On Wednesday night the CARS Tour will invade North Carolina’s Caraway Speedway for the first of two visits this season. And for the first time, the CARS Tour regulars will have to contend with arguably one of the greatest race car drivers of all time in Kyle Larson.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion will be making his CARS Tour debut in a second JR Motorsports prepared entry. He will be racing as a teammate to defending CARS Tour champion, Carson Kvapil. Larson’s car will look similar to his Hendrick Motorsports Cup car, a No. 5 Chevrolet with sponsorship by HendrickCars.com.

“Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) actually approached me about it during the All-Star weekend at North Wilkesboro,” explained Larson on the High Limit Room podcast on FloRacing. “I thought it would be fun. I think I’ve run a Late Model Stock one other time at Denny’s Short Track Showdown at Richmond.”

Larson’s memory is half-correct there. His Late Model Stock Car experience is definitely limited, but he’s actually made two starts in this type of Late Model. Believe it or not, Larson has a victory in a Late Model Stock Car. His win came in 2013 on the backstretch of Daytona International Speedway in the first year of the UNOH Battle at the Beach. Larson, who was new to pavement short track racing at the time, infamously spun out C.E. Falk on the final corner of the 150-lap race to score the victory. In his second and most recent Late Model Stock Car start, Larson finished 10th in the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at Richmond Raceway in 2013. 

Larson has made one other pavement Late Model start, but that one was in a Super Late Model at New Smyrna Speedway in 2012 where he won the Pete Orr Memorial in a last-lap pass over Ben Kennedy.

Since then, Larson has gone to become almost superhuman behind the wheel of a race car. He’s amassed a NASCAR Cup Series championship, a Kings Royal win, a Knoxville Nationals win, multiple Chili Bowl victories, and much more. In 2024 and 2025, Larson will run the Memorial Day Double by running in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day.

But before he does that, Larson will be in Sophia, North Carolina taking on the Caraway Speedway and the best that the CARS Tour has to offer like Kvapil, Bobby McCarty, Brenden Queen and more. 

Larson said one of the reasons why he wanted to run this race is because he takes a lot of satisfaction in helping local short tracks.

“I obviously like racing on the local level,” said Larson. “I feel like I can have an impact on crowds at the facility and viewership on FloRacing. I hope I can go there and have fun and put on a good show for the fans and compete with all drivers that I haven’t raced with before. I’m looking forward to it.”

Race fans can watch Larson compete against the CARS Tour’s best on Wednesday, June 28 at Sophia, North Carolina’s Caraway Speedway live on FloRacing. Fans can subscribe to FloRacing by clicking here.