There’s no doubting the rigors of NASCAR racing. But aside from the physical aspects of racing, it is a taxing sport on the mind too. Spending three-fourths of the year away from your family takes a definite toll on the driver. With time, drivers learn to cope with it by spending those precious months of pre-season. Kyle Larson, for one, has mastered that part of his racing career.

Speaking to Alan Bailey on the Shifting Gears show on YouTube, Larson described how he had been enjoying his time off from racing. Among other things, he told Alan how racing had been the last thing on his mind, and he was enjoying spending time with his kids and his wife.

A rivalry between the Kyle juniors

As they spoke about Owen, Alan said “Luckily all of his [Owen’s] stuff might fit her [Kyle’s daughter] one day, so Dad’s already got everything at home, ready to go.” Larson replied, “Yeah, we’ve made the investment. So we just have to keep it around… we’ve got another son coming, so he might get all the hand-me-downs.”

Alan cheekily said, “Something tells me they’re not bad hand-me-downs.” Larson replied with a smile, “No, no, that’s for sure. To compete with Brexton Busch and what Kyle Busch has out there, you gotta have the best stuff. They take it extremely serious. I don’t take it nearly as serious as Kyle probably does with anything. It’s fun to watch the kids go out there and have some fun.”

Bailey then asked, “Seeing Brexton get a contract option from RCR, are you maybe asking Mr. Hendrick about that?” But Larson was sure that wasn’t the way he wanted to go for his son. He said, “No, no. Owen’s gotta show me that he WANTS to be a race car driver before I pursue it any further than the little bit that we do at Millbridge.”

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There was the Larson v Busch rivalry in the last decade or so, but with Busch close to retirement, a new rivalry could be on the cards soon. If not Owen, there are others in the Larson bloodline ready to take the baton from Kyle.

Kyle Larson is under no pressure to find a successor

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A lot of times, there seems to be a tacit understanding among fans that their children will follow a successful driver. While it is very convenient as drivers of Larson’s caliber can offer a lot to their children, he is under no pressure to have his children in racing.

Bailey asked him, “He’s [Owen] not hanging up the helmet, is he? Because we know he’s kind of gotten into Dad’s hobby a little bit here, and he might be a racer someday. So anything on his agenda for 2023?”

Larson jokingly said, “He’s always in and out of retirement. He’s turning 8 next week, he’s retired a few different times.” But he followed it up with, “Honestly it’s kinda whatever my kids want to do. I don’t want them to think that they have to race.”

“And I think Owen, he likes racing. I wouldn’t say that he loves it to the capacity that I do or did when I was his age to really focus and want to do good, want to compete, and want to get better. My daughter, she’s 4 and a half, and I feel like she’s got that in her,” he revealed.

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That’s very considerate and sweet of Larson. If one of his children does take a liking to race, great; if not, that’s fine by him too.