Kyle Larson Dominates the Inaugural 2023 ‘Fan Choice Awards’ Despite Championship Failure

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson had it all going right until the very end. Bringing to the 2023 stage one of his career-best performances, he dominated the calendar with four victory lane visits and 15 top-5s. Despite overpowering the rest of the grid on the majority of race days, he succumbed to defeat at the hands of Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney at the finale in Phoenix. Little does that mean his other feats throughout the year would go unrecognized though.

In the inaugural edition of NASCAR’s ‘Fan Choice Awards’, the people underwent a week of voting and have now chosen Kyle Larson as their favorite across different categories.

Kyle Larson’s performance at North Wilkesboro finds its way into people’s hearts

In the list of Kyle Larson’s best performances this year, one particular race outshines the rest. The All-Star event at the infamous North Wilkesboro 0.625 mile track. Leading 145 laps out of the total 200, he burned the maximum out of his #5 Chevrolet Camaro in the race. What makes the victory particularly jaw-dropping is that he had just come out of a Craftsman Truck Series victory at that same weekend in May. Driving the #7 Chevrolet Silverado of Spire Motorsports in place of an injured Alex Bowman, he had led a race-high of 137 laps in the truck on Saturday and come back the very next day to pull out an even bigger trick out of his hat.

Unsurprisingly, his win ended up being voted the ‘Most Dominant’ performance of the year by fans.

As a result of his performance, Larson received the sum of $1 million in prize money. Talking in the aftermath of the event, he said to the press, “I can’t even tell you what it means. This is my third all-star win and my third different track. In a historical place like that, you guys and the crowd made this weekend so awesome. We could feel the atmosphere all weekend.” Prior to the win in 2023, Larson had won the All-Star race in 2019 and 2021.

Perhaps it was a consolation for him not winning the championship. Moreover, fans weren’t done with voting his All-Star performance the most dominant.

Watch Story: Kyle Larson’s Glimpse Into the Future

Fans heap more awards on Kyle Larson as consolation for championship failure

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Following his win at the All-Star exhibition race Kyle Larson’s celebration too seems to have impressed a whole lot of NASCAR viewers. Doing a full lap of burnouts after finishing first, he gave NASCAR’s return to the track after a 27-year-absence a fitting ode. His smoke-filled aftershow has now ended up being voted to be the “Best Celebration” of all year. Being the first driver in history to win the All-Star race at three different tracks certainly warrants such a celebration.

Larson’s name found its way one more time into the awards list. This time fans picked “Kyle Larson vs Denny Hamlin” to be the best rivalry of 2023. Though the duo aren’t enemies off the track, they had their fair share of quarrels on the track this year. During the ultimate lap in Kansas, Denny Hamlin shoved Larson into the wall to take the victory for himself. Weeks later, he repeated the same at the Pocono Raceway.

Talking about how it was always Hamlin who got into trouble with him, Larson said at the time, as reported by USAToday, “I got used up. It’s just unfortunate. I feel like we’ve had a handful of run-ins; I’ve never had to reach out to apologize. (…) I’ve never had to do that to him. Sure, maybe there’s been times he’s been frustrated with me, but I’ve never hurt his results.”

Though Rick Hendrick’s star driver could not gift his team a second championship on his part in 2023, he did well enough along with William Byron, to help maintain the reputation of Hendrick Motorsports as the best in the business. Hopefully, the confidence and votes of fans will help his comeback from the offseason with fresh vigor and energy.

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