Kyle Larson Stands by His Dirt Racing Stance Despite Admitting ‘Hundreds of Employees at Hendrick’ Motorsports Rely on Him

To be the biggest name in NASCAR, isn’t that the dream of any aspiring or current racecar driver? But how about being the biggest name in NASCAR as well as being the biggest name in the dirt racing scene? Can one driver have both of those titles? Up until a few years ago, the answer would’ve been no. But there’s Kyle Larson, so the answer is yes.

The 29-year-old is the reigning NASCAR Cup champion and someone who has won several prestigious dirt races and titles in the past. Larson’s love for dirt cars and dirt racing is no secret. In fact, his first step on the asphalt of stock car racing was with a foot drenched in the success of dirt.

But what if he was offered the same amount of money as NASCAR to race in dirt cars? Would he do it?

This is the question Danica Patrick asked Kyle Larson.

“I don’t know,” Larson answered. “I think maybe if you’d asked me that question seven or eight years ago I probably would say, ‘YEAH!'”

“But I think as I’ve gotten older, I just enjoy racing all types of cars. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s dirt, pavement, stock car, sprint car, late model, IndyCar someday, who cares? It doesn’t matter to me,” he continued.

“I love driving race cars more than I love making money.”

Kyle Larson talks about the risks and positives of dirt racing

Danica Patrick asked the NASCAR champ, how the fact that dirt racing is a relatively more dangerous form of racing affects him. “I don’t think it’s part of the allure at all,” Larson said.

“I don’t think about it at all when I strap into a dirt car,” he continued.

“But I do know there’s a lot of people that rely on me, say, driving a NASCAR. There’s hundreds of employees at Hendrick, there were hundreds of employees when I was at (Chip) Ganassi that rely on me.”

Regardless, Kyle Larson said he understands that side of it. At the same time, he is of the belief that the positives he can get as a racecar driver by racing in dirt cars, outweigh the risk aspect of it.

“There’s always a risk and I think anybody can have their own opinion on that,” he said.

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