INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Larson may be the least pretentious racing superstar in more than a generation.
To see the slightly built driver from Elk Grove, Calif., on the street, he looks like a kid on his way work. Put him behind the wheel of a race car, however — any race car — and Larson is a true racing hero.
He can manhandle a sprint car around the likes of Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway and Ohio’s Eldora Speedway; he can ride the cushion in a midget car at the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Okla.; or jump into an IMSA sports car in the Rolex 24 At Daytona to prove his endurance as a racer.
Larson has already won a championship at American racing’s highest level — the NASCAR Cup Series — in 2021, but he dreams of accomplishing racing immortality in the Indianapolis 500.
In some ways, Larson is a modern-day Parnelli Jones. If it has a steering wheel, a throttle and four wheels, he can win with it.
The father of three admits he doesn’t do well in the racing simulator and thinks it messes up his feel in a race car. As a result, Larson puts his trust in what he feels in the driver’s seat, not in a computer simulation.
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