Kyle Larson has been making headlines for the better part of his career. Last year he scored 10 wins in a single season and closed the year with a championship. He recently confirmed that he would be joining hands with his brother-in-law Brad Sweet, a three-time World of Outlaws champion, to establish a new dirt series. On top of that, he has also been nominated for the prestigious best driver award at the 2022 ESPY Awards.
He has also been doing great in both the Cup Series and Dirt races so far. He debuted his 2022 Cup Series season in high gear, winning the second race of the season. Earlier this month, he won the Brad Doty Classic, a dirt race at Attica Raceway Park, collecting a cash prize of $15,000.
Despite being one of the most successful racers, he is also one of the most disciplined drivers, both on-track and off-track. In a recent interview with The Athletic, Larson was asked if he would disrupt the celebration of a driver who wrecked him to win. In his response, he cited how he dislikes drama and how disrupting someone else’s celebration adds to the drama. He said:
“I don’t think I would. No, no. I don’t like drama and that just adds to the drama. And you end up looking kind of stupid. I feel like you would want to get them back in a racing situation. If you do something like Denny (Hamlin did to Alex Bowman last year at Martinsville), then you kind of lose a little bit of an edge on your payback down the road. So I don’t think I would.”
Though he doesn't like drama, he has found himself in numerous dramatic wrecks. Earlier this year at Auto Club Speedway, where he collected his first season win, Kyle Larson finished controversially after wrecking his teammate Chase Elliott who was trying to take the lead with several laps to the finish line.
At Talladega, he caused another wreck after redirecting Kurt Busch to the wall, which also collected the latter's teammate Bubba Wallace Jr. Following the incident, 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin reacted to Larson's actions in a racially insensitive joke tweet involving the driver, and the two ended up trending. Hamlin later apologized to Larson and dropped the tweet.
Kyle Larson won't race in the 2023 Chili Bowl due to the purse factor
Away from the dramatic wrecks, Kyle Larson recently announced he won’t be racing the January 2023 Chili Bowl due to the purse factor. His announcement caused mixed reactions from the promoters of the event. According to Larson, the event purse isn’t growing as expected.
As a dirt racer, he has won several dirt events collecting a good amount of money. He collected $50,000 when he won the Prairie Dirt Classic. He has also won a cash prize of $150,000 after he won the Knoxville Nationals. These amounts stand in stark contrast to the $10,000 at the Chili Bowl.
Speaking about the event, Kyle Larson feels it’s a great event, but it isn’t growing like other events. He has now cited how he wants to race where the purse is growing and unless Chili Bowl ups their game, he won’t be racing at the event.