point of contention was that Larson was not running nearly enough races to be crowned their successor.
