Owen Larson: Dad Kyle is ‘not good’ at superspeedway racing, has to ‘try harder’ to win Daytona 500

Ahead of Kyle Larson’s 12th Daytona 500 start, his son Owen doesn’t have a lot of faith in him. Kids, what are they even good for? Even NASCAR drivers have to deal with contrary children, and they know exactly how to get under their parents’ skin. Owen is no different.

Kyle Larson will likely win his 30th career race this season. All he needs is one more checkered flag to get there. He is a Cup Series champion. Larson has wins in the Brickyard 400, Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500. That leaves Daytona as the final crown jewel.

During his career, Larson has won the pole for the 500 before. He has started on the front row twice in his career. Yet he has a best finish of P7, which came twice during his time at Chip Ganassi. Half of his Daytona 500 attempts with Hendrick have been DNFs.

It has become such a thorn in his side, not even his own son believes in him. Owen got to talk to the media after winning a fishing tournament at Daytona. When asked what his dad has to do to win the Great American Race, he was blunt.

“He probably has to try really hard because he’s not good at superspeedways,” Owen said, via Steven Taranto of CBS Sports.

So, what does Kyle Larson have to do? Simple.

“If he tried harder.”

And in case you were wondering what a NASCAR insider like Owen Larson thinks about the favorites for Sunday, he has you covered.

“Austin Cindric is going to be fast. Bubba [Wallace]’s going to be fast. Uh, Ricky [Stenhouse Jr.]’s going to be fast, and, who got second in the first Duel? … Yeah, that guy [William Byron], he’s going to be fast too.”

Tough break for Kyle Larson.

Kyle Larson looking for final crown jewel

Winning the Daytona 500 will do a lot to elevate Kyle Larson in the history of NASCAR. He is already 30th all-time in wins. If he wins five more races this season, he will tie Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. for 26th overall, passing Dale Jarrett and Fireball Roberts.

Among active drivers, Larson is fifth all-time in wins. Both Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch who are ahead of him are also searching for that final crown jewel victory. Both have been trying longer than Larson and will try to get that checked off their bucket list on Sunday.

With modern superspeedway racing, the Daytona 500 has changed. We know that there is going to be a fuel-saving strategy to some extent. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t get exciting racing on the track.

Kyle Larson will try to prove his son and the rest of the NASCAR world wrong and finally get a superspeedway win. If he can do it on the biggest stage in the Daytona 500 it will place him in an upper echelon of NASCAR greats.