Kyle Larson, a four-time winner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series this season, visited with approximately 400 Delaware high school students today, stressing the importance of hard work, concentration and communication when it comes to his Chip Ganassi Racing team, his time behind the wheel of the No. 42 Chevrolet, and the students’ future careers in the workforce.
The visit to St. Georges Technical High School in Middletown, Del., came less than two weeks before the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to Dover International Speedway for the “Apache Warrior 400 presented by Lucas Oil” on Sunday, Oct. 1 (NBCSN, 2 p.m.). The race will serve as the first elimination race in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Larson is currently second in point standings, 27 behind leader Martin Truex Jr. and eight ahead of Kevin Harvick in third.
Larson’s first stop was an assembly with students from all four New Castle County Vocational-Technical School District schools, including St. Georges, Delcastle Technical High School (Wilmington, Del.), Hodgson Vo-Tech High School (Glasgow, Del.) and Howard High School of Technology (Wilmington, Del.).
The students saw a montage of video clips from some of Larson’s NASCAR victories, highlights from Monster Mile races, and old family photos of Larson, one where he was shown wearing a Jeff Gordon shirt and another posing next to fellow Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Newman back when Larson was in elementary school.
“Jeff Gordon was my favorite driver growing up,” recalled Larson, who has five top-10 finishes in seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Dover International Speedway. “To get to race him, about 20 years later, was an awesome experience.”
During a question-and-answer session with the students, Larson fielded wide-ranging questions about what it is like to crash (“not fun”), when he started racing (7 years old with go-karts, 14 with sprint cars), and how many speeding tickets he has accumulated (“a lot”).
Larson then met with media outlets before he and Chip Ganassi Racing race engineer Jerame Donley answered questions, took photos and signed autographs for dozens of auto technology students in St. Georges’ Technical High School’s spacious 10-bay garage.
“I’m just a racer – I’m not technical at all,” said Larson, the 25-year-old California native. “My father worked hard on the car while I was growing up.
“That shows there are so many job opportunities in NASCAR. There’s the technical side, the marketing side, as well as driving. Hopefully being here encourages some students to do a little more research about potential fields they are interested in.”
The Sept. 29-Oct. 1 NASCAR tripleheader weekend also includes the “National Fallen Firefighters Foundation 125 presented by Carl Deputy And Son Builders” NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race on Friday, Sept. 29 and the “Use Your Melon. Drive Sober 200” NASCAR XFINITY Series playoff race on Saturday, Sept. 30.
For tickets or more information on Monster Mile events, call (800) 441-RACE or visit DoverSpeedway.com. You can also keep up with track activities at Facebook.com/DoverInternationalSpeedway, or on Twitter and Instagram at @MonsterMile.
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