RICHMOND, VA — As it turns out, Kyle Larson is fast on paved asphalt tracks, fast on dirt, fast on his feet and fast through the air.
After crossing the finish line sixth in the Cook Out 400 on Saturday night at Richmond Raceway, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion quickly unbuckled from his safety harnesses, hopped out of his No. 5 Chevrolet and bolted toward his Hendrick Motorsports hauler. By the time reporters got to the garage, Larson was already on his way to the airport, getting ready to fly to Iowa for the Knoxville Nationals – arguably the most prestigious competition in all of dirt racing.
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NASCAR’s race at Richmond ended around 10:16 p.m. ET. About four hours later, Larson was standing atop his No. 57 sprint car in victory lane in Knoxville, Iowa, smiling and waving the checkered flag as fireworks went off behind him.
Larson, who has twice attempted the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 double, pulled off an incredible and improbable feat by notching a top-10 win at Richmond and then winning the Knoxville Nationals for the fourth time in his career.
“It’s just wild how I’m here tonight,” Larson said. “Huge thank you to everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. … A fourth Knoxville Nationals in a fashion like this is unbelievable. It feels like a little bit of a dream right now.”
Larson had initially resigned himself to not being able to make it to Iowa. The 34-year-old’s career in NASCAR’s Cup Series has always come before his side expeditions in dirt racing, and it looked like the schedules weren’t going to align.
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But the folks at Hendrick Motorsports saw the forecast for the Knoxville Nationals and put a plan in place. Mother Nature played her part and dumped rain on the track, delaying the start of the race by about four hours.
“(Hendrick Motorsports president) Jeff Andrews was very instrumental in helping us get a plan laid out,” Larson’s NASCAR crew chief Cliff Daniels said. “I’d much rather have a plan in place that we can say no to than to have nothing prepared. We were persistent because we knew that if we can get him there, he can probably do something special.”
With 114 laps to go at Richmond and Larson running 14th, Daniels buzzed into Larson’s in-car radio.
“Knoxville has not ever started hot laps yet. Big delay for the race,” Daniels said. “Don’t know if it’s tomorrow yet, but they’re way behind, just so you know.”
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A surprised Larson replied, “Knoxville?”
“Yeah. We’re working on a plan for you,” Daniels said.
After completing 400 laps at Richmond — where he notched a much-needed top-10 result, his first since June 28 at Sonoma — he caught a ride to the Richmond airport and then flew into Pella Municipal Airport. At one point late Saturday night, his jet was the most tracked flight on the site Flight Radar with more than 16,000 viewers. Larson landed, got a police escort to the track with time to spare before the start of the race where he was the pole-sitter.
Larson led all 50 laps to win his 16th race at Knoxville and a $200,000 prize. Another former NASCAR driver, Kasey Kahne, placed third.
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“It’s extremely surreal,” Larson said after his victory. “It just means a lot that they love dirt racing as much as I do and they support it. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports to allow me to do this while they’re paying me a lot of money to (race in NASCAR) for a living and try to produce results for them and win championships is pretty amazing.”
Dirt racing is where Larson began his career in motorsports, beginning at the age of seven in his native California. His children are racing on dirt now too.
With two races left until NASCAR’s postseason Chase begins, Larson is eighth in the point standings after his strong finish at Richmond. Daniels gambled near the end of Stage 2 of the race and pitted to give Larson four fresh tires in the hopes he could catch leader – and eventual winner – Joey Logano to un-lap himself before the race’s final run. Larson did just that and made his way into the top-10 in the final stage, after he had heard he might have a chance to race at Knoxville.
“Kyle’s ability behind the wheel, when at times we weren’t a very good car – it was interesting that some runs I feel like we were really competitive tonight (at Richmond), and other runs we weren’t as good. But he stayed with it all night, so very proud of our team,” Daniels said. “He’s got a little pep in his step now.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kyle Larson wins Knoxville Nationals hours after Richmond NASCAR race
