There are still seven years left before Kyle Larson reaches the deadline he gave himself back in 2018. To explore more opportunities in the Sprint Car championship as a full-time driver, Larson had stated he would retire from NASCAR around his 40th birthday. Larson signed a long-term extension with Hendrick Motorsports this February that will keep him with the team until 2031, when he will be 38 years old. However, he revealed that his post-retirement plans are no longer set in stone.
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“I started saying this last year, but 40 is my next milestone,” Larson told Matt Weaver of Motorsport.com. “I want to get there and then evaluate if I want to keep going or be done. It all depends on where my kids are in their lives and interests.”
The Sprint car dream that Larson had is no longer his goal. He is already considered one of the greatest of his generation.
“As far as competing for a Sprint Car championship, I would say right now in 2026, that I have changed my mind on that,” Larson continued. “I feel like I have accomplished a lot since I made those comments. I’ve been able to win three Knoxville Nationals, three Chili Bowls and a Kings Royal. All the other races.
“I just don’t know what a championship would add to my career, so I’m just not into the idea now. And as I said, I think my kids are going to be busy doing their own racing by that time, so do I really want to commit to an 80 to 90 race schedule?”
This wasn’t a definitive yes on staying in the Cup Series. If he retires after his current deal expires, it’s still on par with his original timeline. What’s changed is the reason. And for Larson, that’s a big shift. In 2018, after winning the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, he stated that he would place the event ahead of the Daytona 500, which many drivers in the country consider almost as important as winning a National Championship.
“I guess, to my heart, whatever, however you want to describe it, Chili Bowl just personally means a little bit more. I’m not the only person…” Larson had said to ESPN in an interview a few days later.
Larson remained passionate about the Cup Series throughout, and insisted that he would not have remained had he simply treated it like a “job”, like many in the NASCAR community accused him of doing. Larson’s desire to push himself has simply gone down a notch.
Larson attempted The Double in both 2024 and 2025, competing in the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, a feat only Tony Stewart had previously completed. He failed both times and later admitted that the logistics, along with the physical wear and tear, were too much for him to ever consider attempting it again. It was a sign that the two-time Cup Series champion had begun prioritizing himself.
Larson has continued to compete in dirt events, winning multiple races in High Limit Racing, the series he co-founded with multi-time national sprint car champion Brad Sweet in 2022. This year alone, he has already won four races in the series. That said, he told Weaver that he doesn’t want to keep such a hectic schedule forever.
Having found more stability away from the track, Larson intends to carry that balance into the later stages of his career.
Family Is Now the Deciding Factor for Kyle Larson
Larson is the defending Cup Series champion, but he is going through an incredibly tough stretch. He hasn’t been to Victory Lane in 46 races, with luck doing him no favors either. Just last weekend at the Brickyard 400, he was showing real pace before a tire puncture sent him spinning into the barriers, ending his race.
It is the longest winless drought ever by a defending NASCAR Cup Series champion. Yet, Larson doesn’t sound like someone looking for escape.
“I just feel like I have a really good balance in my schedule this year and I’m enjoying that,” Larson added in the same interview with Weaver. “But you never know, and six or seven years down the road, things might change.”
Larson has three children, with Owen (11) and Audrey (8) already racing. He has become increasingly involved in helping them develop behind the wheel. And as they grow older—with his third child, Cooper, now three years old, also likely to take up racing—Larson wants to spend even more time helping them improve.
Taking part in nearly 100 races a year doesn’t leave much room for that. Perhaps sticking to just a Cup Series schedule will. But that’s a decision Larson will only have to make when his future is up for reassessment. Maybe in 2031.