Larson Makes Last-Minute Dash to Win Knoxville Nationals Again

Kyle Larson has once again proven his versatility as a racing driver. Amid a packed NASCAR schedule, he made a last-minute dash from Richmond to Knoxville and clinched his fourth Knoxville Nationals victory. The seemingly impossible win was made possible by rain delays at Knoxville, which opened the door for Larson to fly directly after finishing the 400-lap race at Richmond.

Larson, driving a Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, admitted he was pessimistic about racing at Knoxville. However, his team had quietly arranged a contingency plan: a helicopter and private plane to move him from Richmond to Knoxville as quickly as possible.

“By the time of our team meeting at 4:00pm [at Richmond] it looked really good [at Knoxville] I thought,” said Larson. “There was only a small chance at maybe 6:00pm or 7:00pm and it said light rain as well, so I was like, ‘Okay, they’ll get it in no matter what, so I won’t have time [to get there and race]’.”

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But when Larson heard via radio that the Knoxville race was delayed, he sprang into action. After finishing at Richmond around 11pm local time, he ran to his plane and landed in Iowa just over two hours later. Despite the fatigue, Larson dominated from pole position and won the 50-lap contest.

“Extremely surreal,” said Larson. “Just to talk about the day, the range of emotions. Even going back the last couple of days, I had no emotion. I knew I wouldn’t be able to race, but there was still that glimmer of hope of the rain and the forecast. Just wild how I’m here tonight, or tomorrow I guess, Sunday, talking to you. Fourth Knoxville Nationals in a fashion like this is unbelievable.”

Larson credited his experience of doing the IndyCar-to-NASCAR ‘double’ at Indianapolis and Charlotte for helping him stay calm during the fast-paced transition. He also expressed gratitude to his team for supporting his passion for dirt racing.

“It just means a lot that they love dirt racing as much as I do and they support it,” he said. “Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, to allow me to do this while they’re paying me a lot of money to do that for a living and try to produce results for them and win championships is pretty amazing.”