"A little bit like racing myself": Kyle Larson showers Corey Day with high praise after Front Row Challenge win

After Kyle Larson won the Front Row Challenge, he was asked about his thoughts on Corey Day. The 2021 NASCAR Cup champion passed the young driver on lap 18 of the challenge and held on to the position despite several attempts by Day to take the lead.

This led to Larson being asked on SpeedFreaks about his thoughts on the driver taking 'racing by storm.'

"It's awesome. He's extremely talented. It's fun to watch him. It's tough to beat him, so when you do beat him, even though he's 18, it feels really good," Larson said. [5:30]

The Hendrick Motorsports driver recalled a question he was asked about Day after he edged him for the win at Front Row Challenge. Larson said he was asked about what it's like to race against the 18-year-old, to which the #5 driver claimed it was like driving against himself.

"I would imagine it's a little bit like racing myself. I don't get to do that obviously. I feel like he's so similar to me on the racetrack in the aggressiveness, that never quit, that always trying to find a faster way around or different way to get around the track, stuff like it's exciting to watch, it's easy to be a fan, he's always putting on a show, it's crazy. He's very, very much like me," Larson described.

He mentioned that as he has gotten older, he has become more calculated while still retaining his aggression. Kyle Larson believed Corey Day would progress on a similar trajectory as he gets older and understands how to win races.

"It'll be so hard to beat him. So he's really good and I'm excited to see where his future goes and where this path leads him and how far it leads him. But regardless, he's going to be successful in anything he gets in," Larson added.

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Rico Abreu believes Corey Day is ahead of Kyle Larson at his age

Dirt track and sprint car driver Rico Abreu recently made comments on Corey Day's prowess at such a young age. The 2x Chili Bowl winner claimed that Day might just be better than Kyle Larson for his age.

"He is really young. It's really cool to see someone in our generation at that level. You know, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson...I feel like he might be kinda ahead of both of them at their age," Abreu said.

This was a sentiment that was also shared by Kyle Larson during a conversation with Kenny Wallace earlier this year. Larson deemed Day as a younger version of himself and showered him with pretty high praise.

"He’s basically me. He’s better than I am, or I was obviously at that age. He is in a lot better rides than I was at that age," Larson said.

As per Larson, the 18-year-old is the next young up-and-coming driver who is ahead of everyone else who is on the path "to make it."