HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Kyle Larson arrives in South Florida on the verge of becoming only the 10th driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win three championships or more and the first to claim back-to-back trophies since a fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver, Jimmie Johnson, won an unprecedented five consecutively from 2006 through 2010.
But first the 33-year-old Californian Larson must do the work to earn those important honors, and he’s head-down, priority-driven coming into the weekend.
Larson represented the NASCAR Cup Series portion of Championship Media Day alone on stage, thanks to a huge gap separating him from the only two drivers with a mathematical long-shot chance of overcoming Larson’s odds.
He leads Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell by 67 points and JGR’s Denny Hamlin by 70 coming to 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Larson is the defending winner—having taken the trophy last March.
“I’m solo, which is a great thing, but I’ll be honest, it’s an awkward sort of media day for me,’’ Larson acknowledged with a grin. “But we’ve earned the right for it be awkward. I like awkwardness. I’m okay with it, so it’s all right.”
As for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race, Larson insists he’s not taking anything for granted but instead is taking a conscious approach to race hard and earn not just the season title but the race trophy. Earning eight points in the opening stage of the race, for instance, would secure the title. That’s the tally he needs.
“I foresee my race looking like any other Homestead race for me, try to get to the front and manage the race from there,” Larson said. “Hopefully, the first stage goes well, and then you can really just race ‘free’ after that. I still don’t think it’ll change the approach of the race, just less worry at that point.”
And should he clinch the championship early in the race, he added—with a smile—of his crew chief Cliff Daniels, “Knowing Cliff, I’m sure he’ll be locked in, ‘Hey man here’s what just happened, stay locked in, we’ll take four tires here.’
“I hope that’s ‘robot Cliff’ on the radio and we can just stay locked in. I want to have a great day. I want to win the race and the championship. I’m trying not to think ahead and just approach the weekend like any other weekend and just do the job.”
