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NASCAR Cup Series 2021 champion Kyle Larson's addition to the sport's 75 greatest drivers list did not come without a surprise for the Elk Grove, California native. The Hendrick Motorsports driver joined the prestigious list of drivers from all eras in the sport. He became the second currently active driver to be featured on the list after Denny Hamlin was added to the same earlier in the week.
Larson's performance at Bristol Motor Speedway during the Food City Dirt Race saw the dirt track racer make contact with Stewart-Haas Racing's Ryan Preece. Kyle Larson was surprised when he received a call from NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton earlier this week. He thought he was going to face consequences for his actions at Bristol.
He elaborated on the comical scare to RACER.com's Kelly Crandall and said:
"I'm like, s**t. It's Thursday, are you guys going to suspend me this late in the week? I was honestly just like speechless because I didn’t really at the time think that I was deserving to be on that list. You think about 75 years. there had to have been more than 75 drivers better than me to this point. So I didn’t really feel like I deserved to be on it.”
Crandall recently tweeted Kyle Larson's reaction ahead of this weekend's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The call from the senior NASCAR executive ultimately saw the Cup Series champion indited into the 75 Greatest Drivers list on the sport's 75th anniversary.
Denny Hamlin had a Kyle Larson-esque scare when he received his nomination to the 75 Greatest Drivers list
Denny Hamlin is yet another driver that has been popular in NASCAR's eyes with respect to penalties. Having been reprimanded for admitting intentional contact with Ross Chastain on his podcast, the #11 Toyota Camry TRD driver was handed a penalty earlier this year.
When Hamlin received a call from Mike Helton informing him of his nomination on the Greatest Drivers list, the Tampa, Florida native was nervous just like Kyle Larson. He elaborated on his feelings and said:
“Oh s**t, here we go again. It was a good call. He said this is a very high honor and I acknowledged it. Hopefully, there’s one more big one we can go.”
Watch Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson battle each other during this Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The race goes live at 3:00 pm ET on FOX Sports.
