Dale Earnhardt Jr. has never been one to hide his thoughts or feelings about NASCAR. While he’s normally supportive of what the sport’s administrators do, he’s also not afraid to speak his mind.
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Kyle Larson is much the same way. On this week’s edition of Kevin Harvick’s podcast, Larson admitted he was a bit cocky in calling out NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers for their poor performance in Saturday’s race at Bristol that he dominated.
“I do get motivated – and this is gonna come across very cocky – but I want to embarrass them,” Larson told Harvick.
“The kids probably think they’re in a good spot,” Larson added. “They don’t know where the bar is really at. So, I like to go and run those Xfinity races and just get ten-second leads to let them realize that they’ve got a lot of room to improve. And I think that’s only better for our sport. You know, when those young guys can compete with Cup guys, they’re better suited for the Cup Series once they get there.”
But Larson didn’t stop there. He also said, “I just want to embarrass NASCAR a little bit, because they just don’t let Cup guys run (numerous races in Xfinity and Trucks) anymore.”
Larson was merely speaking his mind, just like Junior is known to do.
But Larson’s comments left Junior with mixed emotions, as he mentioned in this week’s edition of the Dale Jr. Download. On the one hand, Junior, the broadcaster and NASCAR Hall of Famer, agreed that Larson should be able to speak his mind, even if he’s cutting down the Xfinity Series and its drivers in the process.
Larson wants NASCAR to allow Cup drivers more starts in the junior series
NASCAR limits full-time Cup drivers to a maximum of five starts per year in either Xfinity or Trucks (or combined). Larson has already used up four of his combined starts this year, with Truck and Xfinity appearances at both Homestead and this past weekend at Bristol.
That means Larson now only has one race left to compete in one of NASCAR’s junior series for the remainder of this year.
Larson admitted his attempt “to embarrass” NASCAR officials was potentially for series officials to reconsider the race limit and open the door for Cup drivers to have more starts in the other two series.
Part of the reason NASCAR limited Cup drivers from Xfinity or Truck Series starts was the overwhelming and dominating success Kyle Busch had earlier in his career, winning 102 Xfinity races (plus one championship) and 67 Truck Series starts.
But Larson would like to have more cracks at the youngsters, not just to embarrass them, but also to teach them lessons and how to become better race car drivers.
Yet on the other hand, Dale Earnhardt Jr., the team owner of JR Motorsports, which fields several drivers in the Xfinity Series, was embarrassed by how dominant Larson was in that race, as well as his cocky response to Harvick.
“I think he just didn’t have to say what he said,” Junior said of Larson. “I mean, we need the sport to have personality. We talk about how we don’t have enough personality or don’t have enough superstars. That’s what superstars do. My dad said, ‘If they ain’t cheering, you better hope they’re booing. If they’re not doing anything, that’s the problem.’
“That part of me says, ‘Hell, yeah, say what you want to say, say whatever it is you believe.’ But the other side of me says, ‘I want you to sign up for more races. Now I want him to come race because I want some more shots.’
“I know the rest of the people in the shop, too, want more opportunities (to get back at Larson). He’s kind of the guy where they’re breaking a fight up and his buddies are holding him back and he’s saying, ‘Yeah, you better be glad my buddies are holding me back, you better be glad NASCAR’s limited me to kicking your ass.’
“They all want another shot at him after what he said, they all do, I promise you. But that’s a good thing. Fire ‘em up, fire my guys up and we’ll see what they do!”
