Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I've heard it said that racing dirt helps Larson in the Cup series. However he hadn't had a Cup win in 51 races until the Chase which started after Larson set dirt racing aside to focus on the Chase. He spoke on SiriusXM, saying he is more focused now because he has less distractions. He is able to work out more, attend meetings in person, use the simulator and get to know the pit crew guys better because he isn't racing dirt.

So is dirt a help or a hindrance? Will HMS notice and remove his freedom to race dirt?

Thoughts?

Fair question Rod. It didn't seem to bug him last year.

Long shot, but what if the distraction is part ownership of a racing series ?

Depends on what the current circumstances are and how life is going. All the years he has done both it seems to have had a direct positive impact on his main money making job. I think it is one of those things that people are a little too quick to go to as an excuse for poor performace, and to go to for how good his performance is. I think there are more factors that go into it that have more of an impact than if he goes to a dirt track 2-3times a week. From what I have seen, it is not like he has been "slow" this year, just a lot of mistakes. And extracurriclar activies are always going to be the thing that talking heads and fans point too for any competitor when they are doing bad. 

I remember back in 2011 when Stewart started going on his run for the championship. His performance in Cup started going up right as he was racing sprint cars more. Many people were talking about how great his restarts were becoming and pointed because of how sprint cars driver and on and on. Fast forward to almost a year later I think he had 3-4 poor performances, there was a video of him flipping during a Wednesday race, and one of the writers (David Newton I believe) who a year prior had written about how the extra racing could be helping Tony was not writing about how Tony needed to stop racing in "lower" forms of racing because it was causing his Cup results to suffer. 

I would say having 3kids vs 1 or 2, being older, the grind possibly getting a little old with the traveling back and forth, being available for what seems to be 10x more media than when he started with 10x less audience, dealing with whatever the heck the cup series has turned into now probably has more of an effect than racing a sprint car.

Rick knew that was part of the deal.  2 championships in 5 years, defending champion, and current points leader for the 2026 championship.  Why would Rick even consider upsetting this formula?

Will Rick be happy with very few wins and a championship title or does he want some winds through the season also? We obviously don't know that but I would think he would want as many wins through the season as he could collect.

I think Rick has been around long enough and is smart enough not to throw away a good thing.

What choice does he have?  Larson is the only Hendrick driver winning right now and he only signed with Rick because he allowed him to have an open schedule.  I don't think he has much of an option.  

Also, winning races doesn't mean as much as it used to mean.  It's all about exposure, media, and social media driving merchandise sales and sponsorship opportunities.  Rick knows his driver got more exposure on Knoxville Nationals weekend than the winner of the Cup race got.  I don't even have a clue who won that Cup race.  Every media outlet's top racing story was Larson pulling off the double with no mention of who won that night at Richmond.

Hendrick was the big winner that night.  

It is my opinion that Kyle just refocused on NASCAR  at the beginning of the chase due to substandard performances. He is much quieter on the radio during races and stresses that everybody , including himself perform at a high level. Maybe he took a step back and realized that maybe his Knoxville escapades took more out of him and people close to him than he expected

if so, then great for him for realizing it and focusing on what he considers to be most important to him.

two thoughts...

1.  hendrick motorsports has been pretty bad this year.  larson's team has clearly been the best in a bad situation all year.  the whole organization leveled up a bit last weekend.  everyone expected toyota to show up at an intermediate track and destroy everyone.  that's not what happened.

2.  sometimes you'll trade being the best for being happy.  his idea of work/life balance seems to be dirt racing.  it's maybe even more impressive that his nascar effort has been good enough for 2 titles and he's in line for a third.  he's won all the big races...coca-cola 600, brickyard 400, southern 500, and the bristol night race.  nobody should care that he hasn't won at daytona or talladega.  i think it's a credit that he HASN'T won.

i tell my kids that he's the greatest athlete of our generation.  we're lacking top athletes with sustained success.  especially athletes that aren't jerks or got into some sort of legal trouble.  we probably underestimate how incredible the richmond/knoxville night was.

Everything you just said----100%  I especially like how you emphasized how stupid it is to include Daytona or Talladega are when considered "crown jewels" of racing.  Anything Trevor Bayne or Justin Haley have won, is not a crown jewel.