From idolizing Tony Stewart to equaling his Cup Series title wins, Kyle Larson’s triple crown has come full circle. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has never hidden his admiration for Stewart. After securing his third NASCAR Cup Series championship, the recognition from his childhood hero carried an emotional weight of its own. But there’s more to the duo’s bond than meets the eye, and Larson’s account is a wholesome blast from the past.

Shortly after he concluded his New York media tour, Larson appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio for a post-championship-win interview with Carla Metts on Saturday, November 14. There, the racer shared how he came across the NBC broadcast feature about his third NASCAR Cup Series championship, narrated by Tony Stewart. The NASCAR veteran also made it a point to applaud Larson personally by dropping a message.

“I just was responding to text messages back there, and yeah, he had texted me. So that was special,” the No. 5 driver shared. “And I think they played a piece on TV that he narrated. So I got to see that; that was really cool and definitely got me choked up.”

He added why the message meant so much to him, coming from his childhood idol. “Him (Tony Stewart) and Jeff (Gordon) were my guys growing up,” Larson said. “So to be now on a list with Tony, it feels really good to me because, yeah, I would say he’s kind of who I shaped my driving style and career path off of, I feel like the most.”

He also reminisced about his first day of school: “I mean, I went to my first day of kindergarten, dressed head to toe in Jeff Gordon shorts, shirt, backpack, all of it.”

A young Kyle Larson began dirt-track racing, following in the footsteps of the multiple championship-winning duo. While Gordon went on to pursue a career in NASCAR’s highest division, Stewart took on the challenge of competing in different categories and formats. Of the two, Larson always admired Stewart’s willingness to compete in categories like sprint cars, Midgets, IndyCar, CART, and NASCAR.

“I just felt like my personality and driving style and love for all racing and dirt track racing, especially, was more similar to him, where I didn’t ever want to just focus on just one thing,” Larson explained.

Today, Larson has earned a reputation for being one of the most versatile drivers to compete across different series and formats. Larson has lived up to his childhood hero’s racing career by competing in Sprint cars, Midget cars, Silver Crown cars, Dirt Late Models, IndyCar, Sports car endurance racing, Modifieds and other dirt divisions while actively pursuing his NASCAR Cup Series career.

The No. 5 driver’s NASCAR career brought him closer to his childhood heroes. When Larson made his Cup Series debut with Chip Ganassi Racing, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart were prominent names in the fraternity. While Gordon had been keeping an eye out for the young prodigy’s performance and congratulating him on his achievements, Stewart was still an active racer and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Larson went from idolizing the NASCAR veterans to sharing his career highs and lows with them. The SHR driver and co-owner, Tony Stewart, had been involved in the young rookie’s career trajectory, where he guided him towards his NASCAR debut in 2012, before the rookie arrived in 2013. Larson had previous crossed paths at Fremont, Ohio, and Larson recalled discussing the handling of NASCAR trucks with Stewart.

Stewart also gave the now champion a chance to compete behind the wheel of his car in Silver Crown race at Eldora Speedway but Larson couldn’t race because of an injury sustained in a sprint-car race.

The duo crossed paths yet again in the NASCAR Cup Series, now as on-track rivals, with the young rookie of the year getting into multiple aggressive battles with his good friend and mentor, Stewart.

One such instance between the duo in August 2014 involved an on-track disagreement in Michigan. Stewart made contact with Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet and was evidently annoyed by the racer blocking him aggressively. The veteran driver flipped off a young Larson, who took the gesture lightly, stating that his bond with his idol had not changed.

Cut to 2021, and Larson had already traded his Chip Ganassi Racing suit for the Hendrick Motorsports suit. The No. 5 driver won his maiden Cup Series title with the coveted team, under the mentorship of his childhood hero, Jeff Gordon, who co-owns the iconic team with Rick Hendrick. Larson then went on to win all three of his titles with the esteemed racing team, with Gordon now being not only his mentor and boss but also a close friend.

While Tony Stewart and Kyle Larson never shared a garage or drove for the same team, the three-time Cup champion had already held the latter in high regard after his first title win in 2021. Stewart tweeted, “Congratulations to the best race car driver I’ve ever seen.”

During his post-race championship press conference in 2021, Larson replied, “If I really had a true racing hero, I would say it’s Tony Stewart, who I’ve always believed to be the best race car driver ever.” He added, “That means a lot to me. I try to model my racing and my schedule off what I feel like Tony Stewart would do.”

But the real emotion came through when Larson remembered how he finally shared a similar run with Stewart, as he went on to win five playoff races in 2021.

“For me to match him on that, the laps led, the wins, the top 5s and stuff, and all the wins outside of Cup racing, I never thought…”

Little did Larson know back then that he would equal his hero’s title win tally in 2026. Years later, the only thing that has changed between the driver and the veteran is that the racer now receives his praise and flowers personally over a heartfelt call or text. And then NBC nailed the brief by delivering a tribute to the No. 5 driver’s stellar achievement by asking his mentor to narrate it.

Larson’s idols have had an equally exceptional career run in their prime. Gordon won four titles with Hendrick Motorsports: in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001. He became the youngest Cup champion of the modern era at 24 when he won his maiden title. The Hendrick Motorsports champion has 93 career Cup victories to his name, along with 81 pole positions. Gordon has also won three Daytona 500s and five Brickyard 400 races, and has 797 consecutive Cup starts.

Tony Stewart, aka ‘Smoke ‘, also has three Cup Series title wins in 2002, 2005, and 2011. The racer won two of his championships with Joe Gibbs Racing before winning his final title with his co-owned Stewart-Haas Racing team. The NASCAR veteran has 49 career Cup victories, 15 pole positions, and two Brickyard 400 victories. Tony Stewart won his 2011 title with NASCAR’s first-ever tiebreaker in 63 years. Stewart won by five wins over Carl Edwards’ one, after both drivers tied at 2,403 points.

But Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart were not the only NASCAR Hall of Famers cheering for Larson. He revealed that seven-time Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson was also rooting for his No. 5 garage.

“Jimmie, throughout the Chase, was a big fan of ours, mine and Cliff. He would text Cliff and I every pre-race or post-race, just pulling for us sort of thing or good job, keep it up.” Larson explained.

With all his childhood icons now celebrating him, Kyle Larson has come a long way in his NASCAR Cup Series career, and he still cannot believe it. “Yeah, it’s surreal,” Larson said. “Like I just did an interview back there, and I got to see the list, you know, finally. And it’s just, I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem real to me.”

For now, the three-time world champion has to get used to his triple crown in the Cup Series, but Tony Stewart’s message and heartfelt tribute narration will continue to act as a reminder of just how far the No. 5 driver has come over the years.