Sign up to our NASCAR newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Kyle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/new-york-new-york-kyle-larson-visits-the-empire-state-building-to-celebrate-the-2025-nascar-464665.j.jpeg\" "\\"Kyle")
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Larson celebrated his win on top of the Empire State Building where he spoke to Express U.S. Sports (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n
At Chip Ganassi Racing, he was realistic about the fact the big three – Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske – were the teams to win championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2020, he watched on from the sidelines as Chase Elliott reached the summit. A few weeks later, Larson became his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports and that changed everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew getting with them would be my opportunity to do a lot of great things,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI didn’t know if I would ever accomplish it, but I felt like I would have the right people and tools in place to go and give it a good run.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a man blessed with his talent, it is no surprise he has done just that. 26 race wins, including two All-Star races, three Crown Jewels and now two Cup Series Championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very grateful of the success we’ve had in a short amount of time,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the circumstances that thrust him to where he belongs are less conventional than the results which everyone knew he was capable of.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After being suspended for using a racial slur during an iRacing event, he was suspended when NASCAR returned during the COVID-19 pandemic. He lost all his sponsors. As he quietly rehabilitated in the background, his reputation was in tatters.<\/p>\n
At that moment, Larson becoming not only the Cup Series champion but one of its most popular drivers looked a million miles away. Then Rick Hendrick offered him a lifeline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Becoming champion looked a long way off when Larson was at Chip Ganassi Racing (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just makes me appreciate the journey even more,\u201d he reflects. \u201cAnd, you know, for all my supporters who stuck with me, and Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon for giving me a second opportunity in the Cup Series.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s something that I do reflect back on. You know, it’s like, man, so much has happened since 2020, and I’m just blessed and grateful for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all part of the story, where Larson is writing all the chapters he was expected to, just not in the order anyone anticipated.<\/p>\n
For much of this year\u2019s Championship race, he was nowhere to be seen. At one stage, he was a lap down and, by his own admission, his No.5 car was \u201caverage\u201d.<\/p>\n
Denny Hamlin looked to be cruising to his first-ever championship, the story that appeared destined to be written. Then came the twist: the caution fell. Larson and his team was handed a glimmer of hope.<\/p>\n
In a two-lap shootout for the championship, Larson spotted no pressure, only an opportunity. It was a win-win situation he never expected to find himself in just moments earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I think it must feel different, depending on your situation,\u201d he says. \u201cLike, for me, it was opportunity, and I was excited for the green white checker\u2026whereas I’ve been in the other side of it, where I’ve been leading\u2026 a lot like Denny. And then the caution comes out, and you’re instantly, like, a little bit deflated, like, gosh dang. And then your mind’s kind of in a negative headspace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that’s just NASCAR racing, and that\u2019s what we have right now with the format and green, white checkers and all that. So you just got to be ready for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given the winner-takes-all championship race format is widely expected to be shelved this offseason, Larson might be the last person to find himself in that situation again, knowing an entire year of endless grind will be decided by an intense two-lap shootout.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t know if that’s something to be proud about or not, or if it really matters,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I hope that I can win a championship in whatever format we have coming to prove that our team can win in any sort of fashion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an irony that the last and most controversial finale of the much-maligned format was won by the driver most expected to thrive even more in a system that rewards more sustained performance.<\/p>\n
He would have won this season’s championship in old-school points format, for instance. In 2024, he won six races, more than any other driver, but did not even find himself in the championship race.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s why, as much as hearts have ached for Hamlin, and Larson himself has expressed his sympathy, few can begrudge him another title. Even if he\u2019s well aware the circumstances were fortunate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked how he\u2019ll reflect on this week when the dust has settled, he ponders: \u201cJust still thinking about the race and how kind of fortunate we got, but how our team never quit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that’s what I’ll remember, just how proud I was of the team, how proud I was of Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) and everybody.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, there will be the pictures. He\u2019ll remember his wife, Katelyn, chugging a beer in Victory Lane and his eldest son, 11-year-old Owen, himself a budding young racer, watching on one day dreaming of being there himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll remember his seven-year-old daughter, Audrey, understanding what was happening this time, and the fact their youngest son, Cooper, who turns three in December, was actually here to witness his latest title, running around in confetti having not yet been born when he last won.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think for sure, just how in shock I was, you know, crossing start finish line,\u201d he reflects as the lasting legacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Larson celebrated his second Championship win with his wife and three kids (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n
Larson\u2019s win marks the end of an era and beginning of another for NASCAR. A new format is coming, we just don\u2019t know what, and even Larson is unsure the optimal answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I don’t know,\u201d he admits. \u201cBecause I don’t think there’s a right format for anybody\u2026but what I know is, I think to crown a champion, I think we all agree it needs to be more than one race to come down to.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo whether that’s a full 36 race season, or 10 or four, I think anything more than one would be better. I just think everybody in the sport fans, included, probably majority of them, you just want a larger sample size for crowning a champion.\u201d<\/p>\n
From an era in which Larson and many others have recognized championship wins have been a lottery, there is something fitting about the fact he has emerged with two to his name.<\/p>\n
Speaking to us ahead of his second attempt at \u2018The Double\u2019 earlier this year, he was asked the impact on his legacy and said: \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t really think about it. I just want to race and do a good job. I think if you do a good job, that takes care of the legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so it has turned out, that the stars aligned again when they looked like they wouldn\u2019t to give Larson one of the accolades his career undoubtedly deserves, even if Sunday\u2019s single race perhaps did not.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Sunday showed that you just got to never count yourself out,\u201d he says. \u201cI’ve definitely had a lot of races where I’ve gotten them stolen from me at the end.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll come around eventually. And I’m just thankful it came around in a race like that, to get us a championship. Our team did an amazing job throughout the end of that race. And you know, it was definitely a team victory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Larson’s win cements his legacy – but he still wants to achieve a lot more (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n
As a two-time champion, Larson knows this takes his legacy to another level, albeit he\u2019s yet to figure out exactly to what extent. And he hopes when he can take the time to think about that, the number will be far higher than two.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognize how it probably does, you know, take your legacy, to the next sort of level, but I don’t think about it a whole lot yet. I\u2019m sure someday I will get to slow down and reflect on everything I’ve accomplished.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd hopefully when that day comes, I’ve got more than two championships and a lot more wins. But for right now, I’m just in the moment, you know, enjoying this championship, and then get into relaxing and try to go for another one next year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Next year\u2019s bid for a third championship and a chance to go back-to-back will begin with the one Crown Jewel Larson doesn\u2019t have to his name: The Daytona 500.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously I recognized a few years ago that Daytona is probably the last big one that I would like to win. But I don’t fret or think about it too much, because I understand that like 80% of it\u2019s luck.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust try to go there and put yourself in contention. And I feel like we’ve gotten a lot better at the Daytonas and Talladegas. So I do feel like we have an opportunity to win every time we go there. Just got to kind of have it all come together.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Larson keeps putting himself in the position, it\u2019s bound to come together for him in The Great American Race at one stage or another. Just like it did at Phoenix, and just like it did in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They say you make your own luck, and Larson\u2019s ability to pull off the unsurprising in the most surprising circumstances modern-day NASCAR often generates is why nobody can doubt he\u2019s now one of the sport’s all-time greats.<\/p>\n
And whatever happens from here, he hopes nobody will ever doubt just how much passion he has for NASCAR.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I love competing for championships and wins,” he says. “If anything, I hope it reminds race fans when they see my excitement how much I love NASCAR racing.”\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kyle Larson has just become a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (Image: Getty) Kyle Larson doesn\u2019t think about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,4384,4386,2332,634,103103,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-272884","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-hendrick-motorsports","11":"tag-kyle-larson","12":"tag-motorsport-section","13":"tag-nascar","14":"tag-nascar-championship","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"NASCAR](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/avondale-arizona-kyle-larson-driver-of-the-hendrickcars-com-chevrolet-celebrates-in-victory-464663.j.jpeg\" "\\"NASCAR")
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