Kyle Larson names “most important” rival for Hendrick Motorsports ahead of Martinsville

Hendrick Motorsports Ace Kyle Larson was featured in a Zoom conference with reporters ahead of the final race of the Round of Eight. The Xfinity 500 is scheduled for Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, October 26, 2025, at 2 p.m. During the pre-race interaction, Larson opened up about his most important rival for the 263-mile race.

The 2025 season has only one race left ahead of the Championship Four race at Phoenix. Following that, the HMS driver and Christopher Bell are set for a head-to-head battle. The duo will pay close attention to each other during the 500-lap race to advance to the final race.

Both Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell have secured one win each at the 0.526-mile short track. The #5 Chevy Camaro ZL1 driver won his first and only Martinsville victory in 2023 during the spring race. He qualified 19th and won the race, leading 30 laps. Meanwhile, Bell won during the fall race a few years back in 2022.

Reflecting on the same, the former NASCAR Cup Series champion stated (via Jayski.com):

“I think the 20 (Bell) is the most important car for us on the track—and probably vice-versa. If either one of us outscores the other, we’re guaranteed a spot in the final four, regardless of who else wins. But you don’t want to spend too much focus on him either, but I think the majority of it revolves around Bell."

Christopher Bell sits with a 37-point buffer over the cutoff line ahead of the Martinsville race this weekend. Meanwhile, Kyle Larson ranks one spot behind him with a mere one-point difference. However, the drivers below the elimination line could change the final picture if they won the 500-lap race on Sunday.

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"I definitely idolized kind of those guys and what they did": Kyle Larson got candid about the top drivers on his Mount Rushmore list

NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson sat down with part-time stock car racing driver Corey LaJoie in the Stacking Pennies podcast held ahead of the Charlotte ROVAL race. During the pre-race interaction, Larson got candid about the top drivers on his Mount Rushmore list.

The #5 Chevy driver claimed Jeff Gordon as the first driver on the list. He then named former Cup Series champion Tony Stewart as his second go-to driver. Followed by sprint racing drivers Joey Saldana and Jac Haudenschild. Reflecting on his IndyCar Series career, Larson pointed out that Mario Gabriele Andretti and Rufus Parnell Jones were also on his list.

Following that, Kyle Larson told the part-time Spire Motorsports driver [01:04:00 onward]:

"Yeah. Uh, well, Jeff Gordon was always my guy growing up. Um, so I'm sure I was nervous meeting him... Tony was that guy... But I don't know. I was, I was always, uh, I loved, you know, I liked Joey Saldana, Jac Haudenschild. Um, you know, obviously, um, you know, I knew from an early age like I wanted to be versatile. So, Mario Parnelli, like, I definitely idolized kind of those guys and what they did."

Kyle Larson ranks third in the NASCAR Cup Series points table with 4,106 points to his account. He logged three wins, 20 top tens, 13 top fives, and one pole position in 34 starts this season.