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NASCAR America: Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi relationship pays dividends

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 - Practice

BROOKLYN, MI - AUGUST 12: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, sits in his car during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 12, 2017 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

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Chip Ganassi and Kyle Larson have a most unique relationship that transcends most other owner-driver unions.

When Larson won the A-Main last Wednesday at the Knoxville Nationals, it put him in the championship race on Saturday.

But Larson admitted a bit of hesitation when it came time to ask Ganassi for permission to fly from Michigan International Speedway after Saturday’s final practice.

As it turned out, Larson finished a career-best second at Knoxville and followed it up with his third consecutive Cup win at MIS.

But there was a point in Sunday’s race that Ganassi started questioning himself for allowing Larson to go to Iowa.

chip ganassi racing

“I was questioning myself in the middle of the race,” Ganassi said. “I was getting ready to take a lot of heat in the media for that, if we didn’t have a good day.

“I don’t want to do something that’ll slow him down, and you run the risk of that when you have a talent like that that wants to go drive other kinds of cars and things.

“I’ve never been a team owner that keeps my drivers from driving other types of cars. You want to do the best you can for the guy all the time and do what you can do.”

In a sense, Larson paid Ganassi back for his faith in him and allowing the Knoxville trip by winning Sunday.

“I think our guys saw the opportunity in front of them with how much exposure I could get if I ran the Knoxville Nationals. I think Chip also understood that,” Larson said. “There’s been so much exposure this week behind me, and to run good at both races will hopefully help us in the search for a replacement sponsor at the end of the year.

NASCAR America analyst Jeff Burton concurred with Ganassi’s ultimate decision.

“I think you have to let him race,” Burton said. “I think that when you have a guy like Kyle Larson’s that’s young, wants to go race other cars and has proven he can do both successfully, I think it’s okay.

“But there will come a time that when it comes to winning a championship, Kyle needs to focus on what he needs to focus on. And if Kyle can do both and that makes him better on Sunday, then it’s all good.

“What Chip has to decide is that what he does on Saturday night help him on a Sunday afternoon. If there’s ever a question that it doesn’t help him, then Saturday nights will cease.

“You have to be successful on Sunday afternoons if you want to continue your career. It hasn’t been a problem yet, but if you start to see a decline and performance and those kinds of things, I think they’ll have to have a conversation.”

On another front, Larson and Ganassi are almost like son and father, rather than driver and owner.

That’s why with such a close relationship, Larson would likely never go anywhere else because Ganassi gives him so much latitude.

But admittedly, even with their relationship, Larson was still a bit nervous when it came time to ask Ganassi if he could race Saturday night in the sprint car main event in the Knoxville Nationals, where he eventually finished a career-best second place.

Ganassi’s reaction when Larson won Sunday was one of the best seen in NASCAR in a long time.

Not only did Ganassi almost choke crew chief Chad Johnston in joy, he practically gave Larson a concussion when he hit him in the head, also in joy, on the front stretch.

Watch our crew’s analysis on that, as well, and their thoughts on where Ganassi’s reaction ranks among other celebrations this season.