They say that skill and hard work beat talent every single time, but when you’re racing against a “once-in-a-generation” talent like Kyle Larson, one cannot see how that ends unless the Hendrick Motorsports star has a very bad day. Larson’s 2021 title triumph and his runout performances in the past season at Richmond and Martinsville, beating drivers like Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, etc., have solidified his legacy in NASCAR.

Much like the great veteran Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson has the uncanny ability to win races back-to-back; he would go all out, sliding his way to a Sprint race win, and then return to highly technical tracks like Darlington to win a Cup Series race. Now, if that’s not impressive, what else would be? For any aspiring driver, being compared to the HMS superstar is more like a dream come true. That was exactly what Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell and the crew at KKM had in mind when he spoke about the 17-year-old Midget racing phenom, Jade Avedisian.

C. Bell joins KKM as he praises Jade Avesidian with a Kyle Larson reference

Recently, JGR sensation C. Bell dropped down to meet the proud Toyota-partnered team KKM and its 17-year-old breakout star, Jade Avedisian. The Cup Series driver was all praise for the youngster after seeing her impressive Midget racing career and the legacy she has built for herself within a short period. Her epic 2023 Xtreme Outlaw championship triumph put the California native on the map, with prominent NASCAR drivers like Bell singing praise for the youngster.

“Jade has been, I would say, one of the first [women] to [contend for wins] on a week-in and week-out basis. I think that she’s just going to continue to improve as she matures and learns how to harness that speed and know when it’s important to be pushing and when it’s not important to be pushing,” said Bell, who is also a KKM graduate as per Speedsport.com.

With the Cup Series driver joining the crew at KKM, the crew showered more praise on Jade Avedisian, mentioning how she and Kyle Larson are pretty much similar when it comes to racing. “I think when we got Jade, she was racing at 102 percent every lap. In that respect, she’s a lot like Kyle Larson. He was going for a new track record every lap he ran,” said Pete Willoughby, the co-owner of KKM.

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“It’s pretty rewarding” – The KKM boss reveals his delight in getting a girl to the top in a male-dominated sport 

Now, we know for a fact that racing is not for the faint-hearted; going at triple-digit speeds and scrapping past cars amidst the chase is a wild experience, not all women want. “Not all” are the keywords here, but some, like Jade Avedisian, Danica Patrick, and Hailie Deegan, want all the smoke. The young 17-year-old racing’s been her bread and butter, with her team backing the young lady solidly in her quest for glory.

“It’s pretty rewarding because we’ve been trying so long to get a girl to that level that is right up there with the best of them. Two or three years ago, seeing Jade come up through, we knew that she was probably going to be that one exception that was gonna take it to the next level. And, of course, she has,” said Keith Kunz, Jade Avedisian’s boss at KKM.

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In its 30 years of racing, the team has been a launch pad for female talents, but none have reached the level the young 17-year-old had when she made history, becoming the first female driver in history to win a national dirt racing series after she won it this year in grand style.