Kyle Larson has been around the racing circuits for a good while now. The Hendrick Motorsports driver established himself as one of the best in dirt racing before he made the move to NASCAR – and guess what? He was great! But that greatness has come at the cost of some memorable rivalries. This story is about a rivalry that probably was greater than the one he has with Chase Elliott.

In a 2019 episode of the Waltrip Unfiltered Podcast with Michael Waltrip, he asked Larson about an incident he had earlier that year. Waltrip asked him about the much talked about battle between Larson and Christopher Bell at Lawrenceburg Speedway.

Kyle Larson defends himself

Larson presented his argument. “The last time I saw him was into Turn 3 when I passed him. And I had no idea whether he was on my right rear or left rear. Wherever we don’t have spotters, we don’t have mirrors. We have just our senses, sound, and all that.” 

He explained, “So he never got up to my right side, so I never knew he was to my right side a little bit. I was expecting him to because I spent my tires going out on the front stretch. I was expecting him to come by me to my inside. So I wanted to get to the cushion as quick as I could on entry.” 

“And I think he, you know, I kind of ran off the wall down the front stretch, so I think he assumed that I was probably gonna slide myself. So he wanted to get to the cushion and rip enough momentum to get back to my inside on the exit. Well, I decided to get to the cushion as quick as I could because I thought he was gonna be sliding me and then I could have the moon to get by him on the bottom.”

In racing, it’s all a game of split-second decisions. You blink and you miss. And that’s what happened, according to the 2021 Cup Series champion. “He just guessed wrong. I didn’t see him… I never saw him, I never felt him. So I hate that he wrecked because I don’t wanna wreck him, especially because I always have a blast racing him and I wanna beat him, you know, head up,” he said. 

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“So yeah, it was a shame that he wrecked, but we’ll have plenty more battles for wins for the rest of our lives,” was the hopeful note Larson ended that answer on.

Larson respects Chris Bell as a rival

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That conversation took place in 2019, and after one of their biggest on-field battles. It was a night of controversy with both drivers not willing to let the other win. Enticing and contentious. Despite all of that, Larson only had compliments for his rival.

Waltrip asked him on the podcast, “Where is Chris Bell? Is he right there, as good as you, or good as anybody?” Larson didn’t have a boilerplate, mundane answer. He was full of high praise for the young driver. “Oh yeah! For sure, I think. Definitely, I think in a midget, I would say he’s better than me,” said Larson. 

“You can just look at his stats in a midget, the past 4-5 years, probably. His average finish has to be like 2-3. It’s crazy how often he wins. I think when it comes to midget, he’s probably the best that I have ever seen.”

For context, Bell is only one of three drivers to have won the Golden Driller, aka Chili Bowl Nationals, thrice. He won the race for three consecutive years, from 2017 through 2019. Ironically, his trophy was taken away by no one else but Mr. Larson, who won the race in 2020 and 2021.

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The two drivers have offered some significant action for all fans and hopefully, they will remain at it in the future.