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The All-Star race is a non points race so it doesn’t count. But at this rate, he’ll probably sweep Pocono.
It may not count for points but it is still a race and still a win amongst his peers. Not to mention the other races he is winning during the week. Be interesting to see how long Hendrick allows that to continue.
I'm sure it didn't take a lot of thought... kind of a no brainer. As far as his sponsorship, sounds like it is pretty profitable for Rick … so much so he is sponsoring all of Kyles non NASCAR racing as well.
“When we perform on the track on Sunday, we can feel the impact on Monday,” said Rick Hendrick, chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group and owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “With the chance to plan for the next two years, the program is only going to help Hendrick Automotive Group sell more cars, book more service appointments and ultimately do more business. It will also allow our company to recruit talented people and support our internal recognition and incentive programs. The more we followed the data, the easier the decision became. We are seeing clear results.”
As far as getting other sponsors... “My dealerships, the general managers and the employees, they didn’t want anyone else on the car,” Hendrick told The Associated Press.
Tony Stewart on Kyle Larson.. "He's a once in a lifetime driver. I say he's a unicorn. He's just literally one of those guys that – who knows – I'm sure in our lifetime we're gonna see somebody else come along that's gonna be like Kyle, but it's probably gonna be a long time before we see another person step up and another driver step up and do what Kyle has been able to do in the last year and a half."
"That will be one of the biggest regrets of my professional career is not getting that kid and having an opportunity to race him in our cars."
I'm a Larson fan. IMO, I would say for Kyle to fill that lifetime moniker he will need to win multiple NASCAR Cup championships.
What does make Kyle different than Gordon, Johnson, Dale Sr, Petty...is that he is winning in just about anything he drives. Those other drivers may not have had the same opportunity or desire to drive much out outside the Cup Series, so we'll never know (unless for Johnson in Indy, but he's much older now). And of course for guys in the early era, those opportunities may not even been available. Petty was racing several times a week just in NASCAR.
I certainly don't want to disagree with Smoke. He knows a heck of a lot more than me about racing in just the tip of his pinky.
I'm a Larson fan. IMO, I would say for Kyle to fill that lifetime moniker he will need to win multiple NASCAR Cup championships.
What does make Kyle different than Gordon, Johnson, Dale Sr, Petty...is that he is winning in just about anything he drives. Those other drivers may not have had the same opportunity or desire to drive much out outside the Cup Series, so we'll never know (unless for Johnson in Indy, but he's much older now). And of course for guys in the early era, those opportunities may not even been available. Petty was racing several times a week just in NASCAR.
I certainly don't want to disagree with Smoke. He knows a heck of a lot more than me about racing in just the tip of his pinky.
I respect his talent.. No question about that. But, kinda like Kurt and Kyle Busch and some others.. Just something about them that makes it kinda hard to like them sometimes.
Larson is lucky that he's driven for owners that allow him to race elsewhere. JGR is pretty famous for restricting what their drivers can do outside of the organization. That no doubt played a small part in Stewart leaving. Obviously, there were bigger reasons, such as team ownership, that caused him to move on, but I'm sure that was a small piece of it.
I think they tried to get Kyle out of Xfinity and Trucks when he had the accident at Daytona. They only succeeded in keeping him out of the plate races.
Is he a Gordon/Johnson/Stewart/Busch level driver? He's getting there. No question. I will caution that it's pretty common for someone to go to a new team and tear it up only to have a massive falloff the next year. Look at Kyle at JGR.. Mark Martin at hendrick..
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