Kyle Larson

“I always like going to fancy Italian restaurants.”

“I think every driver wants to make an impact in racing at any division they run on the way up.”

“I know deep down I'm not a racist.”

“I always root for the underdog.”

“In 2017, we won four races and we were a championship favorite. That's something I'm really proud of and something I'm more proud of after spending a year at Hendrick.”

“Elk Grove will always be home.”

“I think in 2012, I ran 28 races in June, so I probably ran 12 or 13 in a row, at least.”

“I love racing with the World of Outlaws.”

“This is something you always dream about, being in this position to win a championship.”

“I was having the time of my life racing, sprint cars and midgets and then dirt late models. I was doing stuff that I always wanted to do - maybe didn't think I'd be doing it at 28 years old - but I did accept it.”

“Now that I'm at Hendrick, it makes me appreciate my years I had at Ganassi even more. We did way more and accomplished way more than we probably should have compared to what resources Hendrick has.”

“I think I feel a car like anybody else can, but maybe what makes me different is that I race so much that I have experience racing with a lot of different crew chiefs. I'm really easy to get along with and me not knowing anything about a race car, I know to just let them do their job.”

“People tell me all the time you have to be mentally tough to win the championship, and I feel like enough people hype it up to where you have to act different come playoff time. But I'm not a tough guy. So I don't know how to be tough. I don't know what I'm 'supposed' to be doing.”

“I would love to run the Indy 500 someday. But I would only want to do it if the right opportunity was out there and I was in a car I felt like was capable of winning with a team and crew that has a history of winning here at the Speedway.”

“I like getting together with friends and just making fun of ourselves and stupid things I've done or I've seen them do - and good races we've had together. When I go home to California, I always talk to my go-kart friends about when we were racing at Red Bluff or Cycleland.”

“I've just got to remind myself that it's hard to express tone and sarcasm and stuff through text.”

“I said a racist word and I can fully understand why people would label me a racist.”

“It's hard to diagnose head injuries in any sport, and nobody knows their own body as well as themselves.”

“We wreck a few times a year, we're not getting hit in the head as much as football players, but concussions still happen in our form of racing.”

“In sprint car wrecks, just slam your head against a table a couple times and that's probably what it feels like. You get whiplash, all that stuff.”