Kyle Larson got into his No. 5 Chevrolet on Saturday for the Cook Out 400 knowing he would almost certainly miss the $200,000 race in Iowa, where he had secured the pole. Before the weekend began, he admitted he was quite content with that. However, the sprint racing gods had something else in store for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, and fans around the world watched with bated breath as Larson, quite literally, ran the race of his life and silenced all those who doubted him.
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After Larson got out of his car at the Richmond Speedway and boarded his plane to Iowa, numbers on FlightAware — an application that lets people track flights from around the world — showed that over 6500 people had their eyes locked in on the Dassault Falcon 2000EX. It was the most tracked flight in the world.
He got to Knoxville on time and did what everyone expected. He won his fourth Championship. And in the interview post-race, when told how everyone in attendance was watching his flight path in real time on the big screen and how it was the #1 flight tracked in the world, Larson said, “Well, it’s kind of cool that that was, that’s a stat because I figured, you know, somebody would be tracking Donald Trump or Taylor Swift or something.”
President Trump and pop sensation Swift may be very popular. But on the day, no one’s flight mattered more than Larson’s.
The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion had a stellar week in Knoxville, starting with a Front Row Challenge win on Monday. He dominated Thursday’s preliminary race and, after scoring the most points all week, earned the pole for the finale.
With the race clashing with the Cook Out 400, crew member Trevor Canales was expected to replace him in the No. 57. But weather delays gave Larson a window to make it to Knoxville, where he jumped in the car and dominated all 50 laps from pole to win.
“I hope all the fans who were b***ching or moaning about us, you know… now, understand why. So anybody watching at home, on the internet, in the stands. I hope you realize this is this was the best-case scenario, and this is exactly why we entered the Knoxville Nationals,” Larson added in his interview.
It was a direct response to those who were criticizing Larson for taking part in the Nationals on the same week as a Cup Series race. His priorities were questioned, and there were many who went as far as claiming that Larson was making more money off of the No. 57 team. He had already shut those claims down before heading to Richmond, insisting that he was just a driver to owner Paul Silva, like he was to Rick Hendrick in NASCAR.
Sprint car racing is important to Larson because he genuinely enjoys it. And, boy, is he good at it. This was his fourth Knoxville Nationals Championship win, and it came on a weekend when he fought against almost every possible obstacle just to take part.
How Larson got to know his Knoxville dream was alive
Before getting into his No. 5 Chevy in Richmond, the weather apps showed just a 10% chance of rain in Iowa. Larson didn’t hold out much hope and shifted his entire focus to the Cup Series race. He was looking to bounce back after a disappointing Iowa Corn 350, where he finished 33rd following a crash with teammate Alex Bowman.
And Larson was, quite frankly, looking good under the Richmond lights. But midway through the race, his team informed him over the radio that the Knoxville Nationals Championship race had been delayed due to severe weather, and that they had a chance to get him there in time after the checkered flag in Virginia.
“I never really knew I was coming. Cliff [Daniels] gave me a heads-up midway through the race, and I was shocked,” Larson later said, admitting that his crew had their eyes on Knoxville the entire time he was out on the track in Richmond.
As revealed in NASCAR writer Joseph Srigley’s X post, Larson crossed the line P6 in Richmond at 10:17 p.m. At 10:57 p.m., his flight, arranged by Hendrick Motorsports, left for Iowa. He touched down at 1:15 a.m. and, just over an hour later at 2:38 a.m., won the Nationals.
In the end, Larson got exactly what he wanted from a crazy weekend. He raced hard in Richmond, made the trip to Knoxville, and came away with another Knoxville Nationals title.