NASCAR champion Kyle Larson experiences the lowest-lows and the highest-highs of his career. He is about to experience his final low – something he thought he’d avoid – and he finds himself with his hand on a high shelf for the first time in his career. While Larson has spent his entire life in the clouds, his career has taken an unlikely turn to the left.
CARTING FOR A CAREER
Larson has become a three-time series champion and a two-time series champion in the Nationwide Series. He has been voted the Rookie of the Year in each of the three years he has been a full-time driver and has collected four titles in all of his eight years in the series.
He has also been named Rookie of the Year in NASCAR and the NASCAR CART series and has won the championship four times. He has captured the 2009 (CART season opener), 2010 (CART season opener), and 2013 (2012 season opener) titles in the CART series. The four titles he has won have all come in the same season.
His accomplishments all point to his success in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Larson has won five poles, one of his five poles coming in the 2013 season opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was the largest individual win in Nationwide history and ranks as the second-largest career pole.
NASCAR DREAM JOB
Larson’s dream job had been making cars for himself and his father, Rick Larson. Kyle decided to pursue a full-time driver career after a stint racing in the Modified Racing League. He has been with his current team since late 2010.
“I’m very comfortable in my own skin,” Larson said. “I’ve always had the dream of being in NASCAR and I had the goal of doing that for a while, but it was always just a dream and we didn’