Second Thoughts

Larson: Not going to dirt anytime soon

NASCAR driver Kyle Larson said he enjoys racing dirt sprint cars, he is not ready to step away from NASCAR in the near future.
NASCAR driver Kyle Larson said he enjoys racing dirt sprint cars, he is not ready to step away from NASCAR in the near future.

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup driver Kyle Larson spends many of his off days returning to his racing roots, driving dirt sprint cars.

Earlier this week, some fans on Twitter suggested Larson heads to the dirt tracks because of his dislike for NASCAR racing.

Not so fast, said the seemingly always fast racer.

Larson said Friday that he didn't mean to minimize his commitment to NASCAR this week when he expressed his plans to race full-time in the World of Outlaws sprint car series "before I'm 40."

Larson, 25, made the comment on Twitter while responding to a question from the World of Outlaws account, but it sparked immediate online criticism from NASCAR fans. While he has made no secret of his love for dirt tracks and sprint cars, Larson insisted he is dedicated to excelling in NASCAR for Chip Ganassi Racing.

"I think maybe some people aren't quite as open-minded, maybe," Larson said. "It's like they read it as if I said in two years from now, I wanted to do it. I mean, 15 years from now, that would put me 20 years in Cup, so that is a long time. I think Jeff Gordon spent about that much time in the sport, but I don't know.

"Maybe I don't do the best job in the world of talking about how much I love NASCAR as much as I do sprint cars, but I do. I wouldn't be here if I didn't love NASCAR racing."

Larson has five career Cup victories in his fifth full season. While he hasn't won this season for Ganassi, he has three second-place finishes.

Larson also seizes any opportunity to get dirty during breaks in the NASCAR season. With no Cup race last week, Larson participated in five nights of Ohio Sprint Speedweek, winning twice and missing a sixth race only due to rain.

"I enjoy sprint cars, and I feel like I talk about sprint cars a lot just to open people's eyes to that style of racing because it's a great form or racing, and so is NASCAR," said Larson, who will start from the pole for today's Cup race on the road course at Sonoma, Calif. "I just want fans to be fans of motor sports, not just NASCAR, and not just sprint cars. I would like to see everybody just enjoy all of racing. I think that is what I do. Maybe I don't do a good job at it sometimes, but I enjoy racing all types of vehicles. Most fans get it, but some fans aren't quite open-minded enough."

What he said

From Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times:

• Phil Mickelson incurred a two-stroke penalty for hitting a moving ball at the U.S. Open.

"You can hit a moving ball?" asked a Baltimore Oriole.

• The San Francisco Giants have lost nine leads against the Miami Marlins this season. Too bad they're not a football team: They'd never get called for holding.

• Shouted from the gallery at NHL referee Garrett Rank, who was playing in the U.S. Open: "Call more slashing on Pittsburgh!"

• San Francisco Giants closer Hunter Strickland is out 6-8 weeks after breaking his hand punching a door following a blown save.

In other words, his 30th punchout of the season was a costly one.

Sports on 06/24/2018

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