“I Had the Nerves!” Kyle Larson Reveals Emotions Seeing Son Owen’s Wins at Tulsa Shootout

Kyle Larson was a proud dad during Tulsa shootout as both his children produced strong runs, expanding the family racing legacy.

“I Had the Nerves!” Kyle Larson Reveals Emotions Seeing Son Owen’s Wins at Tulsa Shootout

Kyle Larson and Owen Larson (Via IMAGO)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

The 2026 Tulsa Shootout was pretty special for the reigning Cup series champion Kyle Larson. He was one of the three Larson that raced in the iconic race weekend, with his son Owen Larson and daughter Audrey Larson making starts in their respective division. Their performance in those events was solid.

Ahead of the main races, Kyle Larson with his children gave an interview to FloRacing and talked about their special weekend. They talked about the challenge the weekend offers and the opportunities that is ahead of them. The Hendrick Motorsport Cup driver also discussed his feelings about watching the kids race.

The two times NASCAR champion admitted that he hates see them dejected or sad after races, like every other parent in the world. But at the same time the moments they win races surviving the disappointments gives him nerves and butterflies he gets when he himself win events. Owen Larson winning a main event heat race was one such moment for him.

You don’t ever wanna see your kid being dejected or sad. But then, seeing Owen yesterday… In the restricted qualifier, he does a super good job. I had the nerves, butterflies, excited feelings, and emotions of my son winning a main event. It’s really cool seeing them do better than I thought they would.

Kyle Larson told FloRacing.

Owen Larson was super nervous about his Tulsa weekend

In the same interview, Owen Larson talked about his feelings ahead of the race week. He admitted that he was super nervous about racing at Tulsa, and the Winged A-Class Heat race was pretty challenging, as he was on pole. The massive competition was another major factor behind him nervousness.

Kyle Larson with his children
Kyle Larson with his children (Via On3.com)

Uh, super nervous…Um, normally when I start first, or the first two rows, I’m normally really nervous…It’s because it’s like the biggest race of my career. And it’s just really hard because all the competition and everybody — they’re all really good. And it’s just really hard to figure out the track when you’re first here. And… you really want to win.

Owen Larson said.

Despite the challenges, the Larson’s has a solid week. Owen secured a P4 finish in then Restricted A-Class Feature (A-Main), starting the race at P3. His best runs came earlier, as he won the Restricted A-Class Qualifier 4 with a “3-to-1” run, won the Winged A-Class Heat pole and finished P3 in the Non-Wing Heat with an impressive charge from the 6th starting spot.

His little sister Audrey Larson, who was the most confident of the three in the interview, was impressive in the weekend with her recently winning her maiden junior box car race giving her the momentum. On her Tulsa debut weekend, she proved herself winning her first career Tulsa Shootout heat race in the Jr. Sprints division.

Kyle Larson also had a similar race week as his children. He competed in the Winged Outlaw A-Main race. The veteran had a strong with a win and P2 in the qualifiers and heat races. In the main event, he wasn’t able to finish better than P4 (starting at P6) after a late race mishap cost the 2025 Golden Drill winner the opportunity to get the bets out this year’s champion Daison Pursley.

Also Read: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Reveals the Physical and Mental Toll of Quitting Smoking