Kyle Larson will be behind the wheel of his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond. Two days prior, the two-time and defending Cup Series champion will compete in a preliminary race at the Knoxville Nationals.
The Knoxville Nationals, held in Knoxville, Iowa, is the largest and most prestigious event in sprint car racing. Larson is an avid sprint car racer and has three career victories in the Knoxville Nationals (2021, 2023, 2024).
While the Hendrick Motorsports star will be competing in the preliminaries on Thursday, August 13, he will not compete in Saturday’s main event as it conflicts with his Cup Series priorities.
Despite not getting to compete in the prestigious event, Larson did not seem to mind when asked about it at Iowa this past weekend.
Larson on missing Knoxville Nationals: ‘It’s not a big deal’
Larson’s comments about missing this year’s Knoxville Nationals was brought to light by Jeff Gluck of The Athletic on X. The 34-year-old was questioned about why he was entered for Thursday’s prelim race but not Saturday’s main event.
“Just to race. I mean, yeah, I guess if there was weather, it would help us,” Larson said.
Gluck suggested to Larson that it would be a miracle for him to make both races with the Knoxville Nationals taking place in Iowa, while the Cup Series race at Richmond goes down in Virginia.
Larson acknowledged that it would be impossible given both races are set to start around the same time. Yet, the 32-time Cup Series winner said if weather could hinder the start time of either event, it could be plausible.
However, Larson said the weather looks intact.
“They’d be racing at the same time, right? So yeah, I can’t be in two places at once. We’d obviously need rain at one of the places, but the weather looks good so far. It’s not a big deal,” Larson said.
Larson was asked if he was bothered by the fact NASCAR will be going head-to-head with “The Grandaddy of Them All,” the nickname for the Knoxville Nationals.
The California native said he has been fortunate to get away with running the race when it fell on a Sunday NASCAR race weekend. Unfortunately for Larson, it was not the case this year and expects to be in a similar position next year.
“It kinda is what it is. I don’t control the schedule. I’ve gotten lucky that it’s fallen on Sunday races forever. It just hasn’t worked out this year and potentially next year, but yeah, that’s fine,” Larson said.
Larson aims to end winless drought at Richmond
It has been 47 races since Larson has been to victory lane in the Cup Series. While he ended the 2025 campaign as the champion, the HMS driver has not won a Cup race since May 2025 at Kansas Speedway.
Larson is a two-time Richmond winner, with his last victory coming in April 2023. The champion driver will look to end what has been a massive slump in recent weeks as he has finished 30th or worse in three of the last four races.
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