Kyle Larson, the star of NASCAR, is always willing to try racing at different levels and can put up a fight on every track. For instance, last week. At Bristol Motor Speedway, Larson became victorious in the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. What makes him willing to race both? Larson, however, offered some rational justification. “In Xfinity, I do get motivated — and this is going to come across like very cocky — but I want to embarrass them, honestly,” Larson stated on “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.” “The youngsters probably think they’re in a good situation and don’t know where the bar is truly at, so I want to make NASCAR look bad because they just don’t let Cup [Series] players run anymore, to go run those Xfinity races and get 10-second leads to let them realize that they’ve got a lot of room to improve, and I think that’s only better for our sport.
“Those young men are better prepared for the Cup Series once they get there when they can compete with Cup guys. Yes, that is very motivating for me since I want to dominate the field when I run Xfinity.” Larson has participated in numerous races at the Xfinity level, which is something that many drivers have done, even after switching to the Cup Series full-time in 2014. Larson competed full-time in the Cup Series from 2014 to 2017, making a total of 69 Xfinity starts. Since then, he has only participated in 16 Xfinity Series races, but he has won eight of them. Larson also tried to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the renowned Indianapolis 500 on the same day last year; a weather delay in the Indianapolis 500 and then a rain-shortened NASCAR race halted his attempt to pull off the double. He will again attempt the feat in 2025.
As of the now, Larson has two victories, five top-five finishes, and six top-10 finishes from nine races, good for fourth place in the 2025 Cup Series standings (304 points). Homestead-Miami Speedway was the site of his other victory this season. Since the Cup Series is off this coming Easter weekend, Larson’s next opportunity to “embarrass” the field will be at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27 (3 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).
