Kyle Larson

Early career and open wheel career

A resident of Elk Grove, California, Larson attended his first race with his parents a week after his birth; he began racing at the age of seven in outlaw karts in Northern California. As a teenager he raced open-wheel cars, including United States Auto Club (USAC) midget, Silver Crown and sprint cars, competing for Keith Kunz Motorsports and Hoffman Racing with Toyota backing; he also raced in World of Outlaws sprint cars. His first sprint car race win was at Placerville Speedway, where he was one of the youngest drivers to ever compete.

He won the 2011 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway, winning in all three types of USAC cars in a single night, only the second driver in history to accomplish the feat. He holds the sprint car track record at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, California, set in 2010. In 2012, he won six USAC National Midget races including the Turkey Night Grand Prix.

Touring series

Although he expressed an interest in IndyCar racing, Larson was signed for the 2012 racing season by Earnhardt Ganassi Racing (EGR) as part of the team's driver development program. In February 2012, at the Pete Orr Memorial Orange Blossom 100 at New Smyrna Speedway, Larson made his first start in a full-bodied stock car, and won the event, leading only the final lap of the race. He won again at the speedway a week later during the World Series of Asphalt.

As part of EGR's development program, Larson competed for Revolution Racing in the NASCAR-sanctioned K&N Pro Series East, a regional touring and feeder series, for the 2012 season; he scored a top ten finish in his first race in the series, won the pole for the fifth race of the year, and in the sixth race of the fourteen-race season went to victory lane at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Georgia, leading the final five laps of the race to score his first NASCAR win. He also made his debut in the ARCA Racing Series at Michigan International Speedway, driving for Eddie Sharp Racing; he finished 13th in the event. Larson returned to ARCA in 2014, winning at Pocono from the pole.

In his first season in a NASCAR touring series, Larson won the 2012 K&N Pro Series East championship, with two wins and twelve top tens in 14 races, overcoming the five wins of Corey LaJoie (son of two-time Busch Series champion Randy). Larson was also named the series Rookie of the Year.

Camping World Truck Series

In late June 2012, Larson made his debut in NASCAR's national touring series, driving the No. 4 for Turner Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series event at Kentucky Speedway; he finished in the top ten in his first race in the series.

In April 2013, Larson won his first Truck race at Rockingham Speedway in a close finish with Joey Logano; in celebration, Larson performed donuts without his steering wheel on, a practice he had acquired when racing go karts; the celebration prompted NASCAR to request him to keep it attached, regarding safety concerns, as Larson would not have much control of the car without the wheel. He later finished second at Eldora Speedway in the inaugural Mudsummer Classic.

Xfinity Series

For 2013, Larson moved full-time to the NASCAR Nationwide Series, driving the No. 32 for Turner Scott Motorsports. On the last lap of the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway, he was involved in a violent crash, in which his car went airborne and pierced the catchfence, completely ripping the front end of his car off. He was unharmed, but the debris hurt a number of spectators in the stands. At the inaugural Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Larson was sent off the track and into the tire barriers on lap one. However, after falling three laps down due to repairs, Larson recovered to finish on the lead lap in fourteenth. At Homestead, Larson almost won his first NNS race in the Ford EcoBoost 300. Leading the race on old tires with 4 laps to go, Larson was passed with two laps to go by Brad Keselowski.

Larson won the Rookie of the Year Award in the Nationwide Series for 2013, becoming the first Asian-American and first Drive for Diversity participant to win a Rookie of the Year Award in one of NASCAR's national touring series.

On March 22, 2014, Larson won the Treatmyclot.com 300, holding off Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick for the win. In victory lane, Larson stated, "Those last 11, 12 laps were the longest laps of my life. I've been so close to winning so many times, but the fashion we did it in was extra special." Larson once again celebrated by doing burnouts in the infield without a steering wheel. On May 24, Larson won his second NNS race at Charlotte edging Brad Keselowski for the History 300 win. After going winless throughout the rest of 2014 and most of 2015, Larson won the season-ending Xfinity Series race in Homestead-Miami in November 2015, bringing home the first win for HScott Motorsports, holding off Austin Dillon. Larson had controlled the early portions of the race and took advantage of pit strategies to catch up to race leader Dillon with 4 laps to go and pass him for the win.

In 2016, Larson drove the No. 42 part-time for Ganassi. During the final laps of the Xfinity Series race at Charlotte, Larson passed Joey Logano with 15 laps to go and appeared to have had the race in the bag, only for an untimely yellow to erase his 5-second lead. Larson lost the race to Denny Hamlin. In a bit of redemption, the next week at Pocono Raceway, Larson won a rain-shortened Pocono Green 250. He would win again later in the season at Texas Motor Speedway.

Monster Energy Cup Series

On August 27, 2013, The Charlotte Observer reported that Larson would drive the No. 42 for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, replacing Juan Pablo Montoya, starting in 2014; the deal was officially announced on August 30, 2013. On October 1 it was announced that Larson would run in two 2013 Sprint Cup races for Phoenix Racing, at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Martinsville, to prepare for his rookie season. Larson started 21st, and finished 37th in his Cup debut at the Bank of America 500 after an engine failure on lap 247.

He finished 42nd at Martinsville after another engine failure. Larson ran the 2013 AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 3, finishing 23rd. Larson will run for Rookie of the Year honors in 2014, with Chris Heroy as crew chief. In his CGR debut at the Daytona 500, Larson collided with the wall twice, and despite fixing damage, he spun out on lap 22. On March 23, at the Auto Club 400, Larson started ninth on the green-white-checker, gained five spots on the first lap of the GWC, and caught up to leader Kyle Busch on the final lap, finishing second. In practice for the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond, Larson recorded a speed of 126.880 miles per hour (204.194 km/h), and after qualifying was rained out Larson started first based on having been fastest in practice. However, when entering the first turn on lap one, Larson was spun after colliding with Clint Bowyer.

Larson finished 9th at Talladega after starting 29th. Larson had a very impressive run at Pocono in the Pocono 400. After starting 14th in the race, Larson ran in the top ten the entire race. He led his first laps led in Sprint Cup competition, leading 7 laps (laps 102–109). Larson ultimately finished 5th.

At Michigan, Larson spun out on lap 7. Despite this he spent 33 laps recovering from 43rd to 7th. He led 2 laps. While running in 7th late in the race, Larson blocked one of his strong supporters Tony Stewart trying to go for the lead, the block damaging Stewart's grille. In response Stewart tried to retaliate under a yellow-flag period. Despite the feud Larson finished 8th. When told that Stewart was mad at him for the block, Larson shrugged it off replying "Tony being Tony I guess. I was pretty tight on whoever was inside of me on the restart, and I was looking in my mirror and saw him juke to the right so I juked to the right and he hit me, and I don't know, he was just trying to teach me a lesson I'm guessing." Before the Sonoma race Stewart warned Larson, angrily saying "He'll learn not to block me anytime soon."

Larson crashed early in the Coke Zero 400 but he rebounded at Loudon with a 3rd-place finish. Larson finished 7th in the Brickyard 400 and set the track record in the Gobowling.com 400 at Pocono with a lap speed of 183.438 mph (295.215 km/h) for his first official pole in the Cup Series.

Larson missed his chance to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup after poor finishes in the final two regular season races. In the first Chase race at Chicagoland, Larson came close to pulling off his first Cup Series victory. After leading over 30 laps, with 18 laps to go he engaged in a battle with Kevin Harvick, allowing Brad Keselowski to catch up and pass Larson for the lead and ultimately the win. After two more cautions, Larson finished 3rd after battling Jeff Gordon who admitted himself as a Larson fan. Larson and Gordon exchanged hugs on pit road over their race and Gordon whispered some advice in Larson's ear over restarts. In a post-race media conference Gordon called Larson "The real deal."

The next week at Loudon, Larson led 3 laps and finished second to Joey Logano. At Kansas he finished second again to Logano. As the Chase got more competitive, Larson was unable to contend for wins but nonetheless won the 2014 Rookie of the Year Award over Austin Dillon with his statistics being higher than other rookie seasons in history, such as those of Richard Petty and Jeff Gordon.

In 2015, Larson began his season with a crash in the Daytona 500. Larson had his first top ten of the year at Las Vegas finishing 8th after starting 5th. Larson missed the spring Martinsville because of being hospitalized after fainting during an autograph session, being replaced by Regan Smith. He was released from the hospital on March 31–two days later with a diagnosis of dehydration as being the cause of the fainting. He won his second career pole for the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway after qualifying was cancelled due to rain.

Larson was in contention for the win at Charlotte in the Bank of America 500. While running second with less than 110 laps to go, Larson was about to stay out of pit road for a lap but changed his mind at the last second, entering pit road. At the same time, Kyle Busch was about to pit but changed his mind at the last second also and tried to stay out. Both cars collided as a result, spinning Larson and eliminating them from contention for the win.

Larson started out his 2016 season with a 7th place outing at Daytona, marking his first top 10 at Daytona and his first non-DNF at Daytona. Larson ran very well at Martinsville, and finished 3rd. He also had a top 5 car at Kansas before being caught up in a crash with Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. He finished 35th. Larson came as close as he had been at that time to winning his first Cup race the following week at the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover. Larson led the race with less than 50 laps to go and recovered from being one lap down to running down leader Matt Kenseth. Larson had the fastest car during the final laps, but couldn't take advantage of mistakes made by Kenseth, finishing second to Kenseth. Afterwards Larson stated, "Matt Kenseth in my eyes is the cleanest racer out there. I didn't want to drive him dirty because he always races me clean. Looking back, I'd do stuff different but my time is coming." At the Sprint Showdown, Larson battled with Chase Elliott for the win in the final segment, the two making contact as they approached the finish, Larson beating Elliott to the line to lock himself into the All-Star Race. In the All-Star Race, Larson took the lead on the final restart, but was caught by Joey Logano and hit the wall with two laps to go; Logano would win the race while Larson finished 16th.

At the 2016 Pure Michigan 400, Larson led the closing stages of the race and slipped in the standings after a pit stop with less than 30 laps to go. Larson charged from 4th place on a restart to second. It looked like Larson was set to finish second behind rookie Chase Elliott. After a caution with 10 laps left erased Elliott's 4-second lead, Larson got by Elliott on the restart and recorded his first Sprint Cup Series victory, again celebrating with the steering wheel off. Larson made the Chase, but was eliminated after round 1 along with teammate Jamie McMurray. Larson led the most laps at Homestead-Miami but a late caution kept him from winning the race. Larson finished second.

In 2017, Larson took the lead late in the Daytona 500 only to run out of gas on the final lap. He led late in Atlanta only to lose the race to Brad Keselowski. He would go on to finish second in the next two races at Las Vegas and Phoenix, which allowed him to take the point lead for the first time in his career. Larson picked up his second career pole and earned his second career win in the Auto Club 400, furthering his points lead. A 17th place finish at Martinsville Speedway hurt him, but he still maintained a four-point lead over Chase Elliott. In the 2017 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, Larson rebounded from struggles early to finish 2nd. Larson picked up his third career pole at Michigan and then he led 96 laps to get his third career win in the FireKeepers Casino 400 holding off Chase Elliott, just like when he won in August. At the Kentucky race, Larson started at the rear of the field after he was unable to set a qualifying time as he was stuck in inspection. He finished second in the race, but lost his points lead to Martin Truex Jr. when he was penalized 35 points for an improper rear brake cooling assembly; crew chief Chad Johnston was suspended for three races and Tony Lunders took his place. A week later, Larson won the pole at Loudon's Overton's 301, but was forced to surrender it to Truex after failing post-qualifying inspection for an unapproved rear deck fin lid. Larson won again at Michigan in August's Pure Michigan 400; on a restart with two laps to go, he restarted fourth, but made a four-wide pass on Truex, Erik Jones and Matt Kenseth as they entered turn one. Upon passing Truex, Larson pulled away to win his third consecutive race at the track. Larson got his first win at a short track in the final race of the regular season, the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway. During a late race caution, he hit pit road from 2nd but took the lead from Truex with a timely fast pit stop by his crew. He would hold off Truex on the final restart to win the race. With the win, he would enter the Playoffs as the 2nd seed tied for the most wins in the regular season with four.

Other racing

On January 4, 2014, Chip Ganassi Racing announced that Larson would enter the 24 Hours of Daytona, driving the No. 02 car alongside Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Marino Franchitti. During the press conference, Larson stated, "You grow up watching the NASCAR guys then you're like, ‘wow’ when you meet them. And then watching the guys in different series there's a 'wow' factor to meeting them and working with them." In his Rolex 24 debut, Larson's car stalled, and received a speeding penalty, but finished his stint with a fifth-place finish.

Larson returned to the No. 02 Ford Daytona Prototype for the 2015 event, along with Chip Ganassi Racing teammates from IndyCar Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan and NASCAR Jamie McMurray, and the team ultimately won the race.

In 2016, Larson once again returned for the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Ford EcoBoost Daytona Prototype, only set to run for one race in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Chip Ganassi Racing. The team consisted of the same drivers from the winning 2015 car, but ran into issues, with brake failures plaguing the team throughout the race.

In popular media

Larson has a cameo appearance as a limo driver in the 2017 film Logan Lucky.

Personal life

Larson's mother is Japanese-American, and her parents had spent time in a Japanese internment camp. Larson was born the youngest of three children. Larson's girlfriend is Katelyn Sweet, the sister of World Of Outlaw sprint driver and NASCAR driver Brad Sweet. Larson announced on June 13 that he and his girlfriend were expecting a child. On July 16, 2014, Larson announced that the baby is a boy. On December 22, 2014, Larson's son, Owen Miyata Larson, was born.

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

Monster Energy Cup Series

Daytona 500

K&N Pro Series West

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

(key)