Kyle Larson won the Thursday Knoxville Nationals preliminary night and secured the pole for the 65th running of the Grandaddy of Them All but will more than likely be unable to start the $200,000-to-win main event.
This seemed inevitable last week when the three-time winner of the world’s most prestigious Sprint Car race filed an entry even though he’s known for a year that the main event would take place at the same time as the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond on Saturday.
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He’s not bothered by needing to go to work this weekend because this was always the plan. The only scenario that would see him race for a fourth Nationals victory would require rain.
Hold that thought for a moment.
“I think everybody would expect me to feel that way, but I’ve known it all along,” Larson said of his lack of disappointment. “That helps my mindset of accepting that I can’t race on Saturday.
“So no, I don’t feel upset or bittersweet about anything. I came here with the goal of winning the prelim night and being a high point guy, and we did that. So yeah, if anything, I think it’s just fun for me to give Trevor Canales another start in the Knoxville Nationals.”
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That’s the plan, by the way, having crew member Trevor Canales start-and-park the car from the back of the field. Its the car that qualifies into this race and not the driver. Canales’ similarly start-and-parked for Rico Abreu in 2015 when he had an ARCA conflict that year while also driving for Silva.
Even though Larson is most likely missing out on Saturday, his win on Thursday paid $12,000 and finishing last in the feature effectively earned the Paul Silva owned team another $15,000. They also won the Front Row Challenge on Monday at Southern Iowa Speedway, which paid $21,000 and the Capitani Classic on Sunday, paying $13,000-to-win.
Larson drives for Silva, and that No. 57 car is a business that puts food on the table for Silva and Canales. Larson effectively is an employee who just generated a lot of business for his friend, collaborator and car owner.
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“I mean, Paul and Trevor do this for a living, and I think most people think that I own this and I pay for everything, but I’m strictly a driver and I race for Paul Silva.
“So whenever I race, it’s an opportunity for him to make money. So that’s not the main reason why we ran the prelim night or anything like that, because it’s an opportunity to race but it did pay 12 grand to win.
“And when you win that, it meant 15 grand guaranteed on top of that for starting. So yeah, that’s a lot of money for a guy who does this for a living. I think anybody watching would appreciate that and take that. I understand anyone’s frustrations or whatever. I haven’t heard it from any of my competitors. It’s just the DARFs but that’s to be expected.”
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That’s ‘Dumb Ass Race Fan‘ for the uninitiated.
Now, there is a marginal threat of rain on Saturday at Knoxville. And it’s rained all week, and while Larson wouldn’t complain about the race being delayed to Sunday, he’s focused on NASCAR until Richmond ends.
If that race ends and there’s still a chance to fly back into Knoxville, he’ll go for it. He’s just not banking on it.
“I mean, if there’s an opportunity for me to be here, I’m going to try to be here,” Larson said. “But when I get in the Cup car, my mind is not going to be on Knoxville at all. It never is. I think that’s also a misconception I feel like people think about me. But when I’m in the Cup car, that’s all I think about. And right now, I mean, seeing the checkered flag ways, my mind shifts literally to like, all right, it’s Richmond practice. ‘What do I need to feel? Qualifying. I go out early. What do I need to do?’ I just think a racer, all racers, but especially me jumping in different cars, it’s like whenever this one event ends, my mind is already onto the next thing. So I’m physically in Knoxville, but I’m mentally in Richmond right now. So I need to go there and try and do a good job.”
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