NASCAR CUP SERIES
BOWMAN GRAY STADIUM
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
JANUARY 31, 2026
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson, met with the media via Zoom in advance of the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Media Availability Quotes:
Monday night could still have a chance to be the coldest race in NASCAR history, if that’s when it gets run. What’s the coldest you ever remember being inside a car, and how do you prepare, if you do prepare any differently, for those kind of conditions?
“Yeah, I don’t know if I’ve ever competed when it’s that cold. But thankfully for us, we’re inside of a stock car, which is basically like an oven, so that’ll help. I think, honestly, I think it’ll feel fine for us inside the car. I wouldn’t be surprised if you still break somewhat of a sweat in there, just because of all the temps from internally, and it’s not windy in there because we’re going so slow.
But yeah, I just feel for the the crews, the mechanics, the fans and NASCAR officials; everybody who’s there outside in the cold. But, you know, we love the sport, and we’ll compete in any conditions, I think. I just look forward to the challenge; just seeing kind of how the race plays out and seeing what teams can step up.”
Usually with weather situations, it’s a lot of ‘hurry up and wait’. To get the information now this early, where we know we’re going to be pushing to Monday, how does that help you not just be in this sort of weird in between and help set up a better plan for what the next couple of days look like for you?
“Well, I think we all assumed it probably wasn’t going to happen tomorrow anyways. So, in my head, I think I was already planning for Monday, or potentially even further. But, really, it just kind of gets you excited that you can enjoy the snow with your family. As soon as I’m done with this, I’m going to head over to my shop. We’ve got a good hill. We’ll probably build a jump; put the kids on some tubes and sleds, and go have some fun for the next couple days.
So, just try to make the most out of the situation, and also be ready to go when it is time to go. You know, we’ve already done our pre-event packet; going over the race weekend, practice, qualifying, all of that. So, I feel like we have a good plan. Now, we just have to wait until we get on track.”
In terms of your last championship you won, how cool was it to win one with your kids being old enough to really kind of grasp what was going on, unlike back in 2021, when they were much younger?
“Yeah, I think Owen had an okay understanding from the first one. But, you know, this one I think was cooler because I would imagine Audrey will remember this now for the rest of her life. Obviously I wasn’t in the motorhome watching the race because I was on the track, but my wife, Katelyn, she told me how emotional Owen had gotten. You know, he was a little bit teared up because I think he could grasp the magnitude of it, and also grasp how wild the finish was for us. I think he understood that we were not in a great position to win the championship, and then the script flipped and we won. I think he was just as surprised and emotional as we all were on the team and behind the wheel. So, yeah, it was cool, but also, having all the photos, videos and memories made that we’ll get to have forever is always cool.”
How hard do you have to remind yourself when they’re racing not to over-coach?
“Yeah, it’s tough, for sure. I think I’ve realized at this point that, which it makes it even tougher to just keep your mouth shut, but I feel like my kids do better when I don’t talk to them. You know, I think I get a little too detailed, and then I think they’re probably out there trying to do what I say and they’re thinking too much rather than reacting to what’s going on on the track. I realized that at the Tulsa Shootout, because Owen did get to run a few divisions, that once I showed up to town — like the first race I got to watch him, I’m like trying to coach him and all that, and that was the worst race he had all week. So, I was like — all right, I’m just going to stop talking and let Chad Boat and the team coach him up because he seems to listen to them, or relate to what they’re saying, better than me.”
I’m thinking about the DAYTONA 500 in a couple weeks. There were some comments last year by some folks who said, well, the 500 doesn’t feel as prestigious as it once was. I’m curious, do you feel that way, and if so, what needs to happen, or what can NASCAR do, to get it back to feeling like it once was, where winning the 500 felt special, whereas now it seems like folks look at it as, oh, well, anyone can win?
“I mean, it’s always going to be prestigious and feel prestigious. You know, I’ve never won the race. I’ve never even finished top-five, so I don’t know what the feeling is like. I would imagine the feeling of winning is still going to be extremely massive, if it ever happens.
But in a way, yeah, not that I fully agree with those comments, and I don’t know if that’s exactly how they’re meant to be anyways, but it is difficult to get really excited about the winner or who’s won when usually there’s a 20-car pile-up and the guy running towards the back squeaks through, and then misses another wreck later and wins. But that’s the race and that’s how it is. You know, I think William Byron winning two in a row is not a fluke, so the cream does rise. He’s won there in the old-style car and this car.
So, yeah, Daytona and Talladega, sure, anybody can win, but still the teams positioning themselves the best and drivers making the best decisions do win.
I don’t know if that really answers your question or not, but it’s still always going to be prestigious.”
You were in a bit of a slump as you went on to win the championship. You hadn’t won in a while, but then you got into the off-season and you started to win again. I don’t know how many races you won, but do you feel like you sort of have gotten your momentum back?
“I don’t know… it’s completely different race cars and stuff, but we’ll see. I mean, we just got to get the season started. I feel good about things. I felt like we were trending in a good direction at the end of the year. I mean, you don’t make the final four in a slump, and you don’t win the championship in a slump. So, yeah, I feel confident. Although we didn’t get some wins in the playoffs, we had a great opportunity to win two or three races in the playoffs, barring some cautions or whatever playing out differently.
I feel very capable of winning. We have a new body style, which yeah, sure, maybe would take a handful weeks to get a full grasp on, but I think once we do, we can be really, really competitive. So, yeah, just look forward to getting on the track and getting things going; getting back in the flow and just racing.”
Katelyn had a bunch of funny videos while you were off racing. She sort of was in charge of the kids racing. What’s that like for her to have to do that on her own without you? Do they prefer you not being there, and then what was it like when you guys all won on the same night on different continents?
“Yeah, I mean, I’m sure Katelyn and the kids would prefer if I was there all the time, but I think they also understand that I can’t be there all the time because I’m working or whatever you want to call it… it doesn’t feel like work to me, but you know, we can call it that. But, yeah, she’s gotten the hang of it more. I think she thrives at the kids races now. I think it was a bit stressful in the beginning, especially when Cooper was younger. He’s still a handful for sure, but you can pack a lot less now. He can go play with friends, and she can focus more on Owen and Audrey.
But, yeah, I think she really loves it there. She was set up selling the kids merchandise by the trailer, helping push them to staging and doing all that.
At the Tulsa Shootout, when I was in Australia, was great. The kids did way better at the shootout than I thought that they would. I’m sure there’s a lot of people in here that have no idea what the Tulsa Shootout is, but there are 2,000 cars, and divided by, I don’t know, five or six classes… there’s a couple hundred to over 400 in some of the classes. And yeah, for Audrey, like she just started and won a heat race, so that was really cool. And then Owen, as well, he’s out there racing with adults, and adults who have won the shootout before, and beat them in a heat race. So, yeah, they had a really, really good week, and I was super proud of them.”
You and I talked a little bit about Audrey’s competitive nature in Perth. How important is it for her to have interest outside of racing, like her playing hockey. You guys did a photo shoot the other day with Roto-Rooter. How cool is it for her not just to have these experiences, but to have you share them, as well?
“Well, I think it’s good for — any parent can parent their kids differently, but I think for us, it’s important to try to have our kids in as many activities as we can try to have them in, especially because they’re homeschooled, so they don’t get quite the exposure to other kids, probably. I mean, I guess you could argue that either way I think because we do have them doing racing and hockey, and when the weather is better, playing baseball and stuff. So, yeah, I just think it’s important to have them mingling with other kids. And also, just staying active; being in different environments and stuff. Audrey loves hockey. She loves racing. She loves being able to do all the things she does. We signed Owen up for hockey now too, so he gets to start that soon. The hockey part of it’s fun because it’s so different than what I do. I know nothing about hockey, so it’s fun to kind of go there and see them learning and seeing how talented the kids are out there, so I really enjoy it”
I wanted to ask you about Steve O’Donnell. How would you describe Steve’s leadership and interacting with him over the years?
“Yeah, I mean, I think he’s a really good leader. I feel like he runs a good balance of being, you know, friends with everybody, but also can stand his ground, which I think is important for a leader. So, yeah, I respect him and I respect the role that he has. I know the job that they have as executives at NASCAR is extremely tough, so, like I said, I think he balances it all very well.”
I kind of know the answer to this from a racer standpoint, but if you were to develop your entirely own series, no matter what the cars, what would be the best way to determine your season champion?
“Well, I have started a series, and it’s about 60 races and we have a full season standing (laughs). But, I mean, that’s totally different… that’s sprint cars versus NASCAR. I would assume you’re talking about NASCAR, but we will race in whatever format.”
With your youngest, Cooper, how soon would you be able to get him in a car, and how far do you want your kids to go racing? Do you want them to follow all the way, like you did? “Well, racing is an expensive sport, and I’ve got two doing it currently. I’ve spent a lot of money here lately because we’re starting our own micro team for them. So, in a perfect world, I would love for Cooper not to race, but I know that’s probably impossible, so I don’t know. Both of my other kids were, I think, five-and-a-half or six when they started, so he’s still got a few years. But yeah, he’s the craziest, for sure, of the three. So, we’ll see. I think he’ll be the most expensive, probably, because I’m sure he’ll be tearing up the most equipment. So, we’ll see if we can keep him out of it.”
Can you take me through the micro team? What’s that going to look like?
“Yeah, so in the past couple years here, I’ve just rented their rides from Chad Boat. He’s got a really great program, but he was going to travel a lot less this year with his team and I wanted my kids to race a lot more. I have my shop that I used to run my World of Outlaw team out of, and not that it was empty, but it wasn’t seeing a lot of use. So, I thought it’d be a fun project to start my own team. We hired a couple guys, Clinton Boyles and Carsen Perkins, and we started our own team. We’ve got a truck and trailer, another trailer, a bunch of race cars, engines, all the parts, components, all of it, so we are fully invested in the micro racing.
It’s honestly been a lot of fun though, and I look forward to kind of having our own little touch on things.”
As you were going through last year, you had a pretty successful superspeedway package, where in the past it hasn’t. You had some good finishes. Do you have confidence going into this season, knowing that Daytona and Atlanta starts off the season?
“Well, I would say, honestly, I always have confidence when we go to superspeedways because I feel like we do a good job. Just prior to last year, you know, I would just get caught up in wrecks and whatnot, and last year just worked out where the wrecks avoided me. So, you know, I wouldn’t say I have any more confidence this year than I did last year. I just hope that we have the same sort of good fortune as we did last year… maybe it can be a few spots better to get a win.”
I was listening to Justin Swilling from NASCAR talk about the effort that has been put in to try to get this race underway, no matter when it happens. From a driver’s perspective, do you appreciate all that’s put in to try to get it underway, even though this is a challenge race, a pre-season race?
“Yeah, I absolutely appreciate the effort, as always. I feel like a lot of times, you know, there’s many races where I’m like — man, there’s no chance we’re going to get out there and they’ll postpone it to Monday, Tuesday or whatever, but they find a way. They work really hard, and that’s a credit to the men and women who are working behind the scenes to make it all happen, whether that’s drying the racetrack, making sure the tech line is clear, stuff like that.
I think they’ve got a long track record of a lot of effort, so I’m not surprised that we’re still in the same plan, even for an exhibition race.”
You also are very much one who rolls with the punches, and you said you’re looking forward to the challenge. Is that kind of what this is to you, or what this race means?
“Yeah, well for one, I don’t have experience, really, with a snow delay, especially one as heavy as it is, so I think that’ll be new. But as always, what are you going to do? You know, we all just have to ride it out and see. So, yeah, I think that’s obviously the approach.”
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