This is a guest post by Vince Evans is a self-medicated car and racing freak who gets his fix by going to every auto auction within driving distance and wasting away in front of the TV on Sundays. If he can’t be where the action is, he writes about it and New Jersey car auctions. While not as exciting as NASCAR races, they still get his heart pumping.
You didn’t have to be a NASCAR fan to hear Kyle Larson’s name blasted over the media this last weekend. Larson, in car number 32, was near the front of the pack when he got caught up in a wreck started by Regan Smith after he tried to throw a block on Brad Keselowski. Larson got caught up with Keselowski and got spun sideways into the catch fence where his car was ripped apart, sending pieces into the crowd that injured over 20 twenty fans.
Kyle was looking a top 10, and possibly top 5 or better, finish on Saturday at the Daytona Nationwide race until the race happened, and the middle third of his car managed to slide across the start/finish line for a respectable 13th place finish.
Fans of Kyle certainly weren’t surprised by the young gun’s strong showing at such a large event. At only 20 years old, Kyle Larson was named the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series Rookie of the Year and I he deserved it. Last year Kyle spend almost a third of the year on the track while he logged 123 races, of which he won 30 outright. The numbers are impressive by themselves, but become even more impressive when you realize that he raced all across the world in drastically different cars on a multitude of track types. This helps to frame Kyle Larson as what he should be known as, a fantastic driver – period.
Kyle grew up far from the south where NASCAR has its deep roots, and was born and raised near Sacramento in the city of Elk Grove, California. Being from the West Coast isn’t the only thing that distances Kyle from the rest of the field either. NASCAR touts Larson as a key figure in its Drive to Diversity campaign with Larson being the first Japanese American driver to make it this far up the ladder in NASCAR. In interviews, Larson says that he hopes his success (and hopeful future success) increases ratings abroad and helps to open up a new demographic for NASCAR.
Earlier in the week at Daytona, Larson won the short track All-American Series Battle at the Beach that came down to the wire. Larson was trailing then 1st place CE Falk in the last lap when, during the last corner, Larson bumped Falk’s rear bumper. As they moved onto the last, short straightaway, Larson aggressively moved into Falk’s exposed bumper again and spun him out off the track which gave Larson the open track to 1st place. Kyle Larson admitted that the move was dirty, but that it’s the name of the game in the final lap of short track racing.
The fact that Larson won this race with a smart and well executed, albeit controversial, move even though he doesn’t have much experience in short track racing showcases what a good driving head he has on his shoulders. Larson raced karts on dirt tracks for much of his career and, in an interview on SPEED, attributed dirt tracks to his strong car control stating that, “pavement racing almost has less grip than dirt, so you get the feel of having the rear of the car out there, trying to catch it, and being smooth.”
He sure looks smooth on the track, as is evident when he was only the second driver in history to sweep Eldora by winning the 3 USAC races at the Four Crown Nationals. Even more impressive is that this was his first time racing at the Eldora Speedway where he won the 2011 4-Crown Nationals.
Kyle Larson has proved himself behind every wheel of every car he’s been strapped into. He’s currently racing in the Nationwide Series full time in the #32 car for Turner Scott Motorsports where he’ll share the spotlight with teammate Danica Patrick. After his great success racing trucks, many fans questioned the move to put him in the Nationwide Series full time. Larson backed up the move by stating that he thinks he’ll get more laps and learning experiences in the Nationwide Series than he would racing trucks.
The young gun has been compared to greats like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart and with good merit. Compared at their age, Larson is outperforming them and his drive an determination to get behind the wheel is great for NASCAR fans. While the year is still young, we can expect to see a lot out of the #32 Chevy Charger as Kyle Larson tries to live up to the hype surrounding him.
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