Kyle Larson Goes From P30 to P6, Then Wins Knoxville

KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Kyle Larson just had one of the most ridiculous nights in motorsports history.

Larson started 30th in Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway and drove an ill-handling Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet all the way to sixth, gaining 24 positions over 400 laps.

For most drivers, that would have been enough.

Larson wasn’t most drivers.

Instead of heading home after Richmond, Larson embarked on a frantic cross-country sprint to Knoxville, Iowa, where he was scheduled to start on the pole for the 65th Knoxville Nationals. A three-hour rain delay at Knoxvilel and a fast jet gave him a chance to make the impossible happen.

He made it.

Then he did what Kyle Larson does.

He won.

Larson led all 50 laps of the Knoxville Nationals finale, collecting his fourth Knoxville Nationals victory in six years and the $200,000 winner’s prize. It was his 16th career victory at Knoxville Raceway.

The performance capped an absurd week in Iowa. Larson went 4-for-4 in sprint-car features, remaining undefeated across his Knoxville Nationals-week starts while dominating against some of the best dirt racers in the country. World of Outlaws noted that Larson entered the week with limited sprint-car seat time because of his NASCAR schedule and still immediately looked like the class of the field.

That is the part that makes Larson so damn special.

He is a NASCAR Cup Series champion competing against the best stock-car drivers in the world, yet he can climb out of a Cup car after 400 laps, cross the country and climb into a 1,400-pound sprint car without missing a beat.

Saturday night, he went P30 to P6 at Richmond, then Richmond to Knoxville, then 50 laps led to a Knoxville Nationals victory.

The Knoxville Nationals is the crown jewel of sprint-car racing, an event that World of Outlaws describes as the mountaintop of the sport. This year’s winner took home $200,000 and, more importantly, a permanent place in sprint-car history.

Larson now has that place.

Again.

He didn’t simply survive one of the most insane travel schedules imaginable.

He dominated it.

For the love of wheel.

For the love of racing.

For everybody who lives and breathes motorsports.

Kyle Larson didn’t just have a great Saturday night.

The American hero saved motorsports.