Kyle Larson is just as much of a mere mortal as he appears as an immortal at the wheel of a race car these days.

Mortal in the sense of humanity, that he's not much different than the other 25,000 attendees of Saturday’s Knoxville Nationals. When it comes to deep-seated love for Knoxville Raceway and its grandest event, he’s much like everyone else.

“This is the greatest week of the year for me,” Larson said after winning his second Knoxville Nationals title in three years. “I look forward to it all year long. I have FOMO when the 360 Nationals is going on because I can’t wait to get to this little town and see all my friends, see all the race fans, and get to race on the best surface in the country … in the world.”

Kyle Larson puts the Knoxville Nationals and @knoxvilleraces as a whole into perspective, just how elite the event is and professionalism of the track.

The Nationals keeps growing every year, evidenced by the postrace presser being made public. pic.twitter.com/nMALmv3e0P

— Kyle McFadden (@ByKyleMcFadden) August 13, 2023

Larson speaks for the masses. And when he addressed the masses in the champion’s toast, a Nationals postrace tradition for the winner, Larson revealed more of that mere mortal nature. That public speaking isn’t exactly his strength.

“This is the most awkward part of the week, by the way,” Larson said through a microphone as he stood atop a folding table while holding a mixed drink. “I don’t like being in front of everybody like this.”

On the level of immortality, Saturday’s dominant performance — a race he couldn’t be touched for all 50 laps — really does solidify Larson’s name among Sprint Car racing’s immortals. In the event’s 62-year history, he’s only the eighth driver to have won the prestigious laurels twice.

RELATED: 2023 Knoxville Nationals Results & Blog-Style Recap

Kenny Weld became the first multi-time winner of the Nationals in 1965, then Eddie Leavitt followed in ’76 and Doug Wolfgang in ’78. Steve Kinser won his first two in 1980 and ’81, the front end of 11 titles in a 16-year span at the Nationals.

After 18 years between first-time multi-event winners, Mark Kinser followed the footsteps of cousin Steve to win his second in 1999 before Danny Lasoski claimed his second in 2001. Then came along Donny Schatz, who stormed onto the Knoxville scene winning his first in 2006 and second in ’07 … and third in ’08 … and fourth in ’09 … the beginning of 10 event titles in 12 years.

Sixteen years after Schatz settled into the seat of Knoxville’s throne, Larson’s being exalted to the same royal position. On Saturday he joined Schatz as the only drivers to lead all 50 laps in the Nationals.

“Anytime you can join any list he’s on is special,” Larson said. “To be now only one of two guys to lead all 50 is great. Really, I just wanted to win. I could’ve gotten beat on the start. All I care about is leading the last one. Thankfully we were able to do that. No doubt getting the pole helped me.”

At age 31 with a whole prime ahead of him, is this the cue that Larson’s on the cusp of his own Knoxville dynasty?

“I think what Donny has done over the last couple decades will never be topped,” Larson said, pumping the brakes on those lofty trajectories for now. “To win as often as he did, but not only win … I mean, he’s been on the podium every year but like one, or two, maybe. I don’t think I’ll be able to do that. If I can win some more, that’d be great.”

For the record, Schatz was 32 years old when he captured Nationals No. 2 in 2007. Larson, in that regard, is right on time.

“He obviously has a lot of time left ahead of him,” Schatz said. “We’ll see what happens with it. It’s actually fun to watch. I’ve been a fan of his since he was a little guy.”

Perhaps a little known fact about Larson and Schatz is their connection began in the Knoxville area nearly two decades ago, the year 2004 when Larson was a 12-year-old outlaw kart racer taking in his first Knoxville Nationals.

That year was the first year of English Creek Speedway — now known as Iowa’s premier Outlaw Kart facility — which hosts the Outlaw Dirt Kart Nationals the same week as the Knoxville Nationals. Larson won the 250 and 500 Open Divisions that year and because of those very wins earned his first major sponsorship from ParkerStore, a global network of independently-owned industrial retail operations.

The man behind the terms of that sponsorship is John Strand, a salesman for ParkerStore who also was responsible for the company’s investment into Schatz’s family operation. Larson and Schatz, along with ASCA standout Bob Ream Jr., made up ParkerStore’s racing family.

In 2005, when Larson won the 125 and Open 500 karting divisions the week of the Knoxville Nationals at English Creek Speedway, some people started calling him “Little Donny” or the “ParkerStore kid.” Schatz had been focused on the competition of Steve Kinser, Kraig Kinser and Lasoski, among others, but he was also paying close attention to the 12-year-old, 60-pound kid that his primary partner, ParkerStore, also had invested interest in.

“I remember when he was a kid, coming here to race his cage karts at English Creek,” Schatz said. “And that was a long time ago. He put in his time. He’s done his work. And he’s done a great job. He figures things out. He just does. It’s cool to see.”

Saturday pitted Larson in his element — a blistering pace around the top — and Schatz trying to tap into his wheelhouse along Knoxville’s very bottom. But once the race got going, Schatz quickly realized he was out of place. He couldn’t go to the top shelf because his car didn’t have the gearing ratio to go there.

“Just kept going as hard as I could,” Schatz said. “We had one of them yellows and Kyle went to the bottom, I went to the top. We had a decent run, and I thought maybe, ‘Well, here we go.’ Man, once he got to the top, I couldn’t even see him.”

The bottom is typically where the Nationals is won or lost. It took Larson 10 years — from 2012 to ’21 — to crack the code. He, along with everybody else, have recorded and studied Schatz’s every move, trying to take a page out of his best-selling book.

“Every competitor here has studied this guy a ton, and you see the style of racing change over the last few years as guys have studied,” Larson said. “A lot of people have gotten better on the bottom and even off the bottom, too, and through the middle because of watching him.

“The competition gets elevated each year as guys get better and better. Just fortunate to win another big one and I’d love to go on a tear like Donny. I feel like I’m already too old to ever get to what he’s accomplished here. We’re off to a decent start I guess.”

Whatever Larson has started, Schatz isn’t threatened he has company in the throne room. Actually, he’s fairly supportive of Larson’s dreams.

“Now we expect him to go win the Indy 500 from the pole next year,” Schatz said in Saturday’s postrace press conference opened to the public, which exploded in applause upon those words.

Larson exhibited his duality one final time as he readied to depart Marion County Fairgrounds to catch a flight in the wee hours to Indianapolis to chase the next big thing. First, he was a mere mortal with a platform summing up his love for Knoxville Raceway.

“I do get to compete in a lot of big, massive events. The biggest in our country, some of the biggest in the world,” Larson said. “I would say the staff at Knoxville, they do as good of a job, if not better than a lot of the events I get to compete in as far as building the overall atmosphere.

“When we were doing the four-wide, that was sick. I was watching the big screen and the fireworks going off, the lights flashing, they’ve really invested a lot of money into this facility. And it’s paid off in making the overall event a great experience, for not only the fans, but us competitors, too. Knoxville is the event I look forward to the most.

“There’s maybe one other event next year that I might look forward to a little bit more.”

He means the Indianapolis 500. Escorted by a trio of security guards out of the fairgrounds pavilion and back to his team’s designated pit area, Larson appeared as an immortal in the public eye once more. Kids chased him down Knoxville’s frontstretch. Adults did a lot of the same. Larson had to move with the security guards.

“One of these years we’ll be able to stay,” he told fans before departing.

Larson had a flight to catch to Indianapolis, where in a handful of hours he’d unveil next year’s Indianapolis 500 ride and return to his day job in the NASCAR Cup Series. It's all a part of Larson stepping into his greater destiny.