NASCAR: Kyle Larson still eyeing potential Cup return?
By Asher Fair
With Silly Season heating up for the 2021 season, Kyle Larson reportedly still wants to return to the NASCAR Cup Series as soon as he can.
It’s been more than six and a half months since Kyle Larson last strapped into a car for a NASCAR Cup Series race. Following the fourth race of the 2020 season at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 8, the season was suspended indefinitely as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
About one month into what ended up being a 10-week hiatus, Larson was heard using a racial slur during a virtual NASCAR event on iRacing, which was being live streamed on multiple Twitch channels.
That led to both Chip Ganassi Racing and NASCAR suspending the 28-year-old Elk Grove, California native indefinitely before the former ended up being forced to cut ties with him as a result of all of the sponsors that ended their relationships with him.
As he has stated multiple times before, Larson still reportedly wants to return to NASCAR as soon as he can. That sentiment was reiterated earlier this week.
Kyle Larson "wants to get back [to @NASCAR] as soon as he can," per Anthony Martin, founder of the Urban Youth Racing School, which has worked with Larson for years and helped him with his comeback efforts in recent months.
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) September 23, 2020
➖ NASCAR is also planning to do more with the UYRS. pic.twitter.com/xjGiJH43iT
Larson has yet to apply for reinstatement from NASCAR, but while that remains a talking point for those questioning why he continues to reiterate that he supposedly wants to be back, it is worth noting that there is no point in applying for reinstatement at this point.
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He clearly isn’t coming back in 2020, and he has no need to be reinstated if he doesn’t have a ride lined up.
Given the fact that he will have missed 32 races by the time the 2020 season ends in November, there is no reason to believe that NASCAR wouldn’t be willing to reinstate him once he applies. He completed the required sensitivity training several months ago, and it was an indefinite suspension, not a flat-out ban, that was handed down to him by the sport for his action back on Sunday, April 12.
He has been rumored to join Hendrick Motorsports behind the wheel of the #48 Chevrolet to replace seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, and team owner Rick Hendrick has said that he doesn’t want the announcement of Johnson’s 2021 replacement to come as a distraction while his drivers are still competing for the 2020 championship.
Even if the Hendrick link doesn’t work out, Larson has also been mentioned as a potential candidate to replace Clint Bowyer behind the wheel of the #14 Ford at Stewart-Haas Racing.
Stewart-Haas Racing are known to wait until at least November to confirm their entire driver lineup for the following season, and the #14 Ford is their only car without a confirmed driver for 2021. They have also switched up their lineup after each of the last four seasons, and they have yet to make any changes for next year.
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Larson has racked up dozens upon dozens of dirt track racing victories since he was allowed to return to action several months ago. In fact, he actually ended up returning to racing before the Cup Series returned from its hiatus on Sunday, May 17 at Darlington Raceway.