Larson reflects on 2nd chance offered by Philly race school
Kyle Larson tried to explain the feeling of his role as the public face of the Urban Youth Racing School when a fan -- one of many -- wanted a second of the 2021 NASCAR’s champion’s time.
“Yo, Kyle, can I steal a selfie,” he asked.
Larson obliged the request and flashed a smile, just a few seconds out of his day, but a moment years in the making as part of his role with the Philly-based program that creates opportunities in racing for minorities.
Larson might seem an unlikely ambassador in the wake of his 2020 suspension for using a slur during an iRacing event that cost him his ride driving for Chip Ganassi. He instead built on his existing relationship with the program and grew it into something deeper: Zoom calls with students, buying race simulators, making personal appearances -- all while mending fences with the Black community and spreading the word of UYRS’ mission statement.
“The journey that he was on was extraordinary,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said. “We asked him to do a series of things, and he did so much more than that. To have the school embrace him like they did, that true love affair that exists between the school and Kyle, I think is amazing.”
Sure enough, take a look at Larson now: Reigning Cup Series champion, wildly popular with grassroots racing fans, a dedicated mentor at UYRS and hey, he even won an ESPY this week for best driver. Of course, Larson wasn’t on hand to accept the award in Los Angeles -- he was out racing Wednesday night on the half-mile dirt track at Port Royal Speedway in Pennsylvania.
The entire Hendrick Motorsports fleet of Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Alex Bowman were among a handful of NASCAR drivers that raced Friday at the UYRS Grand Prix in Philadelphia. The race team with Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon won the fundraising event.
The NASCAR stars teamed with UYRS students and local personalities on a makeshift track on the property of a Philadelphia children’s museum. The race was held on a small slice of city property, but the couple of hundred fans, school buses filled with kids, food trucks and DJ’s cranking out tunes gave the course the party vibe that has made street racing so appealing to NASCAR.
NASCAR announced this week its first street course to the Cup schedule with a planned 2023 race through downtown Chicago. The Cup Series will race July 2 against the backdrop of Lake Michigan and Grant Park as part of a three-year deal with Chicago.
“I think it’s going to be an off-the-charts success,” Phelps said at the Grand Prix. “Could we have other street courses in the future? I certainly wouldn’t rule it out.”
The Grand Prix -- as small as it was -- provided a window into the kind of young, diverse environment NASCAR has strived for under Phelps and the rest of the current leadership group. Though, don’t expect so many fans in Chicago wearing Allen Iverson jerseys.
“Just look at the crowd. We’re a sport every day that gets younger and more diverse,” Phelps said. “That’s exactly what this is. Some of these people are younger. Some are more diverse. But I think it’s just this melting pot of people with everyone feeling welcome.”
Larson hoped the scene was a taste of what NASCAR could become on race weekends.
“I think NASCAR works really hard to try and get to that point,” Larson said. “There’s no reason why not. I think events like this is where it starts. This is probably a lot of people’s first times ever behind the wheel of a go-kart. Should be a good introduction.”
The Urban Youth Racing School was hatched by Philly native Anthony Martin, who left a sports marketing career to pursue his love of racing and mix it with a dream of introducing inner-city kids to NASCAR. The school has served more than 7,500 students from ages 8 to 18 over almost 25 years and teaches all aspects of auto racing, including driving and Black racing history.
Before he made the short trip to Pocono, Larson had to pay back the program that stood by him in 2020 and offered him a very public second chance.
“I’ve been able to give back and support them, as well,” Larson said.
Larson’s redemptive path put the school in the spotlight, fueling UYSR with more determination to graduate students to NASCAR.
“Look around, you’ve got a lot of folks of color here, and that’s what the goal was,” Martin said. “We wanted people to come here and see, here’s the drivers, here what they do, and see it for themselves.”
One thing Larson doesn’t have on his plate is time to dwell on his near miss last year at Pocono Raceway. Larson was about a mile away from winning the race when a blown tire denied him a fourth straight Cup victory.
Bowman won the race last June.
Larson has only one win last season, well off his smashing 2021 season when he won 10 times. Larson does have crew chief Cliff Daniels back from a four-race suspension after the No. 5 Chevrolet lost a wheel at Sonoma Raceway.
“Our car has been fast,” Larson said. “We’ve got to get better on pit road, and get better behind the wheel, too, and hopefully we’ll be in contention more often.”
POCO-NO-GO
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1ng6vVnAolDGpe_anOQ3tmZtlbBeFX6hG
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/16461LVRYWWWOjayJdvhy4Mc_QLauQZLZ
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1bu5HbA_ynQqJae8Y0PsvbMCv9WiW9c8c
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1UGe0IbFAFgu9DXafn_pmwV1hblj1GJoA
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1vNffSg73d_aLQ7skgeDUHqWBZ8hBhpIT
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1bmdgh1QO3FJ2omIIJgslWc7WgkhfwPm7
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1AtXEAkjmxDbsOSfTPPNaiG4fV2GGs3pI
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1EOyidrCvmKP2zeqwvanh0wqzmm03tTVJ
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1-1iP_G2blaoEKFDr-2c5hZbPdDq8cATk
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1VqVEjtlWkC6HsCUxtCiP06l8OZhk5k1i
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/148b2mwHD1NM2qfrgdyZZohq-8163iQkn
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/159KhhNN7wJ__3VvlNNocvo_l_5mAMjtq
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1Js18lPCBNc2eTjfALAgt-oQmfAQ6Y09b
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1P9zOjOq2IGUFFWIgwlL_PGUFwe4Pnocv
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/17xfWoEFeiYJMR9BgD1lamWrscURlJ5qJ
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/16yREn8aOgE3MG0ScVyxeCsCj5MseHhLH
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1c9PAmxuoFnGM1zaVsoMhfqgCQ1pyRIKb
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1nYxRIA_5ec7-c2kKmRE_zaXw_dYP6MlI
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/19dglfW0xunrGA64wtfAixmRKzS7XlDKs
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1gK8rAux1h7SJ_iriXqyowhx7-12BCCa0
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/13BfPxN_q2yKptscmzI7CQvB3Q73DlelD
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1mzNBPVDG4NtgwtO8X2vGK9W7Gh69GfED
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1tvMZ2_9PRZ-S7Uqa8vbhB8pC-pyvi4DR
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1DPaTMSu2EDUVgLR6Drdazb2Uea0EJce2
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/14U989fubbSFaCDhx_-xiKqIvwF1wTmas
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1a_zyVqYvmuA_ObUqDWctx0t80hjYFbLW
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1qv2seh5Cs_U786UfGbYxegPfg-8qUHTV
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1FMLDxSc34FYDYBbvZQ9yi6BRkDrl85RJ
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/10Jt8I0TxMHQh_W9VG8gORXnBnevzKPN0
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/10eoZEH2U5VpoO-cdXwdzrDV2lijUqgW4
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1nA8lRatDYZG1z6WNt6x7UfX8XTXpTxbr
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1S6ueOgXARs67OX-kLSvaRwxqM0QFWxw8
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1Fz3IYFdMykMMrl1XrthJq3P7iTuJTibZ
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1x5c_S54FQvhDD1DTFjI5yxI2SNqtQwR0
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1AlIoK6e9-jvS4o-u3cImoOThMY-lvzEa
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1K-9SdWxeDRGyFTWNbSR1ykAs2BSZfUPw
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1gBhZDor47LdVl75G_G3BdSHXFEPITjIX
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1RqeTMOGYvk94j8idQzKvPUUTCOfTpEbw
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1G0DQoCQFdwKiP6nsciwrgqAjiHghYhp7
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1Ddu0jHtSwYkC86zmEmnsxCtl3uKqMrD8
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1RJv70bN3GxnjiaGrGvnmVq6qqnlppXQr
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1tRIouJNu9bIRnT7zQNM74vnmrXb147dr
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1JxztYUsou5yORHPizhQkuLIfcuAzRafe
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1Xup0bl30qyjnpYcGrmVylILpXEHtV-_C
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/19chQzlvj7j518OMvh2qZPuzFlZXRdxzP
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1ulXgEi1e_Nn-tsa4c6U5eIimXz-qnJJs
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1sIE3AtKWWtQliahryNDgZBqQDcrFz0TJ
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1dPqkyVwPWeJYLmJEGxVmpNBBNngHRnoR
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1utclh6Xi3VrRujrK8xWFYt0Wy2Rn-FMW
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1HOStBGVKpXFzOd_Die_9SJgO0KYaBrqL
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1Hmk8ktJEybXIFVEITSQztph7viRSRDkP
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1f5_enbs_pyt-4FBm89Sndi-HwISR-D5k
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1mtImQWGgZwdAva8GNbRg6QTGQAnYGmag
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1sLcVIgqdLXammtIsfB9PFu2UZIzMwdfM
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1exsVrGOKvf-tgUnkhMsz-2pdA24ossO-
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1Zag9gTmuggM53-fe_R1P9E7WFnks3SGV
https://bloodyhands3.talentlms.com/
https://bloodyhands3.talentlms.com/index
http://phillipsservices.net/UserProfile/tabid/43/userId/158340/Default.aspx
https://datamodelinginstitute.com/community/profile/bloodyhands3/
https://leyes.co/user/3963.htm
https://ourclass.mn.co/posts/larson-reflects-on-2nd-chance-offered-by-philly-race-school
This year is the first time Pocono will not host two Cup events in the same season since 1982. Once a summer stalwart with a pair of 500-mile races on the schedule, Pocono will run a lone 400-miler on Sunday. Pocono had a race moved to World Wide Technology Raceway, nestled just across the Mississippi River from the Gateway Arch and downtown St. Louis.
Phelps said moving one of the races “was not a shot on Pocono” but the series has simply embraced ambitious schedule changes -- like its preseason race on a track inside the Los Angeles Coliseum. But Pocono wasn’t necessarily going away.