Lost in translation a few weeks ago when Kyle Larson flirted with the World of Outlaws is the passion and enthusiasm he truly has for his current job as driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series.

A subset of the NASCAR fan base seemed to take offense on June 19 when the 25-year-old suggested in a tweet that he wanted to be full time on the premier sprint car tour by his 40th birthday. They took it as a slight against NASCAR or a sign that he was only in it for the money.

That couldn’t be further from the truth, something Larson tried to explain a few days later at Sonoma Raceway when quizzed by the media over the matter.

He said that racing NASCAR until his late 30s or early 40s would put him on par with the likes of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton -- completing a 20-year career at the highest level of the discipline.

But more importantly, the fans who felt Larson was being disrespectful to NASCAR didn’t fully understand how the dirt open-wheeler ended up there in the first place.

He literally chose NASCAR over IndyCar.

Larson’s story has been well-documented over the past decade. He spent his formative years as a Toyota-supported development driver with Keith Kunz Motorsports, once winning all three stages (midgets, sprints, champ car) of the prestigious 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway in a single night.

From there, he pursued rides in both NASCAR and IndyCar, with teams requiring him to bring a check he couldn’t write. It wasn’t until Ganassi expressed interest in Larson that a top-level ride without having to secure funding seemed plausible.

KKM co-owner Pete Willoughby remembers accompanying Larson to Ganassi’s shop in Brownsburg, Indiana, back in 2011 and recalled thinking that Larson made a huge mistake that morning when talking to the team’s managing director Mike Hull -- most known for his IndyCar exploits.

Larson and Willoughby were having a sort of informal interview when Hull asked the young driver if he wanted to race NASCAR or IndyCar.

Without skipping a beat, Larson said, "NASCAR."

Willoughby said he recalled turning red, thinking that Larson had screwed up a possible opportunity when talking to the man who manages Ganassi’s IndyCar empire.

"I was thinking to myself, 'shut up,'" Willoughby said with a laugh during a recent Indiana Midget Week shop visit. "I was like, 'Don't you know what he does here?' This is the man who runs Chip's IndyCar deal. I was so afraid he was going to kick us out on the spot.

However, according to both Willoughby and Larson, Hull simply asked the youngster why he preferred NASCAR to IndyCar.

"Because NASCAR races more and I want to race," Larson replied.

Willoughby says Hull seemed pleased with the response and simply said, "fair enough." The rest, as they say, is history, as Larson eventually signed with Ganassi and became one of the top championship contenders over the past two seasons.

"There was a slight option that we could have gone IndyCar racing together, but I was never in love with the idea," Larson told Autoweek at Daytona. "Growing up in California and then moving to Indiana, I wanted to go sprint car racing. You can ask Keith and Pete: I even made them wait a few weeks before I accepted their offer because I thought we could have gone sprint car racing with a big team that season. But once we started racing USAC, that leads to NASCAR and that's what I've wanted to do since we started in USAC.

"My main goal has always been able to race on a big stage and make a living doing it. I just wanted to race as much as I could. So, yeah, I don't doubt that I said that to Mike. I don't remember his reaction to it or anything like that. I don't know if maybe he couldn't believe I said that or what. But yeah, I wanted to race and I wanted to race in NASCAR."

Now that Larson has made it to NASCAR, he wants to win multiple championships and forge a legacy.

But what exactly went into the self-imposed deadline of 40 years old in that now-infamous tweet? Was it simply a matter of giving himself enough time to accomplish those goals, or is it about transitioning back to dirt before he concludes the prime of his career?

"First of all, it could be 30 or it could be 50, you never know," Larson said. "You look at all the drivers out there, Donny Schatz and Daryn Pittman. Brad Sweet is in his mid-30s.

"So yeah, I feel like you can race well into your 40s and still have a good career in Outlaws and still be in your prime. I feel like even though I win a lot on dirt now, I'm not even at my prime yet. So yeah, I feel like if I started doing that at 40, I could have a long career."

And to those who say Larson is simply in it for the money?

"Look, the money is great," Larson said. "But I wouldn't be here if I didn't love NASCAR and have fun every week. Sprint cars are extremely fun and high horsepower, but I want to be here. The NASCAR lifestyle and the camaraderie you have with the fans is something that is really unique and special.

"The fans who think I don't like this are crazy."

To Larson’s point, he could make a living in the World of Outlaws right now if he wanted to. He doesn’t need his Cup Series contract to bankroll a future on dirt.

Last year, it was revealed that he sold $13,000 in revenue at a single event, which he quipped on Twitter was more than he had made all year to that point in NASCAR sales.

Naturally, that prompted a debate about the merchandising structure in NASCAR, but the point remains that Larson doesn’t need NASCAR. He wants to run NASCAR, win races and, hopefully, a championship.

"I could easily run the World of Outlaws right now and make money," Larson said. "I'm here because I love doing this, and we have goals we're trying to accomplish."

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