KWINANA BEACH, Western Australia — Kyle Larson has no idea how winning a second NASCAR Cup Series championship will affect his standing among his peers.
“I didn’t go back into the NASCAR garage,” Larson said ahead of hot laps and qualifying on Dec. 29, the second preliminary night of the High Limit International races at Perth Motorplex, where he was defending his 2024 victory in Australia’s richest sprint car race.
Advertisement
“Once you win the championship, everyone disappears and does what they want, so you really don’t notice it until you get back in the garage… It’s a big deal, but you really don’t see a lot of respect for it until you get back to Daytona or, I guess, the Clash at Bowman Gray (Feb. 1).”
RELATED: 2026 Cup Series Schedule | Buy tickets
Larson won his second Cup title in November at Phoenix Raceway, becoming the third full-time active driver in the series to hold more than one championship in NASCAR’s premier division. Joey Logano leads with three titles and Kyle Busch has two.
But don’t be fooled. Although his level of recognition may be delayed in the Cup garage, Larson is already an international superstar whose global impact has grown exponentially.
Advertisement
Tony Clarke, an 80-year-old from Adelaide in South Australia, watched the broadcast of last year’s High Limit Racing event in Perth. Subsequently, he followed some of Larson’s exploits in Cup and the Indianapolis 500.
Larson’s winning performance in the High Limits feature motivated Clarke to drive 1,000 miles across the continent through barren lands where gas stations are 350 miles apart and cell phone service is sketchy at best.
The trip took 28 hours and “two nights” in the car, as Clarke put it.
“I want to see Kyle Larson,” he said.
Advertisement
Informed of Clarke’s trip, Larson shook his head in wonder.
“The success I’ve been fortunate to have in NASCAR over the last five seasons has contributed to all of this,” Larson said. “I think all of that contributed to the growth of racing – NASCAR, sprint cars, even the newer models when I was there.
“I think racing is in a healthy place right now. So, yeah, it’s pretty cool to see fans come from far and wide, within this country and even outside the country, to come see me race but have the chance to see others that they maybe haven’t heard of yet.”
Wherever Larson goes, his reputation precedes him. Often referred to as a “generational talent”, his success on a wide range of racing machines has defined his career.
Advertisement
The 2025 season has been emblematic. Larson started the year by winning a Golden Driller Trophy at the Tulsa Shootout for micro sprints and followed that up with his third title at the Chili Bowl Nationals for midget race cars.
Driving the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Larson won three Cup Series races and captured the title in November by holding off Denny Hamlin after a late restart and finishing third behind Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski.
Larson capped the 2025 campaign with his second consecutive victory in the High Limit International main event in Perth, pocketing $110,000 in Australian dollars for the sprint car victory.
That’s not to say that 2025 hasn’t been without disappointments. Larson’s second attempt at the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 double ended poorly and likely took a toll on the usually resilient driver.
Advertisement
MORE: Larson through the years, career highlights
“You think about the doubleheader, the month of May, the 600,” Hendrick Motorsports vice president Jeff Gordon said after the championship race at Phoenix. “It’s the first time I’ve seen his confidence drop. I think it was a humbling experience.”
Throughout the season, Larson insisted there was no hangover from the double attempt. In retrospect, he acknowledged that might have been the case.
“I would say ‘No,’ but it’s hard to argue with the timing of it all,” said Larson, who did not win a Cup Series race after taking the checkered flag at Kansas Speedway on May 11. “I had a great season up to that point, then I had a few bad weeks at Indy and got into the 600, and then all my races took a nosedive – the Cup races, the sprint car races, all that.
Advertisement
“You could say that, okay, our cars also dropped in performance, but still… I guess maybe that’s the case, but it was just bad timing – I don’t know. Everything seemed to be falling apart for a few months, but you have to stick with the process and stay confident in yourself, in your team and in the people around you. I think that’s what makes the end-of-year championship extremely meaningful.”
