Larson could be the young star sport needs

NASCAR’s biggest stars have all moved on.

Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are television analysts, while Tony Stewart is racing sprint cars again. Danica Patrick WUDGHG KHU ¿UHVXLW IRU DWKOHLVXUH ZHDU ZKLOH Carl Edwards just kind of disappeared.

America’s top motorsports series is in need of a new face. The rapid wave of retirements brought in a crop of freshfaced young drivers tasked with carrying NASCAR through a tough transition, but QR FOHDU VXSHUVWDU WR ¿OO HPSW\ VHDWV DQG shape the next generation of racers.

It might be a job best suited for Kyle Larson, considered by many the best hope to bridge the gap between grassroots racing and NASCAR — and perhaps attract new fans to motorsports in a time of need. He is young at 26, and like childhood idol Gordon he hails from California and made his name racing sprint cars. Larson has the raw talent to take risks that other drivers avoid, and he has built a reputation as a clean racer who won’t wreck a rival to win.

His style has appealed to hardcore fans and his promise has piqued the interest of casual observers. He is half-Japanese, the most successful graduate of NASCAR’s diversity program, and the only AsianAmerican full-time driver in NASCAR.

Larson has all the elements to be the next Gordon or Stewart. Fair or not, he knows there are expectations to bring attention and excitement to NASCAR.

“I think if I just continue doing what I am doing it takes care of itself, I don’t look at it like I have to work too hard to save motorsports,” Larson said. “I think if I just keep racing all the stuff that I do, it’s good for all of motorsports.”

The pressure has been on Larson before he ever drove a stock car.

Gordon, Stewart and Kasey Kahne anointed Larson the real deal after following his sprint car career, which exploded one magical night in 2011 at Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Ohio. Larson that evening became only the second driver in history to win in all three kinds of USAC cars in a single night.

Chip Ganassi hired him before the 2012 season and put him in a stock car for the ¿UVW WLPH HYHQ WKRXJK WKH \RXQJ GULYHU KDG been on a path toward IndyCar. Larson was 19 and on a fast track to a Cup ride just two years later.

+H KDV ZRQ ¿YH UDFHV LQ WKH ¿YH VHDVRQV since, but he has probably lost a dozen more because he is still learning to close out a victory. Ganassi has shown patience with Larson.

“He’s been at the front, he just has to close out some of these things,” Ganassi said. “I think he treats people with a lot more respect than they treat him with, and that’s his attitude, and we’re OK with that. He’s approached NASCAR with his own pace. I don’t want to say he has nothing to learn, we all have things to learn every single day, but I’m perfectly happy with his angle of attack or progression or angle of progression.”

Larson’s most recent defeat, his last time behind the wheel, is one of the most GLI¿FXOW WR VZDOORZ RI KLV FDUHHU

Christopher Bell, like Larson a budding star with a sprint car following, passed Larson on WKH ¿QDO ODS RI WKH &KLOL %RZO ODVW PRQWK WR deny Larson the one victory he wants most. Bell won the $10,000 prize and the “Golden Driller” trophy for the third consecutive year, and Larson spent several sleepless QLJKWV UHSOD\LQJ WKH ¿QDO ODS LQ KLV KHDG

The break between the Chili Bowl and NASCAR’s opening of Speedweeks next weekend is the longest stretch of idle time Larson has had this offseason. He spent most RI 'HFHPEHU UDFLQJ LQ 1HZ =HDODQG DQG ¿QGV the routine of competing every night in sprint cars helpful in bouncing back after defeat.

“I’m just ready for the next race,” Larson said. “It just makes it a lot easier to move on when you can go racing, get back in your back the next day or a couple of days later. It just is easier to forget about it when you can race again.”

Larson estimates he will race roughly 75 events this calendar year, only 38 of which are in NASCAR. The Indianapolis 500 remains on the horizon but not a priority; still, he was intrigued when Fernando Alonso won the Rolex 24 at Daytona and said his next big project is “unprecedented in motorsport.” The former Formula One champion is likely going to try to race several disciplines in the biggest races in the world, and Larson wouldn’t mind a similar plan. Larson was part of Ganassi’s 2015 Rolex victory. With many of NASCAR’s biggest stars of recent years having retired, a search for new stars has been ongoing, with Kyle Larson a potential target.