This past weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Larson made an attempt to become the second driver in NASCAR national series history to win the Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Cup Series races at the same track on the same weekend. Larson survived a spin to win the Truck Series race on Friday night, and he passed Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman late to win the Cup Series race on Sunday. However, he failed to win the Xfinity Series event on Saturday. He had taken a 16-second lead, but Taylor Gray’s final spin raised the yellow flag, forcing a restart in which Sam Mayer struck Larson from behind. Several positions were lost as a result of that contact, and he had to settle for fourth place.
The subsequent indignation exposes a significant double standard. Because of his Cup Series experience, Kyle Busch used to compete in as many Truck Series and Xfinity Series races as was permitted for a driver each year. That frequently meant competing in all three races in one weekend. He has accomplished a tripleheader sweep twice, making him the only driver to do so. In 2010 and 2017, he succeeded at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was said to be detrimental to the sport when Busch was doing it.
NASCAR was condemned for permitting “full-time Cup drivers” (that is, Busch; everyone else was completely cool) to race in those events, allegedly depriving some of the up-and-coming drivers of the chance to win. He was criticized for “stealing candy from the kids” at all times. The headline on ESPN at the time about Bob Pockrass? “Latest Bristol sweep drives Kyle Busch haters crazy” . That’s about it, plus a little more. However, once Larson does it, Mayer and Gray receive nothing but constant abuse on social media. Because Larson believes that everyone should just relax, take in brilliance, avoid getting in his way, and let him win. Suddenly, winning at the second and third highest levels in NASCAR is an incredible achievement.
Larson’s talent is undeniable. This isn’t the problem. However, the fact remains that no one ever objected to Busch’s actions. As a matter of fact, fans simply disliked Kyle Busch and thought that his victory was unacceptable. Since Larson is trying to accomplish the accomplishment at the height of his career, exactly like Busch, it is obvious that there are new restrictions in place for him. Those same fans don’t enjoy Larson losing, and whoever caused it seems to be deserving of all the hateful comments the NASCAR community can generate on social media.
As Busch always did, Larson would be made fun of for his tripleheader sweep attempt, and the disparaging remarks about Mayer and Gray would either be completely ignored or transformed into acclaim for keeping another Cup champion from “stealing candy from the babies” and limiting the chances for some of the younger players.
