“Maybe I’m not normal.”
That’s what Kyle Larson said when asked about the travel he is subjecting himself to in choosing to fly back and forth to race the Wild West Shootout in a Late Model and the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in the same week.
Of course, Larson isn’t normal in that he is already competitively racing a Late Model and Midget in the first place, while also being a NASCAR Cup Series champion, who will also make his debut in the Indianapolis 500 in five months.
So normal wasn’t really operative here anyway because normal isn’t just snapping your fingers at the last minute and deciding to race the Chili Bowl after expecting to sit out anyways.
Larson raced the Late Model in New Mexico on Saturday and Sunday but flew home to Nevada to put away Christmas boxes. It was alone, thinking to himself, while putting the tree and ornaments away that Larson had the idea.
Could I race Chili Bowl?
“It was kind of nice, just being by myself and working around the house, but it just dawned on me,” he said. “I can do this. If I can lock in on Thursday, I could make it work. I pondered it for a few hours, texted a few friends, and asked him if I would be stupid to try it.”
With the exception of his wife, Katelyn, no one objected or told him he was stupid.
“Yeah, I don’t think it made my very wife happy,” Larson said. “That was the toughest conversation that I had all day. I was still on the fence about it and then midway through the night on Monday, I was like, ‘heck, I’m going to do it or at least attempt Thursday at least.’
“At least try a prelim night. So, I waited until morning to get with Keith and waited on his answer, which wasn’t long at all, and went to work on the logistics side of it.”
That meant clearing the decision with Hendrick Motorsports brass, both from a clearance standpoint, but also with Chevrolet since Kunz cars are powered by Toyota engines — things both his various teams and the manufacturer had approved in the past.
Then came the flights and making sure the timing did work out.
Larson said he saw a picture of the Kunz fleet inside the Tulsa Expo Center and realized there were at least two extra cars. He didn’t even realize that Tanner Carrick had been excluded from the Race of Champions even after Kunz prepared a car for him.
That is the car that Larson is driving now.
“I’m just going to be looking for comfort when I go out there, making sure its not something I would fip over,” he said. “Keith’s stuff is obviously always really good in this building and it hasn’t been that long (2022) since I’ve been here.
“I know there’s a new tire but I don’t read into that as much as everyone else seems to but I haven’t been on track either. So I guess it could be way different but I don’t see it being that different.
“I was just on the west coast with that tire and didn’t think anything ot it. I just hope we can lock in and do something really special on Saturday.”
The Chili Bowl main event tends to go off after midnight local time on Saturday night into Sunday morning so there is a window for Larson to make it to Tulsa, even if he loses an hour going from New Mexico to Oklahoma, with what time the races have been ending this week at Vado.
FloRacing, which broadcasts both events and is a sponsor of Larson, could also expedite the program in their respective best interest too.
But for Larson, does any of this exhaust him? Again, he says he recognizes that he is wired differently.
“To me, traveling is relaxing,” Larson said. “Like, you know, the wifi normally sucks so you just to get to sit there in your thoughts. You aren’t wrapped up in electronics. I find that relaxing. I look forward to long flights because it’s the only time I get to clear my head and reset, recharge and all that. So that’s not a big deal at all.
“The only stressful thing about Saturday is just going to be getting to the airport, because once you’re in the air, you’re on schedule, and then it’s stressful leaving the airport in Tulsa if we’re in a time crunch.”
Larson won both of his Golden Drillers in 2020 and 2021 driving his own equipment with longtime crew chief Paul Silva. This followed almost a decade of Larson trying to win the race with Kunz. That is something that motivates him the most about doing this impromptu start with his longtime friend and mentor.
“That would be very special to me,” Larson said. “I came so close in 18 and I think we blew up with like eight to go while leading and the next year, I gave that one away to Christopher.
“That whole week in 2019, I knew what I was going to be doing the following year so I had put a lot of pressure on myself personally. I hadn’t told anyone else what I would be doing with Paul but I really wanted to win 19 with Keith.
“I choked that one away and it killed me.”
Larson said he wouldn’t trade his two Chili Bowl wins for anything but that when Keith and Pete Willoughby came to congratulate him on the podium in 2020, he wanted it to be with them too.
“So hopefully tonight goes perfect and we have a shot at it together on Saturday so I can kind of close that chapter with Keith in this building the right way.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
