Column: Larson can't outrun past, only change conversation

Published Mar. 8, 2021 2:52 p.m. ET

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — He'd had a nice first month at his new job, had

And yet a past mistake remained the dominant narrative of Larson's return to NASCAR.

He wondered via text if a time will ever come when he is mentioned without a reference “about me being indefinitely suspended for the use of a racial slur?”

The truth: Probably not, at least for now.

When Larson showed up for the Daytona 500, it

And when Larson won Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, well, it was his first victory on the long road of redemption that stretches to last Easter when he dropped the n-word during an online race. Every

The rebuilding path involved a personal journey for Larson, whose Japanese grandparents where confined to an internment camp during World War II. Larson, despite his own family experience with racism and at nearly 28 years old, was somehow immune, immature and unaware of racial injustices.

He completed the required NASCAR sensitivity training but went far beyond that. On his own and without attention, Larson

Larson last week launched The Drive for 5 Campaign, a

Even while banished by NASCAR, the community never turned its back on him. Fellow drivers kept him in their circle of friends and

Rick Hendrick believed in Larson,

Hendrick Motorsports is one of NASCAR's elite teams and Larson is considered

Hendrick would run the car out of his own pocket because he figured Larson would win once in Hendrick equipment. People like winners, and if Larson started winning, Hendrick

After Larson climbed from his car Sunday at the finish line, runner-up Brad Keselowski ran across the infield grass and up the track banking to congratulate him.

“I think everybody loves a good redemption story,” Keselowski said later. “He’s fought really hard for his opportunity to come back. I told him I wanted to win the damn race. But if I couldn’t, I’m glad he did. We’ve all been kind of pulling for him.”

When Larson got to victory lane, Bubba Wallace, NASCAR's only Black fulltime driver, was there to shake his hand.

“Told

Bill Lester, once NASCAR's lone Black driver during seven seasons of Truck Series racing, joined Mario

“You

Larson said he “definitely got a little choked up” on the final lap of Sunday's win. He composed himself during his celebratory burnouts and the only emotion he showed when he climbed from the car was joy.

He admitted he didn't know if he'd ever race in NASCAR again, win another race or compete for a championship. And he was beyond grateful to Hendrick for the second chance he's been granted — even if that narrative is not going to go away for a while.

“It’s going to be a stain for a little while,” Anthony Martin, founder of the Urban Youth School in Philadelphia where Larson mentors, said Monday. “But the things we have planned, the things that Kyle has planned for the community... a few years from now, I don’t think it’s going to stay with him because of the good that he’s going to do.”

One win does not wipe the slate clean but it certainly shifts the conversation.

One win is all it took to show that Larson in Hendrick cars can at last be able to reach his full potential. There was no talk of the past in victory lane, only the future.

“Our cars are fast. He’s a champion, really,” said Hendrick. “I’m so lucky to have him.”

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