Everything to Know About NASCAR Driver Kyle Larson
Yung Money’s mission to master all things motorsports may start in the Cup Series, but it doesn’t stop there.
His is a name that has become not only synonymous with the NASCAR Cup Series and racing in general, but also with winning. Winning at the highest level, and winning often. That’s because there are elite drivers, and then there are the dauntless wheelmen like Kyle Larson, aka Yung Money, whose quest to master anything with four wheels is only revving up. Case in point? After cruising through a dominant, 10-win season in 2021 that culminated in him claiming the throne and hoisting the Bill France Championship Cup, two years later, Larson received the utmost prestigious honor when he was named to the NASCAR 75 Best Drivers List. An accolade, well-deserved.
Whether rain or shine, ovals or superspeedways, asphalt or dirt – a realm where he enjoys near mythological status as the best in the biz – Larson can do it all. So, as he and the other tenacious drivers gear up for the Cracker Barrell 400 in Nashville, Tennessee – a race in which he’s yet again favored to win – here’s a look at the next entry in our NASCAR Cup Series profiles, the indelible Kyle Larson.
Who is Kyle Larson?
Born July 31, 1992, in Elk Grove, California, Kyle Larson first laid his eyes on the high-octane world of racing when his parents to him to his first event just one week after his birth. While newborn Larson would have to wait seven years to get behind the wheel, once he hit the Golden State’s fabled dirt tracks in outlaw karts and the United States Auto Club (USAC) midgets, there was no turning back – the wiry kid from NorCal was officially hooked, and the legend of Yung Money was here to stay. In 2011 at age 19, he won the 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway and, by sweeping that night’s trio of races each in a different USAC model, he became only the second driver to accomplish such a feat after Jack Hewitt did so in 1998.
His success on dirt jettisoned him into the asphalt tracks with his first win in a stock car coming in 2012 under the banner of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing (EGR). That season, he held off his future Cup Series competitor Corey LaJoie to win the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and claim the series’ Rookie of the Year award. If he weren’t busy enough that year, he also competed in his first race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, a tier in which he’s scored four wins in 17 races.
Kyle Larson and the Xfinity and Cup Series
Kyle Larson’s debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series came in 2013 with Turner Scott Motorsports, but his opening race at Daytona was anything but successful. He and Brad Keselowski were involved in a crash that sent Brian Scott’s car completely airborne and into the safety fences. Larson was unhurt, but multiple fans were injured in what Larson has called the “crash of his career.” Despite that harrowing experience, Larson continued to compete and nearly held off Keselowski to win the final race of the year. That second-place finish helped him garner the series’ Rookie of the Year award. In total, his 119 races over the course of a decade has spawned 17 wins and a whopping 85 top-10 finishes.
When it came time to make the leap into the Cup Series with Chip Ganassi Racing, his first race – the 2013 Bank of America 500 in Charlotte, North Carolina – ended with massive engine failures and a 37th-place finish. His second attempt came at Martinsville, yet it produced similar misery with a 42nd-place finish. Despite those setbacks ahead of his first season, his eight top-five finishes and 16 top-10’s earned him the Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors.
Always one to improve and push the limits of close-quarters racing, Larson’s tenacious approach to competition powered his trifecta of All-Star race wins (2019, 2021, 2023) and, in his first year driving with Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, he broke the record for laps led in a single season (2,581) since NASCAR switched to a 36-race format. In typical gusto for Yung Money, he capped off his dominant year by winning the NASCAR Cup Series Championship in Phoenix to give Hendrick Motorsport its 14th Cup Series victory. His undeniable skill and insatiable thirst for competition are what has his boss and legendary Hall of Fame driver Jeff Gordon saying, “I’m glad I didn’t have to race him.”
What kind of cars does Kyle Larson drive?
Though Kyle Larson is one of the rare few that can pilot everything from open-wheeled karts to even Indy Cars – we’re not putting filling in for Han Solo on the Millennium Falcon past him either – his primary chariot of choice is the No. 5 Chevrolet Zl1 that he races under the Hendrick Motorsports banner in the NASCAR Cup Series. When he participates part-time in the Xfinity series, he drives the No. 17 Chevrolet SS, and when he competes in the Craftsman Truck Series, he races the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports.
While his dream this season of completing the “Double” was spoiled when he crashed out in both his Cup Series race and his Indy Car race, Yung Money has been putting in the work with Arrow McLaren behind the scenes in the No. 17 Chevy he pilots, so will fans get to see the California Kid find success next year on his third attempt of the celebrated feat?
Only time will tell, but, considering it’s Larson, suffering failure just seems to fuel his desire for success even more.
