Kyle Larson Gets RW Motorsports and His 2013 NASCAR Career Back on the Winning Track
- 25 Apr 2013
Every NASCAR generation has that one driver that makes everyone stop-down to take notice. Drivers like Petty, Irwin, Gordon, Stewart, they all felt the overpowering, sometimes crushing weight of the NASCAR world on their shoulders, and they survived quite nicely to put their own brand on greatness. Larson, who exploded onto the scene in a very short time, gives every indication that he’s the next real deal to shoulder the responsibility of NASCAR greatness for his generation, despite a few magnified, disproportionately shrill, public hiccups.
Last year as a development driver for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Larson won the NASCAR-sanctioned K&N Pro Series East Championship, so expectations have been great coming into 2013. The kid who just barely crossed the teenage year’s finish line, got off to a dicey start to the season, yet the prodigiously talented 20-year-old driver immediately turned it around in Tennessee and clearly illustrated why he’s the worthy heir apparent for NASCAR prominence. In what has been inked into the record books as the second closest finish in series history at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch, the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ all-time race winner, narrowly defeated Larson. Although it was a runner-up finish, Larson’s restraint and accelerated race maturity where duly noted and praised in this, his NASCAR coming out party.
Along with imminent greatness, Larson shares other similar background traits with Gordon and Stewart, all of which honed their skills in the Sprint and Midget USAC classes. Larson fired-up his season driving USAC pavement midgets at New Smyrna Beach, Florida for RW Motorsports, not surprisingly he won the event. “Having Kyle want to run for us is a huge compliment to our race team and personnel. I think it says a lot about the caliber of equipment and team we have,” commented Evan Avart, RW Motorsports’ General Manager/Crew Chief. “Kyle he is an amazing young talent that is so easy to work with. His skill and intelligence about racing are very impressive. He stays very calm and has a tremendous feel for very small changes to the balance of the car. We hope to run him at more events this year but his schedule does not allow him much time. We will work by, and when, he can and wants to run our schedule.” “Pavement midgets are one of my favorite cars to drive, so it was a lot of fun to go to New Smyrna since I’d run a late model there before, and then go back and run the midget. I kind of got lucky and won the race, but I’ll take it. It’s not hard to adapt at all from New Smyrna to Daytona because they’re so different. Daytona was just wide open and wasn’t too hard for me to pick up on,” stated Larson addressing how he makes the mental adjustments from one venue to another. “I think because I run so many different types of cars and in sprint cars you only have about five laps to get used to a track, so I think I work really hard on trying to learn as quick as I can. I think just racing a bunch of different cars really helps a lot. It’s really just a lot of instinct. I’m not sure if there’s one thing that I use across the board, because nothing is really the same between all of the different types of cars I’ve driven. If I knew one thing that I used across the board, I wouldn’t give up the secret.” In an ideal race scenario how would Larson choose to script his career? “We’re really focused on this season in the Nationwide Series, and beyond that I’m in no hurry. I want to get as much seat time as I can right now and work hard to get to victory lane and contend for the Nationwide Series Championship at the end of the year. I think we have a really strong team at Turner Scott Motorsports, and they’re giving me a great opportunity to grow my career. Obviously, I’d love to drive in the Sprint Cup Series one day, but I’m focused on what’s happening right now the most.” Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. Related Articles: The 2012 K&N NASCAR Pro Series Season Ends with Kyle Larson as Champion, Kyle Larson Wins the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Race at Gresham in Georgia, Corey LaJoie Wins NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Race at Greenville Pickens Speedway and K&N Pro Series Racer Cory LaJoie Takes Home NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Victory at Dover Speedway |
