After ending the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season on a bittersweet note, Kyle Larson was expected to triumph in his off-season dirt racing events. Although he is slated for a historic run at the Chili Bowl Nationals 2025, the overseas High Limit Racing event is what caught the attention of the racing community. This was a first-of-its-kind event hosted by the series co-owner at Perth Motorplex that came with a big payday of $100,000.

With the Australian driver James McFadden taking home the win on the first night of the event, all eyes were on Kyle Larson in a hope for a comeback run. And well, the HMS star was on his A-game and looked to seal the deal with another sprint car win under his belt. But just when things were going smoothly for Larson, he made a mistake while navigating Turns 1 and 2. A mistake that ultimately ended up costing him the win.

Larson was leading the race with 22 laps to go, but McFadden was bearing down on him to contend for the lead. In a desperate attempt to maintain his advantage, Larson tried an ambitious move to make a pass over the lapped cars going into the corner off the front stretch. Although he made a good entry by hugging the inside lane, his sprint car just snapped on the corner exit.

As a result, Kyle Larson was sent into the concrete wall, with the rear of his sprint car sustaining a hard hit. He did try his best and kept the car on the track up and running, but he was forced to give up his lead due to extensive damage to his race car. Next thing you know, James McFadden would take the lead of the race and would go for back-to-back wins at the Perth Motorplex.

Flo Racing shared the video of Larson’s crash that changed the course of the race on X, and his fans were gutted to see him lose out on a potential win.

Kyle Larson’s untimely crash at Perth Motorplex triggered NASCAR fans

NASCAR fans always have huge expectations for Larson given his prowess to excel at multiple disciplines of racing. Although fans initially didn’t make a meal of his missed opportunity to convert a solid NASCAR season into a title run. That sentiment seems to have changed now with his error at the High Limit Sprint car race in Australia. “Well, time to turn this f—ing garbage off. Dude looking stupid as f–k as usual to end the year. Thanks for embarrassing us fans again.”

Now, Larson in particular doesn’t have a history of wrecking his race car at crucial moments in the race. However, the 2024 season has had those moments. His title run perhaps came to an end after he made contact with the wall at Homestead Miami Speedway in an almost must-win race to advance to the championship 4 race. Although he bounced back from the misfortunes early in the race, he spun again with 13 to go in the race. He finished 13th in this race and wasn’t able to seal the deal at Martinsville against a fiery Ryan Blaney. Connecting the dots with Larson’s latest fumble, this fan wrote, “This is classic Larson. Being a fan of his, you watch every race expecting him to either do great or wreck it.”

The funny thing about NASCAR fans is that they are always on their toes to make a mockery of their rival team or the drivers. It is indeed hard for the fans to get material on the HMS star to throw shade on him. Because nine times out of ten he is on his A-game, but this mistake at Perth Motorplex opened the floor for the rival faction to get on his back. Taking a jibe at Larson’s nickname, a fan on X wrote, “#hungmoney.”

Well, it’s fair to say that luck wasn’t entirely in favor of the #5 team during the clutch playoff races this year. Although Larson had two wins at Bristol and Charlotte Roval, he fell short of his mark at Las Vegas and Homestead, both mile-and-a-half tracks, his strong suit for the 2024 season. Clearly, emotions were running high for this race fan, who just couldn’t make sense of Larson’s costly error in Australia. “He does that in a cup car every other week too.”

On the other hand, there were a few who weren’t too concerned with the overall outcome of the event. This wasn’t Larson’s last race event in the off-season; he is lined up to feature at the historic midget race, the Chili Bowl Nationals. Moreover, he can script a solid comeback run with a win at the Daytona 500 race to kickstart his 2025 NASCAR campaign. Although Larson has multiple race wins under his belt, the Daytona 500 trophy has eluded him in his career so far. “Get the stupid mistakes out now before chili bowl and Daytona. It’s fine!” Another race fan added.

By no means is this mistake going to affect Yung Money in his attempts to challenge himself in different racing environments. With more events lined up on his dirt racing schedule, he will have opportunities to overcome the mistakes he made at the Perth Motorplex.