While Kyle Larson is typically mild-mannered in his delivery, he’s never shy about giving his opinion on a wide range of topics, which made him the perfect guest on Julian Edelman’s Games With Names Podcast.
The former NFL Super Bowl champion Wide Receiver and his staff had an expansive chat with Larson, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, who won the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship, during the 2-plus-hour show, which dropped this week.
Among the topics brought up in the conversation was racing movies. Larson was asked about the 2006 Will Ferrell comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Larson had a hot take on the film in response to the line of questioning.
“I like the movie. I think it did not do anything good for our sport. I think it turned our sport into like a joke, unfortunately,” Larson explained. “It is, I mean, that has to be one of the most popular movies.”
Larson continued, “But I feel like the rest of the world, that’s what they think about our sport, now.”
While Talladega Nights did highlight quite a few unfavorable stereotypes of NASCAR, viewers went into the movie knowing they were in store to watch a comedy. At the end of the day, a lot of new people were introduced to the sport of NASCAR through the movie being released worldwide.
As far as what racing movies are Larson’s favorites, he has a couple.
“Days of Thunder,” Larson stated emphatically. “Yeah, Days of Thunder. Senna is a great movie, like the documentary one of Aryton Senna from Formula 1, it’s really good.”
Days of Thunder, which was released in United States movie theatres in 1990, has been a movie that has been surrounded by rumors for years about a potential reboot or a sequel. The rumors only received more fuel following the recent release of F1, starring Brad Pitt.
According to Larson, there could be some major truth to the rumors of a Days of Thunder revival.
“I was with Jeff Gordon the other night, and he’s good friends with Tom [Cruise], and he went to whatever the premiere or whatever of Mission Impossible. And he was like, ‘Yeah, right when I seen Tom, he was like, ‘We’re doing it, we’ve got to do another Days of Thunder.” So, yeah, I hope they do it,” Larson said.
If a second Days of Thunder movie does come to fruition, count Larson as one of the drivers who would like to make a cameo in the film.
“I would absolutely be in it,” Larson stated. “I would like to be in it.”
Larson also had some hot takes pertaining to food offerings at or around tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. And in doing so, Larson cast his vote in the longstanding debate of which state produces the best barbecue. According to Larson, a native of California, the Lone Star State is the leader in the clubhouse.
“The best barbecue would be Texas, I think, in my opinion,” Larson said. “Kansas City probably as well, but my favorite barbecue is when we go to Texas is called Hard-Eight Barbecue, I think. It’s like 15 minutes from the track, it’s really good.”
Larson then launched off the top rope and slammed his elbow into the chests of NASCAR fans with his opinion of a $2 legendary track concession item.
“I would say for like track-specific foods, like Martinsville is known for their hotdogs. I think they’re disgusting,” Larson noted. “They’re like, I don’t know if they have color dye in them or what, but they’re like red.”
The Martinsville Hotdog has been a staple in the NASCAR culinary world for years, and each year, drivers and crew members compete amongst themselves to see who can rack up eating the most of them throughout a given race weekend. Apparently, Larson is not a part of that at all as he feels the bright pink hot dogs are disgusting.
For those, who haven’t experienced Larson’s interview on the Games With Names Podcast, here is a video of the entire episode:
