Kyle Larson makes good on potential in historic 2021 campaign

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

By Aaron Bearden

My first two experiences involving Kyle Larson both featured memorable crashes. Yet they were filled with a world of promise. 

He’s made good on that potential to an unprecedented degree over the past 18 months. 

I grew up solely as a NASCAR fan, watching each of the three national series’ with my mother and father, along with the Indianapolis 500 each May. I was always intrigued by other forms of racing, but it wasn’t until the freedom of university that I began to explore disciplines like dirt, short track and sports cars. 

So when a young Larson was tearing up the dirt world in his youth, he did so largely beyond my personal reach. 

I first came to know him as the kid that caught air at the end of the 2013 Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway. While Tony Stewart dodged the late chaos and scored another Daytona win, Larson flipped into the catch fence and caused a massive amount of damage, skidding across the line with the battered remnants of his machine in 13th place. 

It was an inauspicious start, but Larson had been near the front of the field or he wouldn’t have been caught up in the crash to begin with. He steadily began to show pace and contend that season in the Xfinity (then Nationwide) Series with Turner Scott Motorsports, scoring nine top-fives in 33 starts that year. 

It was during this time that I learned of his dirt prowess, so when he came to my local track, Gas City I-69 Speedway, during that summer, I ventured out to see him.

As Larson is wont to do, he rose to the occasion and won that night to kick off Indiana Midget Week. When he went to celebrate, the Californian overcooked the gas while doing some donuts and flipped his No. 71k machine on its side. Seizing the moment, Larson climbed atop the sideways machine and pumped his fists in the air to salute the crowd. 

I didn’t know it at the time, but that would be the first of many times I would watch Larson climbing atop winning machines. 

In the years since, the driver known as ‘Yung Money’ has become something of an enigma in the racing world. Whether he wins or loses, Larson tends to do so spectacularly. 

Larson has triumphed in dramatic ways, like when he stole a late lead from a dominant Furniture Row Racing at Michigan International Speedway, side-swiped Chase Elliott to make the All-Star Race or limped his broken car past a stalled machine in the final corner to score a critical point and playoff advancement at the Charlotte Roval. His celebrations are often wild, from the first infield slide at Michigan that sent track workers near victory lane scrambling for cover to his wheel-free burnouts on front stretches. 

Losses have been unique, too. Larson’s given up the lead in the final corners of the Chili Bowl and blew a tire in the last corner at Pocono Raceway. He’s destroyed his truck trying to chase down Bubba Wallace at Eldora Speedway, lost in one of the all-time great NASCAR finishes to Kyle Busch at Chicagoland Speedway and attempted a video game pass that Denny Hamlin had to block in the last lap of the Southern 500. 

He’s made mistakes along the way, too. C.E. Falk will always point to his last-lap crash at Larson’s hands to conclude the 2013 UNOH Battle of the Beach. 

And of course, no one will forget the racial slur he uttered during an iRacing event in 2020. 

That moment will forever polarize Larson in the eyes of many fans. He was immediately forced out of his ride at Chip Ganassi Racing, fading into the ether for a stint as real-life racing tours laid dormant in favor of sim racing during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In the time since Larson has seemed to experience substantial personal growth off-track, working to atone for and learn from his mistake. 

Whether it’s enough for true forgiveness is up to each individual and, in particular, those of the black community, where his chosen slur is typically directed. But the efforts have made him more approachable from a public relations standpoint, providing an opportunity for Larson to steadily work his way back into the good graces of fans, teams, tours and sponsors. 

Larson methodically did just that and slowly came back to racing in 2020, first on dirt and then, ultimately, in NASCAR when he was announced for a 2021 drive with Hendrick Motorsports.

Since his return, Larson’s lifted his prowess to a new level. 

Over the past 18 months, Larson has racked up a plethora of dirt victories. He’s claimed crown jewel dirt events in midgets (Chili Bowl Nationals), sprint cars (Knoxville Nationals, Kings Royal) and late models (Prairie Dirt Classic). Larson even won the final Hoosier Hundred in USAC Silver Crown competition in 2020, one of his 42 wins in 83 dirt starts on the year. 

The dirt domination has been spectacular on its own. But the real surprise has been Larson’s sudden success on the NASCAR side. Long considered one of the sport’s biggest potential breakout stars, Larson finally hit his rhythm and made good on his potential with Hendrick Motorsports in 2021. 

In his first year with crew chief Cliff Daniels and the No. 5 team. Larson arrived at Rick Hendrick’s organization and immediately set about on one of the most historic seasons in modern NASCAR history. 

Larson completed the first 10-win Cup season since Jimmie Johnson in 2007, adding an All-Star Race victory for good measure. Included in the wins were triumphs on road courses, a crown jewel in the Coca-Cola 600 and five of the 10 playoff races – a feat that matches Tony Stewart’s unforgettable 2011 title run. 

It wasn’t just the wins, though. It was how the No. 5 team won. Larson set a new record for laps led in the 36-race modern era, pacing 2581 of his 9000 completed laps at the front of the field. He finished inside of the top-five in 20 of the 36 races and won 18 stages along the way. 

The No. 5 team capped off the year appropriately, using a critical fast pit stop in the closing laps to elevate Larson to the lead and claim the Cup Series championship. 

On their own, either the dirt or NASCAR seasons would have each been all-time performances. Mixed together they place Larson in rare air, drawing similarities to past greats like A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti. 

Stewart, an early idol of Larson’s and the driver he followed across the line in a junked car in his Xfinity Series debut eight years ago, called Larson “the best race car driver I’ve ever seen.”

Whether Larson is truly the best driver going this year is difficult to say in the modern era, where driver crossover can be minimal. Rally stars like Sebastien Loeb or Formula 1 greats like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen could have similar claims. 

But at least in America, there’s no denying that 2021 racing season has been the year of Kyle Larson.

Given that he’s only 29 years old, it may be the first of many. 

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