The dirt-track fans look at Larson as “one of them.” He’s a racer’s racer who will drive any type of car on any track. He took those fans on quite a ride this season.
“This year, I’ve won so many big races, and it seems like each one I win, ‘OK, that was my biggest win,’” Larson recalled. “Then you win another one, that was my biggest win. I don’t know if there’s another race that could ever top winning the Cup Series race at Phoenix for a championship.
“It doesn’t get any bigger.”
Larson won in only his fourth start for Hendrick Motorsports at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. He didn’t win again until the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 30. It was the first of three consecutive victories.
He won again at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l in August, but he saved his best for the playoffs.
Larson Larson won at Bristol Motor Speedway and then recorded three straight victories at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, Texas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway.
That set up the dramatic championship race at Phoenix. Larson won the pole in one of NASCAR’s rare qualifying sessions during the pandemic. That gave him the first pit box and that proved crucial on the final pit stop of the race.
His Hendrick crew got him out of the pits ahead of Truex, Hamlin and Chase Elliott, and Larson took it from there.
“I knew the only way we were going to pull it off is if our pit crew got us off as a leader and damn, they did,” Larson recalled. “That was just crazy. I tried to do as good of a job as I could down pit road without speeding, getting my sign as good as I could, and those guys nailed the pit stop and got us out the leader.”
Larson beat Truex to the finish to secure the title. The in-car camera in Larson’s machine gave viewers an inside look at the emotion in his eyes.
He had overcome adversity and become a champion.
“Just thinking about the journey and how tough of a road it’s been to get to this point for so long, but especially the last year and a half, and too, I think just the atmosphere, I haven’t felt an atmosphere like this maybe ever,” Larson said. “You guys might not see it, but I tear up quite a bit. Whenever I win races that mean a lot to me. Usually, I’ll get myself composed before interviews and before I take my helmet off. Today, you guys got to see it because I’m taking the checkered flag and I’ve got a camera straight in front of me, so you could see the emotion that I have for a lot of the wins I get.
“But today was more tears than normal, I think, just because of the significance of the event, of the journey that it took to get here, and just — I think just everything, the atmosphere of the race, all the friends and family I had here today, my crew and the hard work that they put in all year.
“I felt just a big relief that I was able to win for them and get to enjoy it with them. It all — well, a little bit of it was hitting me before the race started, and then it all kind of hit me there after the checkered.”
The fans cheered, the tears flowed and Larson’s incredible comeback from adversity was complete.
“Eighteen months ago, I didn’t think that I was ever going to be in a Cup car again,” Larson said. “Strapping in for the Daytona 500 didn’t even seem real, let alone winning the championship. It’s definitely been a journey, a roller coaster. But I’m very thankful for my second chance and every opportunity I’ve been given in these last 18 months.
“Life is a crazy thing and you’ve just got to stay positive through it all and everything will, hopefully, work out for you.”