2021 Cup Champion Kyle Larson is of the opinion that the more drivers participate in races, the better they get.
His comments come in light of the news regarding Joe Gibbs denying Christopher Bell from dirt track racing. Even though Bell likes it a lot, he was quoted as saying that Gibbs’ stance on dirt racing is “pretty close to hatred”.
Larson was asked about Bell’s situation at Joe Gibbs Racing. He compared Bell’s position to his at Hendrick Motorsports.
“I personally have not heard of a limit on myself, at Hendrick Motorsports. That’s something I’m very grateful for.
“Because I have lived those days. You know, when I first started, I couldn’t even race a dirt race. I’m glad now I don’t have a limit. Four or five years ago, Hendrick was kind of opposite. You know, we’re seeing, like, Gibbs guys go race stuff and Hendrick guys couldn’t.
“The culture, I guess, kind of changed a little bit, and you were able to race. And I think Hendrick also realized that we have a lot less track time in NASCAR now. We don’t get to test as much as the guys did back in the day. ”
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Larson further asserted that the more often a driver races, not just limited to the Cup Series, the better the driver gets.
“It’s a bummer that Christopher is not allowed to run, because I know it’s obviously a huge passion of his.”
“And I believe it makes me a better race car driver. The more often I can race. So I know the same would be for him. And I know there’s also risks that go along with it. I think those risks, or the reward outweighs the risk.”
The Hendrick Motorsports driver certainly takes full advantage of this at his organization. He participated in a lot of events in the 2020 season and continued doing so in 2021 at HMS. And it certainly didn’t stop him from winning 10 races that season, including the championship.