Kyle Larson believes one of actor Will Ferrell’s most successful films made a mockery out of NASCAR.

This summer, motorsport has once again become a hit at the box office following the release of ‘F1: The Movie,’ which starred Brad Pitt and drew rave reviews from fans and critics alike. Back in 2006, it was ‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’ that drew droves of moviegoers to the cinemas.

The comedy, which grossed $163.4 million worldwide, paints NASCAR in a satirical light as Ferrell – who plays the outspoken Ricky Bobby — wrestles with life as a driver both on and off the track.

The comedy, which grossed $163.4 million worldwide, paints NASCAR in a satirical light as Ferrell – who plays the outspoken Ricky Bobby — wrestles with life as a driver both on and off the track.

Despite cementing itself as one of many cult classics that Ferrell has starred in, Talladega Nights hasn’t exactly drawn praise from real-life NASCAR drivers. While making an appearance on the ‘Games With Names’ podcast, Larson criticized the film for making his sport look bad.

Larson is far from the only Cup Series driver who’s spoken out against Talladega Nights. Back in February, Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott additionally blasted the movie for its inaccurate portrayal of NASCAR. “It’s not like a good racing movie. It’s just a comedy,” Wallace said on the ‘Rubbin is Racing’ podcast.

“I remember watching it. I think I was in high school, maybe. A freshman or something. I saw that come out, and I was like, ‘They’re making fun of our sport.’ I was like, ‘That’s not right.’ But then i’ve watched it multiple times now and I’m like, ‘Ah okay, some scenes are funny.’ It’s Will Ferrell — love him as an actor for sure. But people that say that’s the best racing movie, it’s like you guys are missing the boat for sure.”

Elliott expressed a similar sentiment, chiming in: “If you’re a driver and that’s your favorite racing movie, man, I don’t know about that. That’s pretty far off base. It’s so hard to convey [being a NASCAR driver]. The easiest way for them to convey it is the way they did it, and that’s such a departure from reality. But that’s the easiest way for them to do it.”

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Not all NASCAR stars have talked badly about Talladega Nights, however. Dale Earnhardt Jr. — who made a cameo in the movie — encouraged his motorsports peers to lean into the lighthearted jokes and stereotypes that the film pokes fun at.

“The first part of the movie is just a lot of jokes about NASCAR, like ‘What do I do with my hands’ and all of that stuff,” he said. “And it’s all just quick, witty jokes about our sport — which was really fun, the self-deprecation of NASCAR.

“Even though it was a joke, we can definitely handle being the butt of the joke. I didn’t mind it, I thought it was good for NASCAR, I thought it put us in front of a new audience. Yes, it poked fun at us, but I don’t know that it was detrimental to NASCAR. If anything it improved our popularity out of our own bubble.”