The eight-year-old son of NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, Owen stirred up reaction as he…
The Larson name has become synonymous with race wins, checkered flags, and shot-gunned beers over the last handful of years with Kyle Larson winning everything from the NASCAR Cup Series championship to multiple Chili Bowl titles, the Knoxville Nationals, and more. But on a cold Tuesday night in Salisbury, North Carolina, a second-generation Larson added his checkered flag and winner’s trophy to the family collection as Owen Larson scored his first career victory.
The younger Larson was competing in the “Beginner Box Stock” division at North Carolina’s Millbridge Speedway. He held off Konner Leicht to pick up his first career victory in front of an extremely proud dad.
“It’s super special,” Kyle Larson told Steve Post in victory lane. “This is his first-ever win, too. It’s awesome. I know he’s pumped. He’s cold and he was super scared to do the interview.”
When asked how he got the lead, Owen replied, “I don’t know. I just drove it.”
“I was nervous, and I’m kind of a softy, so I was getting teary-eyed with like seven to go,” Larson said. “And then that last caution came out and we had a restart with Brexton (Busch) behind him, and he started to switch it up. He didn’t catch them sleeping, but it confused them enough that it allowed him to get away.”
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After the restart, Owen Larson drove off to a 0.296-second lead to secure his first victory. Leicht, Adalynn Owens, Busch, and Gabe Yacono completed the top five.
Kyle admitted that Owen gave him some playful trash talk following Sunday’s Cup race that saw Larson lose the lead and win on a green-white-checkered restart to Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron at Phoenix Raceway.
“The other day after the race on Sunday I saw him and he said, ‘What was that, Dad? That was stupid.’ So I said, ‘Well you better do everything perfectly on Tuesday or I’m going to be riding your butt.’
“I’m just proud of him. You talk to an eight-year-old and you never really know if he’s listening or not,” explained Larson. “But he did everything right in the feature, so he’s listening to everything me and all of his buddies try to coach him around with.”
