Kyle Larson doesn’t change his stand on Xfinity drivers despite Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s concerns
Despite Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s concerns, Hendrick Motorsports ace Kyle Larson stood firm on his critical views of the Xfinity Series drivers. Recently, Larson was featured on Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour podcast, where he pointed out that second-tier stock car racing drivers were not ready to compete alongside the Cup Series drivers.
Larson claimed that since the governing body has restricted Cup Series drivers' participation in the Xfinity Series, the young drivers aren't being challenged enough. He recalled his memories of the series competing alongside Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, and Jimmie Johnson. Despite losing to these drivers countless times, the 32-year-old pointed out that competing with them enhanced his skills and pushed him to his boundaries.
Reflecting upon Larson's bold statement at Harvick's podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed his concerns [00:19 onwards]:
"To come out of the car and say those kinds of things, man, it kind of puts a target on you. I'd love to see you sign up for some more races this year so we could try to see if we could even the score."
Despite Dale Jr. raising concerns about Laron's approach, the HMS driver still supported his claims and said on the same podcast (0.29 onwards):
"NASCAR has limited Cup guys from running Xfinity now and Trucks, so you’re just limiting the runway of those kids getting better... it only hurts the premier series down the road."
During another interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90, Larson cited Ty Gibbs' example. He pointed out that despite being an Xfinity Series champion, Gibbs has been struggling to land a Cup Series win. Larson aims to give the Xfinity Series drivers a sense of the upcoming challenge through his part-time ride in the series.
NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. praised Hendrick Motorsports driver's crew members
After wrapping up the Darlington Raceway event, Dale Earnhardt Jr. praised Hendrick Motorsports for making a bold move. Kyle Larson wrecked his #5 Chevy Camaro ZL1 on lap four of the race and spent nearly two hours in the garage fixing his car.
The team was able to get Larson's car going again, and reflecting upon the same, Dale Jr. praised his team's efforts and said (via Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s podcast):
"So with the new policy allowing Larson and his team to go repair the car, people were like, oh well, looky here, now is this appropriate, I guess some people want to look at it and go, now we’ve got a new problem. No, this is not a new problem. This is the way it’s been for 70 years, up until the DVP policy came into effect. Cars could get out there and do this all the time."
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin won the race, making it his second consecutive win after the Martinsville Speedway event. However, Kyle Larson also secured his second win at Bristol Motor Speedway last weekend. He ranks fourth on the Cup Series drivers' points table with 304 points. Larson has also secured two wins, five top-five finishes, and six top-10 finishes in nine starts this season.