Larson’s the right champ at right time for NASCAR
Dominant run comes after second chance
AVONDALE, Ariz. — In the end, it was a win for NASCAR. Was it “The Best Season Ever,” as promised by broadcast partner Fox? No. But NASCAR should pop the champagne — everyone else did.
Its newest Cup Series champion put together one of the best seasons in NASCAR history and capped it with a proper party at Phoenix Raceway, which finally got to fully showcase its $178 million renovation.
The pandemic limited attendance to just over 8,000 at Phoenix a year ago, when the track hosted its first championship weekend. On Sunday, the sold-out track in the desert had 10 times that number spread through the stands, the infield and the tents lining Rattlesnake Hill.
Kyle Larson capped his comeback from a seven-month NASCAR suspension for using a racial slur with a title-clinching win — his 10th this season, the most since Jimmie Johnson in 2007.
The crowd egged on his wife, Katelyn, as she shot-gunned beers on the championship stage. Larson snagged a Captain Morgan cocktail at “The Barn,” the attrack party-space dreamed up by Jeff Gordon as a spot where winners can share a post-race toast with fans.
Almost two years later, The Barn at last was rocking.
Truck Series champion Ben Rhodes got slightly intoxicated following his Friday night win. Two nights later, Larson told his wife she needed to pace herself; he himself had vowed not to let the crowd draw him into recreating Rhodes’ evening.
“NASCAR fans, they love drinking,” Larson said, half a cocktail sitting next to him.
Larson also gave NASCAR its first Cup champion from its diversity program.
He’s half Japanese and the first Asian champion. Bubba Wallace, another graduate of NASCAR’S diversity program, scored his first Cup Series win last month at Talladega.
Larson was suspended all but four races last season for using the slur during an online race. It would have cost him his career had Larson not returned to sprint car racing and also worked off the track to educate himself on social justice issues.
He made it back into NASCAR under the guidance of Rick Hendrick and Gordon, and he’s now beloved by racing fans. His past rarely comes up with the focus now on his mind-boggling success.
Gordon, Tony Stewart and Mario Andretti all consider Larson the most talented driver in motorsports right now, and in the grandstands, that’s all it takes. The 29-year-old Larson dazzles everywhere, from the biggest stages to the grassroots rural racetracks, and if given the opportunity to drive a race-winning car in the Indianapolis 500, he said he’d try that, too.
NASCAR waved the final checkered flag on another long season and did it on a high. The right guy won and Larson proved that NASCAR can be a place for second chances.
The next season just three months away.