DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Kyle Larson\u2019s latest racing endeavour might be more challenging than \u201cThe Double.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two-time and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion recently started his own micro-racing team \u2014 for his kids. Trucks, trailers, cars, engines, parts, shop space, employees, Larson added it all for his 11-year-old son, Owen, and his 7-year-old daughter, Audrey, to race scaled-down sprint cars more often in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are fully invested,\u201d Kyle Larson said.<\/p>\n
Larson, though, is dreading the financial thought of it becoming a three-driver operation because his youngest, 3-year-old Cooper, is the wildest of the bunch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a perfect world, I would love for Cooper not to race,\u201d Larson said. \u201cHe\u2019s the craziest, for sure, of the three. I think he\u2019ll be the most expensive, probably, because I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll be tearing up the most equipment. So, we\u2019ll see if we can keep him out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Highly unlikely, especially if he\u2019s trying to keep pace with Dad.<\/p>\n
Larson is coming off his second Cup title, a somewhat surprising championship that came despite no wins over his final 24 events. Nonetheless, he finished ahead of fellow championship contenders Chase Briscoe, William Byron and Denny Hamlin in the season finale.<\/p>\n
Hamlin had the championship within reach when Byron got a flat tire and hit the wall to bring out a late caution. Larson was the benefactor and hopes to carry some of that luck into the Daytona 500 on Sunday. He is winless in 12 tries in NASCAR\u2019s premier event.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would imagine the feeling of winning (it would) be extremely massive, if it ever happens,\u201d Larson quipped.<\/p>\n
Larson hasn\u2019t really been close, either. Daytona is the only regular NASCAR venue in which he doesn\u2019t have a top-five finish. He crossed the line 20th last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrior to last year, I would just get caught up in wrecks and whatnot,\u201d Larson said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I have any more confidence this year than I did last year. I just hope that we have the same sort of good fortune as we did last year. Maybe it can be a few spots better to get a win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larson has company in 0-for-Daytona club. Kyle Busch is winless in 20 starts in the 500, a skid that\u2019s more of a head-scratcher than a heartbreaker considering the two-time series champ has won at just about every track on the circuit. Brad Keselowski is 0 for 16 in the Daytona 500, also baffling considering the 2012 series champ has six wins at NASCAR\u2019s other superspeedway, Talladega.<\/p>\n
Hall of Famers Tony Stewart, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin are the most notable drivers to never win the Daytona 500.<\/p>\n
Fellow Hall of Famer David Pearson needed 15 tries to win NASCAR\u2019s signature event. Kyle Busch\u2019s older brother, Kurt, needed 16. And NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt won in his 20th try \u2014 an iconic moment in series history.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou feel it, for sure,\u201d said Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who won the 500 in 2023 on his 12th try. \u201cMost people get to double digits before they win a Daytona 500 these days. The more races that go by, the more you wonder if you\u2019ll ever get one.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at guys like Mark Martin and Tony Stewart who been super successful in our support and never got one. Kyle Busch is still trying. The more that goes by, the more pressure that ramps up every February.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larson insists he\u2019s feeling no anxiety \u2014 at least not regarding the 500. He started his own series in 2023, the High Limit Racing Sprint Car Series, which has now expanded to 60 events.<\/p>\n
He also races in other series, too. Most notably, the last two years, he attempted \u201cThe Double\u201d \u2013 racing the Indianapolis 500 in the IndyCar Series and then hopping on a jet to make NASCAR\u2019s Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina, the same day.<\/p>\n
Weather caused a logistical issue that didn\u2019t allow him to complete the double in 2024, and he crashed last year in Charlotte.<\/p>\n
NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick called Larson\u2019s venture \u201ca huge distraction” and was relieved the Cup champion would not make another attempt this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only was it a distraction with the team, but coming back and wrecking in the 600 was mentally just a downer that he had to work his way through,\u201d Hendrick said. \u201cI\u2019m super excited about this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larson agrees, especially with the addition of his micro-racing team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s honestly been a lot of fun, and I look forward to kind of having our own little touch on things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Kyle Larson\u2019s latest racing endeavour might be more challenging than \u201cThe Double.\u201d The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-466600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466600","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=466600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}