Kyle Larson is one of the busiest NASCAR drivers. In addition to his full-time duties for Hendrick Motorsports, he races extensively in the High Limit Racing Series, the World of Outlaws, and other dirt platforms. Through these forays, he has made his love for sprint car racing very apparent. But would he prioritize it over NASCAR?
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In a recent interview with The Athletic, he cleared the air by stating that fans often get it wrong by assuming his priority is not the Cup Series. “People back in the day used to get it wrong that I didn’t care about NASCAR,” Larson said.
“I still think people think I’m just doing this for the money, and if I had a choice, I’d be racing sprint cars all the time,” he added, before voicing his frustration.
“That really bugs me, because it isn’t about the money. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t love it, you know? So I do love this. I wish fans would realize that,” the 32-year-old stated.
Larson has been racing full-time in the Cup Series since 2014. He is a former champion and is poised to become one of the greatest stock car racing drivers in the sport’s history. Such achievements are not possible without a strong love for the sport.
One of the biggest reasons he races dirt a lot is the practice that it offers for him to perform better in NASCAR. Especially with practice sessions before Cup Series races now limited, extra racing can help a lot.
So it wouldn’t be fair to claim that he would jump ship to sprint car racing if it offered him the same paycheck as NASCAR. And yet, that’s exactly what the three-time Cup Series champion, Tony Stewart, did earlier this year.
Stewart’s take on Larson’s NASCAR loyalty
Stewart is one of Larson’s mentors. They are quite similar since they both love racing outside of NASCAR.
It is with this understanding that Stewart said last month, “If the money was equal — and I’m not going to speak for Kyle [Larson] and Kyle and I have never had this conversation — but I feel very confident in this statement that if the money was equal, that Kyle Larson would be in a sprint car, not in a Cup car.”
Stewart made the same statement about Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe, who are also avid dirt racers.
“And like I’ve said, I’ve never had this conversation with any of those guys about it, but that’s my gut instinct. That’s what my gut tells me that if the money was equal, they’d be on dirt, they’d not be in NASCAR right now,” added Stewart.
The dirt racing series of today won’t be able to compete with NASCAR on financial grounds. At least not any time soon. The only scenario when Stewart’s words can be tested is if NASCAR purchases one of the platforms, like how it purchased the ARCA Series in 2018, and raises the purse sizes.
Then we would truly know whether Larson would remain in stock cars or switch to sprint cars.
