Heading into the 2022 NASCAR Cup season, Kyle Larson was certainly one of the favorites to defend his title. However, he failed to do so, getting eliminated in the Round of 12. Naturally, he was bitterly disappointed to lose out on what could have been a second career title. In addition to that, he could have been the first to successfully defend his crown since Jimmie Johnson.

Incidentally, his lack of success in the early part of his career disappointed his family as well, especially his son Owen.

In an old video from 2019, Kyle Larson said, “I don’t win that often, so he’s always – he’s lost confidence in me a little bit. He said it at least a couple of times since then, ‘Dad, I’m so glad you won’. It’s been a while since he’s been in Victory Lane. He was in a crappy mood in Victory Lane, so after the open, I saw him. I was like, ‘Man! You’re losing your voice’. He’s like, ‘My throat hurts’. So he was getting mad that his throat hurt, he’s had a sore throat since then. He’s scream out of nowhere, ‘My throat!‘”

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What lies ahead for Kyle Larson in the NASCAR Cup Series?

Now, all that Larson can do is sit and rue what could have been. After that, he will have to get back on the grind once again and prepare for the 2023 NASCAR Cup season. After all, this is a brand new season and the pressure will be off Larson. The upcoming season is actually going to be an interesting one, with a few new tracks.

With one year past, all teams would have had plenty of time to figure out how to make the Next Gen cars tick. Even if they haven’t they would have amassed enough knowledge about these cars to extract as much performance. Kyle Larson will definitely want to be part of that process and try to redeem himself. Who knows, maybe he will get back to Victory Lane and make his son proud of him once again.

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