This isn’t a huge deviation from anything Kyle Larson has said before, but the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion still doesn’t see himself racing full-time in Stock Cars past hid 30s.
He reiterated the point when asked about it on the Kenny Wallace Show this week, with the now 31-year-old maintaining that he has a love for NASCAR but also wants to devote his later prime competitive years to achieving other goals.
Wallace framed the question as ‘when Larson would think about retiring’ when considering the likes of Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer all left in their early 40s.
Kevin Harvick just retired at 48.
“It’s hard to say,” Larson said. “Sitting here right now, I don’t see myself going to 40. But that’s not me retiring from racing. I think I’m different than others. Kevin is retiring not from full-time racing but he has the plan to go into the (television) booth.
“And a lot of these racers, I don’t think they meant to be done at 42, but I think they got pushed out of the sport by young drivers coming up who could get paid a lot less than they were making, stuff like that.”
But Larson has said for years that he wants to chase a full coast-to-coast dirt Sprint Car championship someday. In recent years, he has started racing dirt Late Models with tremendous success as well.
He used to say he wanted to chase a World of Outlaws championship but has since started a rival national Sprint Car tour with Brad Sweet and FloRacing — High Limit Racing.
“But then, for me, there is a lot of stuff I still feel like I want to accomplish while I’m still in my prime,” Larson added. “I’m 31 right now. I’m going into my 11th Cup Series season. I’ve already been in it for a while, so in my eyes, if I can race for another seven or eight years, make a lot of money … I can set myself up pretty well and I can still be in my prime, hopefully, and still compete in premier dirt series championships.”
Hopefully, High Limit has taken off by then and that’s the premier series and try to win a championship there. Try to win a championship in whatever the big Late Model series is there. Things like that while I’m still young. Yeah. I don’t know. It’s hard to say and it’s hard to predict right now. I’ve done it a long time and like I said, it’s a chance to go do and accomplish some big things while having the time to do it while I’m still close to my prime.”
The last time Larson said something to this affect, back in 2018, there was a subset of the audience who took it as a slight against NASCAR.
He is still adamant that he has a genuine love for NASCAR.
“I don’t want people to get spun out about it. … I love racing in NASCAR,” Larson said. “I wouldn’t be racing in NASCAR if I didn’t love it. I think a lot of racing fans feel I don’t like racing in NASCAR and I’m just doing it to make money and then I’m going to retire and all that. I would have done that a long time ago. If I didn’t love what I was doing and didn’t love NASCAR and competing with the best team in NASCAR …
“I absolutely love what I’m doing right now. Who knows? If I’m still loving it eight years from now, I could still go race NASCAR. Your life changes. Who knows. I could still be in NASCAR until I’m like 50. I love what I’m doing. I get to race dirt all the time. I get to race NASCAR all the time. It’s a blast.”
What Larson said before
Larson explained that he chose NASCAR over IndyCar when asked by Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar manager Mike Hull which series he wanted to pursue before reaching an agreement to join the team as a development driver in 2011.
He told Hull he didn’t want to race in IndyCar and Larson’s Midget team co-owner Pete Willoughby (Keith Kunz Racing) was left terrified that his driver had ruined the meeting.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘shut up,'” Willoughby said back in 2018. “I was like, ‘Don’t you know what he does here?’ This is the man who runs Chip’s IndyCar deal. I was so afraid he was going to kick us out on the spot.”
Hull asked Larson why he said NASCAR, and predictably, Larson said ‘they race more and I want to race.’
It’s not about the money either as Larson makes a tremendous amount of revenue with his dirt merchandise since none of it has to be split with the team or with NASCAR through a licensing agreement.
Larson said in 2024 the same kind of things he said back in 2018.
“Look, the money is great,” Larson said. “But I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t love NASCAR and have fun every week. Sprint cars are extremely fun and high horsepower, but I want to be here. The NASCAR lifestyle and the camaraderie you have with the fans is something that is really unique and special.
“The fans who think I don’t like this are crazy.”
His goals
The difference from 2018 to 2024 is that Larson has accomplished many of the things he said he wanted to do before leaving to chase a full-time Sprint Car career.
He has won a Cup Series championship and big races like the Southern 500 and Coca-Cola 600, meaning that all there is really left to do is the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400. Larson will race the Indianapolis 500 for at least the next two years as an extension of his goals to win in numerous other disciplines.
Ultimately, Larson has accomplished much of what he set out to do in choosing NASCAR 13 years ago, and he has both the talent and popularity to find success both on-track and financially in racing elsewhere … as long as he remains in his prime.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.