Kyle Larson 'did not enjoy not racing,' ready for season to begin
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
Kyle Larson took a long break — for him — from racing during the offseason.
He spent six weeks out of a race car.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver had a chance to relish his 2021 NASCAR Cup Series title. He had a chance to go to Dubai, spending some time in the Formula 1 garage as well as riding a camel. He was able to relax and be with his family.
But he couldn’t relax the entire time. Larson typically would go to New Zealand or Australia in late December and January. Without that trip, he felt a little lost.
"A couple of weeks off is OK," Larson told FOX Sports last week. "More than a couple, I feel like I’m getting behind. Had you asked me in the middle of the offseason, a couple of weeks in, I would be like, ‘Oh, this is great to have some time off.’
"After five or six weeks of not racing, I’m like, ‘I want to race. Screw the offseason.’ [My wife] Katelyn likes it, likes the normal lifestyle of having the holidays at home and with the family and stuff like that. But that’s not normal to me."
This browser does not support the Video element.
Kyle Larson gives us a behind-the-scenes look at his life during the racing offseason and explains why he didn't really enjoy it.
In other words, Larson isn’t ready for a more normal life as a champion. He wants to still race every chance he gets.
"I did not enjoy not racing," Larson said. "I enjoyed getting to do the stuff I got to do — go to Dubai, go to the Formula 1 race, have Christmas at home — but I would give it all back to go race."
He admits that there were some benefits to being home. But by the time he got to the Chili Bowl midget nationals a couple of weeks ago, he was way beyond ready to compete.
"It was nice to do things around the house," he said. "Our house is as clean and organized as it has ever been, by far. We got to accomplish a lot of things, but I’m glad racing season is back, and I’ll be wide open until the end of November."
Larson finished sixth at the Chili Bowl, the biggest event for midget-car racers. He won the event the previous two years — two of the biggest victories in his racing career.
Those victories ranked close to his victory at Phoenix in November for his first Cup title. And the days following winning the Cup title were much like the ones following winning the Chili Bowl for the father of two young children.
"I thought when you become champion, you wake up the next day, you feel different, you are different and stuff like that," Larson said. "You wake up the next day to two crazy, screaming kids. Katelyn is bossing me around to do stuff.
"It is all normal. And I prefer it that way. I don’t think any of us want it to go to our heads, especially if we want to win more of them."
This browser does not support the Video element.
Kyle Larson describes what his life is like after winning the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Larson is ready to get into his week-to-week racing schedule for 2021. His first NASCAR event comes in less than two weeks, when the Busch Light Clash will be staged on a temporary, quarter-mile asphalt track constructed inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
As a Northern California native, Larson has some sense of how big that exhibition event will be.
"It’s going to be a great event and a great time," he said.
Because NASCAR will resume practice and qualifying every weekend this year, Larson won’t have as many Fridays and Saturdays open to race as he did in 2021. But he will fit what he can into his schedule, especially during the summer. And he'll try to manage having enough family time with race time.
"I still have a ton of races on my schedule," Larson said. "I’ll be really busy. We’re getting our kids into homeschooling now, so they’ll be able to travel with me more than they had last year, which would be good.
"Having the freedom of not being stressed out missing time from each other will be nice."
As he eyes 2022, Larson won’t carry as much momentum as previous NASCAR champions. The new Next Gen car could even the playing field. It could take time for Larson to understand what he needs to do to go fast in the car and whether that fits his strengths or his weaknesses.
Larson was among those testing the car Tuesday and Wednesday at Phoenix Raceway.
"It felt fairly normal to how Phoenix typically felt. ... It still feels like short-track and stock cars," he said. "They’re heavy and slow."
One thing that wasn’t normal? Larson had a "champion" patch on his uniform. It’s the first time he has sported one of those.
"I don’t think about it when I have it on," he said. "Definitely the first time I saw my suit with the champion’s mark on it, I was like, ‘Wow, that is really cool.’
"I notice it [on others], like Chase Elliott early in the [previous] season. ... It definitely meant a lot to me when I saw it on my chest, and [it's] something I will proudly wear the rest of my career."
This browser does not support the Video element.
Kyle Larson talks about the new patch on his uniform after his victory in the 2021 championship.
Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
Thinking out loud
NASCAR announced a new level of penalty to go with the introduction of the Next Gen car, which is a seismic change in the way cars are built, as teams are no longer building the cars but instead assemble cars from parts they buy from a single-supplier, approved vendor.
If teams mess with the body, chassis or other vendor-supplied parts, NASCAR has the option to ban the team and driver from the playoffs. Other penalty options include a one-race suspension for the entire team so the car can’t race, 120-180 points, 25-50 playoff points, six-race suspensions to crew member(s) and a fine of $250,000-$500,000.
Those are stiff penalties. And they should be, considering the temptation for teams to mess with the supplied parts. Teams have been building parts and pieces for decades. They will want to use what they know. But that would defeat the purpose of trying to control costs and create parity through a single supplier for parts.
Now that NASCAR has the penalty options in place, there is still one more step. NASCAR must be willing to use those options if a team crosses the line.
Social spotlight
They said it
"[What] weighed into my decision more than anything else is just that small window of opportunity that I have to be with my family while my kids are still young and they still want to be home and hang out because Dad is still kind of cool right now." — Aric Almirola on the decision to retire after this season
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!