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NASCAR driver Kyle Larson won the opening prelim of the 69th Gold Cup Race of Champions in California to take the top honors for the second time in one week.
The Californian had won the Southern 500 with the NASCAR Cup Series and flew off home to take part in the Gold Cup. Kyle Larson started the race from P6 but took the lead on Lap 22 and drove away to the checkered flag for his 10th career win at the quarter-mile.
As per World of Outlaws, Kyle Larson was ecstatic to be winning in front of his home fans but claimed that he experienced FOMO (fear of missing out) as he could not stay longer for the celebrations and go back to his NASCAR duties. He said:
“Thanks to all the fans. I wish I could stay the rest of the weekend but I got to get to Kansas tomorrow. It’s just great to see the Gold Cup growing again. It’s awesome. I hope to hear about everybody having fun at the glow party… You get a little FOMO."
"You wish you could be at two places at once. It’s tough, but I’m fortunate to be here for Wednesday and Thursday. I wasn’t supposed to run tonight, but things changed with my schedule and was able to stay for tonight.”
Larson also spoke about the importance of Silver Dollar Speedway in his racing career and added:
“I’ll for sure be tuned in on Saturday. This is a race that I grew up coming to for so long. Won my first ever World of Outlaws race at this track in this event. This facility means a lot to me.”
Kyle Larson speaks on hunting down another championship after his first Playoff win
The Californian claimed that winning and starting the playoff stage on a high was gratifying but pointed out that he wasn't necessarily targeting the victory and only wanted a good result.
As per Motorsport.com, Larson said:
“Just to start the playoffs off good, I would have been happy just to get a good solid race in, so to win, it feels obviously better, and I hope that we can just put multiple weeks together like it. But really, I just want to put together solid races from start to finish, get stage points, and then get some good finishes at the end of it.
Kyle Larson had previously won his inaugural series title in 2021 and missed out on advancing to the Championship 4 in 2022.
