Kyle Larson Bio
Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional racing driver who competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series. He drives the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Before and throughout his stock car career, Larson has been highly successful in dirt track racing, with wins in several prestigious events including the Kings Royal, Knoxville Nationals, and the Chili Bowl Nationals. He also won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2015 with Chip Ganassi Racing. Larson is the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year and the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year. He won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship in 2021 and 2025 and was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023.
Early Life and Background
Kyle Miyata Larson was born on July 31, 1992, in Elk Grove, California, and attended his first race with his parents just a week after his birth. His mother is Japanese American, and her parents spent time in a Japanese internment camp. He is the son of Mike and Janet Larson. Larson began racing at the age of seven in outlaw karts in Northern California. As a teenager, he moved into open-wheel cars, competing in the United States Auto Club (USAC) midget, Silver Crown, and sprint car divisions.
During his early career in USAC, a series official gave Larson the nickname “Yung Money” in recognition of his talent. He competed for Keith Kunz Motorsports and Hoffman Racing with Toyota backing. Larson won the 2011 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway, winning in all three types of USAC cars in a single night, becoming only the second driver in history to accomplish the feat. He won two Silver Crown races that season and was named the 2011 Rookie of the Year.
Path to NASCAR
Larson’s path to NASCAR began when he was signed for the 2012 racing season by Earnhardt Ganassi Racing as part of the team’s driver development program. In February 2012, he won his first race in a full-bodied stock car at New Smyrna Speedway. He then moved full-time into the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2012 with Rev Racing and won the series championship with two wins and 12 top-tens in 14 races. He was also named the K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year.
On June 28, 2012, Larson made his Camping World Truck Series debut at Kentucky Speedway in the No. 4 Chevrolet Silverado for Turner Motorsports, finishing 10th. In February 2013, it was announced that Larson would compete full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, driving the No. 32 Chevrolet for Turner Scott Motorsports. He won the Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year award, becoming the first Asian-American and first Drive for Diversity participant to win a Rookie of the Year Award in one of NASCAR’s national touring series.
Kyle Larson Career
Early Career (2012-2013)
Larson’s first notable stock car achievement came in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2012 with Rev Racing, where he scored his first career series win at Gresham Motorsports Park on June 9. He followed it with a second win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and went on to claim the series championship, beating Corey LaJoie by two wins to five. On April 14, 2013, Larson scored his first Truck Series win at Rockingham Speedway after holding off Joey Logano. During the celebration, Larson performed donuts without his steering wheel, a practice he had acquired when racing go-karts. The celebration prompted NASCAR to ask him to keep the wheel attached for safety reasons.
Larson’s first full Nationwide Series campaign came in 2013 with Turner Scott Motorsports. In the season opener at Daytona, he was involved in a violent last-lap crash that sent his car airborne and into the catch fence, injuring 28 spectators, though none fatally. Despite the rocky start, Larson led the most laps in the season finale at Homestead before finishing second to Brad Keselowski. He earned the Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year, a historic first for an Asian-American driver.
NASCAR Cup Series Breakthrough (2014-2020)
Larson made his Sprint Cup Series debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2013 before moving to Chip Ganassi Racing full-time in 2014 to drive the No. 42 car. He earned the Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year award with 8 top-fives and 17 top-tens, statistics better than those of Richard Petty and Jeff Gordon in their rookie seasons. On August 28, 2016, Larson scored his first Cup Series win at Michigan, which qualified him for the Chase for the first time. He finished the 2017 season with multiple wins and a string of three straight Michigan victories.
Despite being winless throughout 2018, Larson made the playoffs with five second-place finishes. He opened 2019 with a victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race, and later snapped a 75-race winless streak with a win at Dover. On April 13, 2020, Larson was indefinitely suspended by Chip Ganassi Racing and NASCAR after he used a racial slur during an iRacing event. He was later fired by CGR, completed sensitivity training, and was reinstated by NASCAR effective January 1, 2021.
Hendrick Motorsports Era (2021-Present)
On October 28, 2020, Hendrick Motorsports signed Larson to a multi-year deal to drive the No. 5 car beginning with the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The team negotiated a clause allowing Larson to continue racing dirt events, provided he focused primarily on the Cup program. He opened his HMS career with a win at Las Vegas on March 7, 2021. He then won the Coca-Cola 600, his first road course win at Sonoma, the NASCAR All-Star Race, and the Watkins Glen race, scoring a career-high five wins at that point in the season. He clinched the regular season championship and locked into the Championship 4 at Phoenix, where he led 107 laps en route to his 10th win of the season and his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. The 10-win, title-winning season mirrored Jimmie Johnson’s 2007 feat.
Larson’s 2022 season featured wins at Auto Club Speedway, Watkins Glen, and Homestead. In 2023, he scored wins at Richmond, Martinsville, the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, the Southern 500, and Las Vegas, finishing second in the final standings to Ryan Blaney. In 2024, he won at Las Vegas, Kansas in the closest finish in Cup Series history (0.001 seconds over Chris Buescher), Sonoma, the Brickyard 400, the Bristol night race, and the Charlotte Roval. He also attempted to run both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, but rain delays forced him to miss the start of the Coke 600. In 2025, Larson scored wins at Homestead, the Bristol spring race, and the Kansas spring race before clinching his second Cup Series championship at Phoenix despite a right front tire issue that sent him a lap down late in the race.
Driving Style and Strengths
Kyle Larson is widely regarded as one of the most versatile drivers in motorsports, with a rare ability to master both stock cars and open-wheel dirt machines. He excels on intermediate tracks and road courses, evidenced by his Cup Series road course wins at Sonoma, Watkins Glen, the Charlotte Roval, and Circuit of the Americas. His partnership with crew chief Cliff Daniels has been a defining element of his success at Hendrick Motorsports, producing consistent playoff runs and two championships. Larson’s aggressive late-race instincts and car control have produced several last-lap passes, including his 2024 win at Kansas by 0.001 seconds.
Notable Races and Milestones
Larson’s signature Cup Series moments include his 10-win 2021 championship run, his 2024 Brickyard 400 victory, his closest-finish-ever win at Kansas in 2024, and his 2025 championship-clinching drive at Phoenix. He is a three-time NASCAR All-Star Race winner (2019, 2021, 2023), winning on three different tracks (Charlotte, Texas, and North Wilkesboro), tying him with Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. He has also won marquee dirt events including the Kings Royal, the Knoxville Nationals, the Chili Bowl Nationals, and the Prairie Dirt Classic.
Kyle Larson Career Wins
Kyle Larson has compiled an impressive multi-surface win list across NASCAR’s top three national series, sprint car and midget racing, and sports car events. His NASCAR Cup Series victory total reached 30 with his 2025 Homestead win, placing him 30th on the all-time wins list. He has also collected wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (formerly Nationwide Series), the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and major dirt events across the country.
NASCAR Cup Series Highlights
Larson’s Cup Series career includes championships in 2021 and 2025, a regular season title in 2021, and an All-Star Race hat trick in 2019, 2021, and 2023. He won crown jewel races including the Coca-Cola 600 (2021), the Southern 500 (2023), and the Brickyard 400 (2024). He earned the 2022 Daytona 500 pole and won 10 races in his 2021 championship campaign. His 30 career Cup Series wins tie him among the top 30 drivers in series history.
Other Wins & Performances
Beyond the Cup Series, Larson has won Truck Series races at Rockingham (2013), Eldora (2016), North Wilkesboro (2023), and Homestead (2025), and has Xfinity Series wins at Auto Club Speedway (2014), Charlotte (2014), Homestead (2015), Pocono (2016), Texas (2016), Watkins Glen (2022), Darlington (2023), Circuit of the Americas (2024), Bristol (2025), and Texas (2025). He is a multi-time Chili Bowl Nationals winner (2020, 2021, 2025), a multi-time Knoxville Nationals winner, and won the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona overall with Chip Ganassi Racing. He was also the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion.
Kyle Larson Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Kyle Larson was born to Mike and Janet Larson in Elk Grove, California. His mother is Japanese American, and her parents spent time in a Japanese internment camp, giving Kyle a multi-cultural heritage. Through his marriage, Larson is connected to the sprint car world. His wife Katelyn Sweet is the sister of former World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series driver and NASCAR competitor Brad Sweet, Larson’s brother-in-law and longtime rival on dirt.
Personal Life
Kyle Larson married Katelyn Sweet on September 26, 2018, after announcing their engagement on December 22, 2017. The couple has three children: Owen Miyata Larson, born on December 22, 2014, Audrey Layne Larson, born in 2018, and Cooper Donald Larson, born on December 31, 2022. Larson is a native of Elk Grove, California, and has continued to race open-wheel cars on a limited schedule with his own midget team and Paul Silva’s winged sprint car team, even during the busiest stretches of his Cup Series career.
2025 Season Performance
Kyle Larson’s 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign began with a 20th-place finish at the Daytona 500. He scored his 30th career Cup Series win at Homestead, which placed him 30th on the all-time wins list. He added his second win of the season at the Bristol spring race and his third at the Kansas spring race, establishing himself as a consistent front-runner in the early portion of the schedule. Through the regular season, Larson’s No. 5 team, led by crew chief Cliff Daniels, remained a fixture near the top of the standings.
Despite not winning a race during the playoffs, Larson made the Championship 4 with a fifth-place finish at Martinsville. In the Championship 4 at Phoenix, he suffered a right front tire issue that put him a lap down late in the race, but a caution on lap 221 produced a wave around that returned him to the lead lap. He finished third and clinched his second NASCAR Cup Series championship, adding to his 2021 title and cementing his legacy as one of the most versatile drivers of his era.