Kyle Larson‘s journey in NASCAR has been one marked by success and familial pride. As he prepares to make history with his attempt at the historic ‘Double’, competing in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, Larson reflects on the two who have had the most impact on his racing career: his father and his idol, Jeff Gordon.

For Larson, racing isn’t just a profession; it’s more like a family legacy. Growing up, he watched his father, Mike Larson, support him on and off track, pouring his soul into trying to get his son interested in racing. His father’s unwavering support has been successful and has helped Larson guide his way up through NASCAR.

Kyle Larson on fulfilling his dad’s dreams

Larson’s deep love for the Indy 500 stems from his father’s immense love for Indy car racing, which turns out he loves more than NASCAR. From a young age, he understood the importance of racing to his father. Recalling the time when they used to watch the Indy 500 together and seeing his father’s enthusiasm for the sport, Kyle Larson sat down with Lindsay Czarniak ahead of the Indy weekend.

He mentioned, “So, my dad has always been a really big Indy car fan, I feel like, probably more so than he was a fan of even NASCAR. So, I understood, I think from an early age, like how a race that was so important to him must be big, you know?”

The opportunity to finally witness the Indy 500 in person, for Larson, let him be in awe. Throughout his father’s passion at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Larson found his love for racing, “So, we would always watch the Indy 500 and all that, and then I lived here for a couple of years until I was 11 and 12, and got to come here finally and see some practice days and stuff, and really got to like hear and see the cars go around the track, and see the crowds just for practice days. So, it just, yeah, I’ve only ever watched the race on TV and never gotten to come until then. So, once I got to come here, I was like, this place is awesome.”

By embarking on the historic double, Larson is fulfilling one of his father’s dreams, a legacy that was nurtured into him and something on which the HMS driver as well as his mentor has been dwelling.

Larson’s Indy 500 journey, the first of HMS, Jeff Gordon, even Mr. H

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Jeff Gordon is one of the most influential figures who has played a huge part in making Larson’s Indy 500 dream come true. Larson further highlighted the impact Gordon has had on his racing career.

As Larson realizes that he is on the brink of fulfilling a dream he has had since his childhood, it is both exhilarating and humbling. He is fully aware of the impact his participation in the Indy 500 will have on both, his father and Jeff Gordon, “I think, you know, I’ve been asked a lot, like, what’s been the most special thing to this, just a couple weeks, and for me, it’s been seeing everybody experience it through me, and like being a part of that, you know, like seeing everybody’s reactions to everything has been really special.” 

Recently, Jeff Gordon sat down with NBC Sports to discuss Kyle Larson’s rise to racing greatness and how it will all come to a head in a historic double attempt at the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600. He said, “I mean, he just stood out, his driving style… very few NASCAR drivers go and win all races, I mean I have seen Christopher Bell.. and Chase Briscoe do some of that.. but not at the level Kyle is doing…he brought up one thing he’s put of his prime, is Indy 500.. that kind of stuck with me, we’ve never had that experience here in HMS.”

Adding on to how Mr. H came around about the double, and sponsoring Kyle when no one from HMS had done this before, Gordon said, “I mentioned it to Rick Hendrick, few conversations down the road, I talked to him again, I told him Kyle wants to do it, the more we talked about it, we started talking more, more, more, and next Rick Hendrick is, let’s do it, and he wants to own the car, one thing you know about Rick is he loves to own the car. It’s a team collaboration. And Rick now knows what it is to go Indianapolis.”

Knowing that he is not only living out his own dream but also fulfilling a cherished memory that he has shared with his father and his mentor, he will be carrying his hopes and dreams, knowing that his success on track will be a source of pride for the men who have been his biggest supporters.