Maybe a bit of an overreaction…
It was quite the weekend for Kyle Larson. The driver of the #5 car for Hendrick Motorsports finished 6th on Saturday in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway, a much-needed good run after wrecks the past two races during the Brickyard 400 and the Iowa Corn 350.
But that wasn’t the only race he ran on Saturday.
Larson is also a prolific dirt track racer and had qualified on the pole for the Knoxville Nationals, the most prestigious sprint car race of the year held annual at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa (not Knoxville, Tennessee). But because of the Cup Series race scheduled for the same night, it looked like Larson was going to have to miss the sprint car race – until the skies opened up in Knoxville and delayed the race.
During the Cup Series race, Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels informed the driver that the Knoxville Nationals were in a rain delay and that the team was working on a plan to get Larson to Iowa – much to his surprise, as he assumed he was going to miss the race:
As fate would have it though, Knoxville was delayed enough that by the time the Cup Series race ended at 10:15 PM ET, the action on the dirt track hadn’t yet restarted – so as soon as Larson hopped out of the #5 car, he was excused from his NASCAR media obligations and headed straight to the airport to get to Iowa.
Larson’s plane was one of the most-tracked in the world on Saturday night, with over 7,000 people tuned in to see whether he would make it to Knoxville in time to race (and they also had the flight tracker on the big screen at the track).
Finally, at around 1:15 AM CT, Larson landed at the nearby Pella where a police escort was waiting to get him to the track.
If you’re lost, here’s a quick breakdown of the timeline:
Once he got to the track, Larson was driven across the backstretch and dropped off directly in the infield, with enough time to even give an interview before getting his fire suit on and strapping into the car.
And as if his day wasn’t already crazy enough, Larson would then go on to WIN the race and take home his 4th Knoxville Nationals win.
It was an incredible feat for one of the greatest race car drivers in the world right now. Obviously everybody was impressed with Larson for not only being able to run both races, but to win at Knoxville in the wee hours of the morning, just hours after stepping out of the Cup Series car after assuming that he would have to miss the race.
Well, ALMOST everybody was impressed with it…
One fan who was at the Knoxville Nationals was apparently upset that Larson was given “special treatment,” i.e. a police escort to the track, in order to make the race on time.
The fan, who says he’s been going to the race since 1985, took to TikTok to voice his displeasure with how it all played out:
“Don’t get me wrong, weather was a problem. But we get a police escort into the race, acting like the president’s coming to the track.”
And he then…took a blowtorch to his collection of Kyle Larson merch:
@user75377733381261
He then posted a follow-up video showing the smoldering ashes of the merch, revealing that some of it had even been purchased by his late daughter. Apparently the sentimental value wasn’t enough to overcome his anger at Larson getting a police escort…
@user75377733381261
Now, if you’re confused at why this guy’s so upset, you’re not alone. As many in the comments pointed out, it wasn’t like he was taking money out of Larson’s pocket by burning the merch. And it was objectively a pretty awesome feat to be able to not only make it halfway across the country but to go on and win the race after having already completed a Cup Series race just a few hours earlier.
I guess not everybody sees it that way though.
