12 Questions with Kyle Larson

Jeff Gluck | USA TODAY Sports

Our series of weekly NASCAR driver interviews continues today with Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kyle Larson. NASCAR returns to Auto Club Speedway this weekend, where Larson won the Xfinity Series race last year and then finished second in the Sprint Cup Series race the following day.

Q: If NASCAR allowed you to listen to music while you were racing, would you want to?

A: Not really, but maybe on a long green-flag run where it gets spread out at a 1.5-mile track, or maybe at Daytona or Talladega when you're tore up and running by yourself.

What kind of music would you pick?

Probably just some country music. I like country, and I like some classic rock, too.

Q: Where did your first paycheck come from?

A: Well, I never worked a real job. So probably when I was racing sprint cars, maybe when I was 16. When I was younger than that, they'd just pay me under the table in cash — and it wasn't much. I had to finish top three to get paid, and I didn't do that all the time.

So once you turned 16, the money was enough to appear in a check?

I guess it was probably the end-of-the-year point fund money. That was probably my first.

Q: Who is an autograph you got as a kid that seemed to be a big deal to you at the time?

A: Probably any World of Outlaws driver. When I was younger, I had a checkered flag pillowcase that I would take to get autographed. You know, like Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Mark Kinser, those guys.

Did you sleep on the pillowcase, or was it just decorative?

Oh yeah, I slept on it. For a long time, it was my lucky pillowcase. Heck, I probably used it up until I moved out of my parents' house. I guarantee my mom has it somewhere, although all the autographs are probably faded.

Q: Where's a place you've never been that you'd like to go visit?

A: Maybe Italy. I feel like the food would be really good there, and I like Italian food. I'm sure there are probably lots of other cool things to do there besides eat.

Q: Do people ever accuse you of being addicted to your phone?

A: Yeah, all the time. I used to be good at multi-tasking where I could be on my phone and listen to what my girlfriend Katelyn has to say. But now if she's talking, I have to put my phone down or I don't hear what she's saying. She gets mad about me being on my phone. I just don't hear her talking when I'm on my phone. I'm trying to get better at that.

So you agree that you're addicted to it?

Yeah, I'm pretty addicted. I don't have any games or anything like that. It's mostly flipping through Twitter and Facebook and Instagram.

You don't have any games at all?

Well, there's this one game I play. (Reaches for phone and points to a game called aa.) It gets so frustrating though! I really only play it when I'm on the airplane or something.

PHOTOS: Behind the wheel with Kyle Larson

Q: If a genie promised you a championship in exchange for never being able to do your favorite hobby again, would you accept that offer?

A: Well, my favorite hobby is racing, and I don't know what I would do without my favorite hobby. I wouldn't win any championships or anything. So probably not.

Q: What's your preferred method of dealing with an angry driver after a race?

A: Thankfully, I haven't had too many mad at me yet. I more try and see both sides of the incident. If I'm mad at somebody, I'll try and figure out something maybe I did wrong that made the situation worse than it was.

But I'm too small to be getting into any physical altercations. (Grins) So I'd probably just talk it over with them, whether it's a phone call or text. Like when me and (Ryan) Newman got into it, we just talked on the phone and were all good.

Q: Do you ever get mistaken for another driver or celebrity?

A: I used to get mistaken for Ryan Truex, but now it's kind of the other way. It's nicer that way for me. My first year in the Xfinity Series, I'd get mistaken for him all the time — in the airports, at racetracks, even in my uniform.

Q: If you had a time machine and you could travel to any year and race, where would you go?

A: I would probably go back to the late '90s, early 2000s and go race World of Outlaws with those guys. Just as a kid, it was always exciting to go watch them race and I thought they were the greatest racers ever back then.

I've gotten the opportunity to race with them now, but I think the cars were a little tougher to drive back then, because people had to figure out setups and stuff.

Q: Would you rather have the ability to fly or be invisible?

A: Well, we fly every week. So I'll say invisible.

What would you do with that ability?

I'd probably have Shine (crew chief Chris Heroy) tell me what he wants me to go check out on the No. 4 car (of Kevin Harvick). I'd go walk over there and see what they've got — for every racetrack.

Q: I've been asking each person to give me a question for the next interview. The last interview was with Matt Kenseth, and he wanted to know: "What was the biggest challenge for you in making the transition to stock cars?"

A: Probably to be more patient. In the sprint cars, you have to be so aggressive for 30 or 40 laps. In this, you're still aggressive but you've got to pick and choose your battles throughout a race. If you see a hole, you might just wait for a bigger hole.

I'm still not the greatest at being patient, but I'm getting better at it. Each race, I feel like I'm a little more patient.

Q: And do you have a question I can ask the next driver?

A: Can you get back to me when you know who it is?

Q: Finally, how did this interview go on a scale of 1-10?

A: You know, at Phoenix last year they asked me to rate my car's tightness on a scale of 1-10 and I said, "I'm not good with numbers." So I'll go with that answer for this. (Laughs)

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck