NASCAR driver Kyle Larson exited his car after the race at Richmond Raceway (VA); Sprinted to the plane; Flew to Knoxville Raceway (AI); Knoxville Nationals winner
Kyle Larson entered the Knoxville Nationals with only a hope that he could race Saturday’s finale. He drove to victory lane in his preliminary night on Thursday and grabbed the pole position for Saturday’s race at Knoxville Raceway.
The 34-year-old had a conflict. The NASCAR Cup Series was racing at Richmond Raceway in Virginia. That race was expected to overlap with the Knoxville Nationals finale.
However, on Saturday, rain was in the area. The finale was delayed. And during the NASCAR race, Larson got that message.
Cliff Daniels stated, “Knoxville has not even started hot laps yet. Big delay for the race. Don’t know if it’s tomorrow yet. But, they’re way behind just so you know.”
Seconds after the checkered flag in Virginia, Larson climbed from his car and ran to the plane. He was wheels up (tail number N501KL) at 10:57pm ET, less than 30 minutes after the finish of the NASCAR race.
Fans in Iowa got the message as the track began tracking Larson’s plane on the big screen. As he landed in Iowa at 11:55pm CT, Larson’s plane was the number one tracked plane worldwide. Roughly 16,000 people were tracking the plane on flightrader24 alone.
The polesitter was provided a motorcade from the runway to the infield. He arrived at Knoxville Raceway just ahead of the B-Main. The feature began just shy of 1:00am local time and the No. 57 driver led all 50 laps.
Kyle Larson is now a four-time champion of the Knoxville Nationals.
Kyle Larson comments from victory lane
“Extremely surreal,” Kyle Larson stated from victory lane.
“Just to talk about the day, the range of emotions. Even going back the last couple days, I had no emotion. I knew I wouldn’t be able to race.”
“But there was still that glimmer of hope with the rain in the forecast. It rained out last night. And, I woke up this morning and it showed a ton of rain coming. I was very excited.”
“Every 30 minutes I was checking. It was getting better and better. Watched the day show there and the sun was coming out.”
“When I got in the Cup car it only showed like a 10% chance of rain at 6pm or something. I was like, ‘Alright, that’s a bummer.’ I was kinda sad from it.”
“Just got focused on the Cup race. We were struggling but making improvements. All the sudden, Cliff came on the radio and said there was a rain delay here and they hadn’t started hot laps yet. I got a kick start of emotion.”
“Wild how I’m here. Huge thank you to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for supporting dirt racers. Myself and Corey Day here racing tonight. I really couldn’t do any of this without them. I wouldn’t have any Knoxville Nationals championships without Hendrick Motorsports.”
Kyle Larson had the most tracked plane in the world
“It’s kinda cool that’s a stat. I figured somebody would be tracking Donald Trump, Taylor Swift or something,” Kyle Larson added.
“I hope all the fans that were (expletive) and moaning about us running a prelim night, now understand why. So anybody watching at home on the internet, in the stands, I hope you realize this was the best-case scenario.”
“This is exactly why we entered into the Knoxville Nationals. A bit unreal and surprised that I’m here.”
Kyle Larson talked earlier in the week about the conflict
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