Kyle Larson ready to embrace next step in NASCAR - winning

Mike Hembree | Special for USA TODAY Sports

TULSA, Okla. — Barely three weeks old, Owen Larson is crying at the top of his lungs as his parents roll him into the River Spirit Square Expo.

His father, Kyle Larson, reaches into the stroller and lifts Owen into his arms, a new job he slowly is perfecting. It's a new atmosphere for a baby, and Owen is probably the youngest person among about 10,000 in the yawning expanse of one of the nation's biggest clearspan buildings.

He doesn't know it yet, but, while this might be his first rodeo, it certainly won't be his last.

His dad, 22, is one of the stars of the show at the Chili Bowl, the country's biggest Midget race. But his name is bandied about in the grandstands and garage areas as if he might be the next coming of Foyt or Andretti, Petty or Earnhardt.

And he might be.

Kyle Larson is in the birthing years of what many think will be one of the most successful careers in auto racing history. A winner in sprint-car racing at 14 and on an accelerated curve since, Larson carries the unofficial title of Racing's Next Big Thing.

His name is mentioned along with the names of other short-track, dirt-racing superstars, although Larson has yet to put his name on the winners' board for an event that started in 1987. He finished seventh this time around.

Larson's style, his daring, his seemingly natural abilities as a top-flight racer and his early successes at the highest levels of NASCAR have put his name at the top of almost everybody's can't-miss list.

The rich embroidery of commentary surrounding Larson catches the ear.

Keith Kunz, a car owner who brought Larson into sprint car racing at 14: "He's just naturally gifted. He's the type of guy who comes along once in a lifetime. He's as natural as you can get. That's why I say he's a once-in-a-lifetime guy, kind of the A.J. Foyt thing."

Kenny Wallace, NASCAR driver and television commentator: "I truly believe that every 15 years God gives somebody a gift, whether it's in golf with a guy like Tiger Woods or in racing with an A.J. Foyt. Kyle Larson has another one of those gifts. It's just a matter of time before the kid ends up being another Jeff Gordon in NASCAR."

Tony Stewart, a three-time Sprint Cup champion who has excelled in every type of car and form of racing he's tried: "Kyle is me but a better me."

Larson deposited some of the proof last year in his rookie season in Sprint Cup. Some observers were quick to criticize team owner Chip Ganassi for pushing Larson into NASCAR's top series too quickly, but Larson proved more than up to the task, helping to lift one of the sport's second-level teams into the spotlight with numerous dynamic drives.

Larson finished second three times, third twice and fourth once and was among those racing for the final spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup in the regular-season finale at Richmond, Va. He missed the Chase but finished 17th in points.

Looking ahead to his second Cup season and its start next month in Daytona Beach, Fla., Larson – and those in his Ganassi entourage – fully expect race wins and a Chase slot.

He won the series' rookie of the year title, beating Austin Dillon. Dillon, who drives for his grandfather, Richard Childress, in the iconic No. 3 car, had been the preseason favorite of many.

None of this surprised Kunz, a veteran Midwestern racer who has built cars for many short-track greats, including Stewart, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne.

Kunz said he ranks Larson above all of the drivers who've raced for him across the decades -- including Stewart, a two-time Chili Bowl winner and almost universally revered as one of the best all-around racers in history.

"I think Tony worked at it," Kunz said. "Kyle is more natural. He and Tony are very similar because they can do anything. I think if Kyle got in an Indy-car within a race or two he'd be a threat to win. He's just one of those guys – probably the best I've ever seen."

Larson's Midget-car expertise was on full display here. During a heat race, he was caught up in a crash that forced him into a succession of qualifying races to make the final. Larson romped through the "C" race and the "B" race to win both, then took the checkered flag in the "A" race to earn a guaranteed spot in the Chili Bowl final. He finished seventh in the feature race after spinning twice.

"You watch him on track, and you'd think he's been racing 15 years. ... You can't teach a guy that in such a short period of time," said former driver and Chili Bowl promoter Emmett Hahn.

Larson's first teachers were his parents, Mike and Janet. The family lives in Elk Grove, Calif., about 20 miles southeast of Sacramento. Kyle learned to love racing -- specifically sprint car racing -- because his dad is a big fan of that side of motorsports.

That led to Kyle racing go-karts as an 8-year-old. Only six years later, he was running in national Midget and sprint car events -- and winning.

When the Larsons put Kyle in bigger and faster cars against much older competition, heads turned.

"He weighed about 75 pounds," Mike Larson told USA TODAY Sports. "He had a small build -- still does. You could feel the whispers going around. 'Are these people crazy?' But it took only about a month, and he was already showing that he could compete.

"The people at Ganassi called him a freak of nature. That's probably the best way to put it."

He has settled in at the top levels of NASCAR racing and now lives in a new house in Mooresville, N.C., with his long-time girlfriend, Katelyn Sweet, and their son. The town, just north of Charlotte, is a hotbed of families intertwined with the sport.

Larson's bloodlines put him in NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program. It's debatable which party — Larson or NASCAR — got the biggest boost from that arrangement.

Larson's mother is Japanese-American. Her parents, now deceased, were held in an internment camp during World War II. Janet and Mike met in junior high school in Elk Grove and have been a pair since.

The Larsons have come a long way since the four of them – Kyle has an older sister, Andrea – jammed into the family car for trips all over California to go-cart races.

And, with little Owen now along for the ride, there are many more miles to go.

Follow Hembree on Twitter @mikehembree