Kyle Larson nearly pulled off a sweep during the Bristol Race weekend. A runner-up place finish in the Truck Series race paused his run to get level with Kyle Busch, who has already done the three-peat twice in 2010 and 2017. Unable to win the Truck race, the HMS star went out and made a statement during the SciAps 300 in the Xfinity Series. He put on a clinical performance, leading 211 of 300 laps and bagging a win. This was a redemption of sorts after he missed out on winning the race at Homestead Miami Speedway, in his first sweep attempt of the year.
However, it wasn’t just his racing, but the bold talks after the race that made the headlines. Speaking to Kevin Harvick, Larson said, “I want to embarrass NASCAR a little bit because they just don’t let Cup guys run anymore, and the kids probably think they’re in a good spot and they don’t know where the bar really is at.” Larson wanted to compete in more races, but NASCAR restricts Cup drivers to race in just 5 Xfinity and Truck races per season. Busch didn’t have to deal with this restriction during his sweeps at Bristol.
Well, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who co-owns an Xfinity Series team, questioned Larson’s brash and overconfident attitude. “The first thing he said, I didn’t like. He said he wanted to embarrass the field, and he wanted to embarrass NASCAR, and he was not happy that they limit the races the Cup guys can run. The rest of the point he made was valid.” Surprisingly, Jr. said this only a few minutes before inviting Kyle Larson on his podcast. But once the HMS star made his appearance on the show, he took a U-turn on his stance, remembering the days when Mark Martin gave the Xfinity drivers a similar treatment.
However, his comment soon grabbed the headlines, becoming a hot topic of discussion in Dale Jr.’s podcast. He shared his take on the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s comment and added, “I tend to agree with the point for sure, I raced against Mark Martin and he pushed us all to try to get near of what he was able to do with that race truck and did that for years. Kyle Busch did that for years, would come and race and just dominate.”
During the 1998 and 1999 seasons, when Jr. started his racing career in the second-tier Martin used to run a part-time schedule, driving the No. 60 Roush Racing Ford. Interestingly, Martin won the same number of races as Dale Jr. in 1999 despite running a partial schedule. Just imagine where he would stand in the championship standings had he competed full-time with Jr. Even Larson had to face this onslaught by the Cup stars when he raced in the Xfinity Series.
Larson agreed with Dale’s perspectives. He added further, “There was more than Kyle Busch, too I mean I remember it was like Kyle Busch, Joey God, who else, Matt Kenseth even ran a handful of you know all there is a lot of cup guys that ran and really good equipment. I didn’t beat them as often as they beat me, I definitely feel like they helped elevate my skill set. And you know, pushed me to get better because, you know you’re only as good as your competition, and you know, NASCAR is limited cup guys from running Xfinity now and trucks. When you don’t allow to great competition to come compete with them, you are just you know, limiting the runway of those kids getting better.”
Kyle Larson’s point was further addressed by the veteran driver after he left the show. He put on his owner hat and wanted the HMS star to run more races, allowing the Xfinity driver an opportunity to contest against him.
Dale Jr. feels Larson dusted his hands off from a potential challenge
The thing is, Kyle Larson, before making the bold statement about embarrassing NASCAR and Xfinity drivers, had already brought out a white flag. After winning the Cup Series race on Sunday, he confirmed that he won’t be able to compete in any more Xfinity and Truck Series races. And this double standard didn’t sit well with Dale Jr., who challenged Larson to run more races in the Xfinity series this year.
“You know, I wish he would sign up for some more races now. He can expect that to absolutely nerf the other teams and our team. We have a relationship with them [Hendrick Motorsports]. We share information with them. They’re in our meetings and they take all the information we have and then they put it in his car. And he goes out there and runs good. It was just odd.” Jr. opined.
Well, the thing is, the likes of Corey Day, Rajah Caruth and Jake Finch make up for the rest of the season driving the No. 17 Chevy. But Jr. feels Larson can lean on other Chevy teams in the garage and have another go at the three-peat. It will be interesting to see if the HMS star accepts the challenge and runs more races this year.
The post Kyle Larson Clears Air on ‘Arrogant’ Statement, Forcing Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Relive Mark Martin’s Xfinity Trauma appeared first on EssentiallySports.