Kyle Larson Responds to Dethroning Chase Elliott From NASCAR Merch Sales Leadership Table

2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson has shared his thoughts on becoming the leader in merch ales among the NASCAR racers.

Kyle Larson Responds to Dethroning Chase Elliott From NASCAR Merch Sales Leadership Table

Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson (Via IMAGO)

Hendrick Motorsports’ 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott has been the most popular driver of the sport since 2018, with majority of his supporters being the legacy fans he inherited from his father Bill Elliott. But since joining HMS, the No:5 Chevy driver Kyle Larson has slowly been closing the gap to his teammate in the popularity context.

The latest data from the NASCAR merchandise shows 2021 Cup champion Kyle Larson has overtaken Chase Elliott, showing might have become more popular among some core markets of the sport. Ahead of the Nashville race weekend the HMS driver was asked about toping the leaderboard and he admitted that it’s pretty cool as well as a proud moment.

Yeah, I mean, I think it’s something that is cool. And I’m just going to be proud of it because Chase Elliott is the man when it comes to fans and merch. But [I have] obviously had a couple of years of double and stuff. I think that’s why the merch stuff. But yeah, either way, it’s cool.

Kyle Larson said at Nashville (Via TSJ Sports).

One of the major reasons behind the increase in popularity is Kyle Larson’s ventures into different racing series, such as IndyCar, Sprint car and dirt racing that brining him closer to the fans. At the same time Elliott lives a private life and don’t interact much with the fans other than during the race weekends.

Kyle Larson breaks silence on Scott McLaughlin-Indy 500 controversy

In the same media session, Kyle Larson was asked about his gestures to IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin at the Indy 500. The former made hand gestures that was intended to show his disappointment towards the veteran for an incident early in the race, after a rain delay. This would have affected Larson’s time schedule for the Coca Cola 600.

Scott McLaughlin
Scott McLaughlin (Via drivencarguide.co)

Yeah, yeah, no, I felt really bad, you know, even before I knew that it hit the internet. So, yeah, I was just, you know, I was frustrated because the rain was so light and the delay of, you know, the track drying when it was already dry. It took, whatever it was, 45 minutes…I see somebody crash and so then I just kind of reacted, you know, with more frustration.

Kyle Larson said.

The Chevy star driver admitted that he hates the fact that he let the frustration get the better of him at the situation and wishes for the opportunity to go back in time to fix it, which he can’t. That’s why he called the veteran open wheel racer soon after the event and apologized for the thumbs up gesture.

And, yeah, I shouldn’t have done that. So, you know, I wish, you know, as all of us, everybody here, you know, everybody in life wishes that they could go back and not do something or do something differently. That’s one of those moments for me. And I feel like I’m usually pretty good about…doing gestures and stuff.  But, yeah, I just kind of let my frustration get the best of me there.

Kyle Larson added.

The comments from Kyle Larson shows genuine regret and also shows how much pressure he was in during the double duty, as he wasn’t able to be himself in the car. At the same time such incidents also help to build the personality of his, which is something NASCAR really needs. It would be interesting to see if the gestures from Larson will feature in any of his coming races.

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