The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series winner, Kyle Larson, returned to his roots as the city, in collaboration with Sonoma Raceway, rolled out the (virtual) red carpet for a community celebration on November 14 along Historic Main Street in Old Town. Though Larson lives in North Carolina now, Elk Grove is where his racing story began, and returning to the town that shaped him stirred emotions only a hometown crowd could evoke.
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Larson, who grew up tearing through dirt tracks across California, said the last time he’d been home for a celebration like this was after his first Cup title in 2021. “It’s great,” he shared, reflecting on the familiar faces and familiar streets. He noted that his trips to Northern California are now rare and mostly centered around Grass Valley, his wife Katelyn’s hometown.
But even as the streets of Elk Grove echoed with applause, Larson acknowledged that home, for his kids, lies elsewhere. “It is a bit odd,” he admitted, “When I hear Owen or Audrey’s name get announced on the starting lineup of whatever race that they’re running, and it’s Mooresville, North Carolina, cuz I’m always associated with Elk Grove, California. And will always be too.”
For Larson, California will forever be where his story started, no matter how far life takes him. “I think this will always be home to me,” he said. “It’s important that everybody knows I’m a California kid. But for them, they haven’t spent much time here, so yeah, this is not home, but (it) doesn’t matter.”
He went on to say that North Carolina reminds him a lot of his childhood environment, close to the mountains, not far from the ocean, and alive with racing culture. “North Carolina is a very equal place to kind of where I grew up,” he added, acknowledging that his children are getting to experience a similar mix of nature, sport, and competition.
While Larson remains one of the best in the world of motorsports, his kids, living in North Carolina, are now making their own early paths. Owen, at just ten, is already showing promise behind the wheel, though his father hopes he’ll pick up golf too, a game Larson himself has grown too busy to play.
His daughter Audrey, meanwhile, who also races, has additionally ventured into ice hockey, tackling a sport completely foreign to her father’s background.
Elk Grove might no longer be his zip code, but it remains an important part of his story, the place where a kid with dirt in his shoes first learned how to chase wins on the racetracks.
