NASCAR star Kyle Larson mourns demise of "extremely passionate" artist and helmet designer Ryan Young

NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson recently shared news of the demise of his helmet designer Ryan Young. The budding artist was the force behind the #5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver's several unique and eye-catching helmet designs, a process that is self-admittedly extremely close to Larson's approach to racing.

The news of Young passing away was broken by Larson himself as the upcoming Indy 500 challenger mourned the 50-year-old's death on social media. He took to Instagram to write about Ryan Young's impact in the process of designing his helmets and working with his design studio Indocil Art. He wrote:

"Hated getting the news of @indocil Ryan Young passing away yesterday morning. Such an extremely passionate and talented artist that I’m going to greatly miss. I’m not sure people realize how involved I like to be on the design process of my helmets."

Elaborating on the painstaking yet enjoyable process of finalizing a helmet design before any one of Kyle Larson's multiple racing exploits, the 2021 Cup Series champion said:

"I always loved talking to him and working through fun ideas for designs. We would both come up with off the wall thoughts and probably confuse each other most times but he ALWAYS knocked it out of the park and supplied me with the sickest helmets in the pits. Just a great guy and will be missed by so many! RIP"

The Elk Grove, California native also attached several pictures of his personal helmets designed by the late Ryan Young in his post, looking back at the designer's legacy.

Fellow NASCAR Cup Series competitor Michael McDowell also reacted to the sudden demise of the renowned artist and mourned the death of a friend. He wrote on X (formerly Twitter):

"Ryan Young has been a friend and my helmet painter for over a decade. Very saddened by his passing. Praying for all of his family and friends."

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A look back at Kyle Larson's helmet designed by Ryan Young for the 2023 Championship Race

Last season's NASCAR Cup Series finale at Phoenix Raceway saw Kyle Larson honor Ryan Young and his artistic skills with yet another helmet design for the occasion. Racing for a chance to win his second title in the highest echelon of the sport, Kyle Larson wore none other than Indocil Arts' owner's colors.

Despite not winning the race and ultimately the championship wearing the design by the late artist, it would not be surprising if Kyle Larson comes up with a tribute helmet for Young and his family during the upcoming Daytona 500 this weekend.

The iconic 500-mile-long race goes live on Sunday, February 18 at 2:30 pm ET.