“This is going to come across like very cocky.” At least Kyle Larson was heavily self-aware of the waves his Bristol comments would cause in the community. After losing his weekend sweep with a second-place finish in Trucks, the Hendrick Motorsports star nevertheless went on a thumping rage. He combined to lead 687 of 800 possible laps in Xfinity and Cup. Aside from his dominance, what stood out was his jeering comments towards Denny Hamlin and the entire Xfinity field.
Dale Earnhardt Jr, whose team fetched the 2024 Xfinity Series championship, raised his eyebrows. The primary reason why the veteran did not take JR Motorsports into the Cup Series until the 2025 Daytona 500 was finances. And according to Dale Jr, Kyle Larson is missing out on that crucial factor.
Is Kyle Larson invading Xfinity?
Well, the golden boy intends to do that, as he boldly declared. Kyle Larson said he wants “to embarrass” the Xfinity Series racers and “smash the field.” He justified his mission with yet another cocky statement: “I like to go run those Xfinity races and get 10-second leads to let them realize that they’ve got a lot of room to improve.” While the 2021 Cup Series champion may be throwing a big challenge to his Xfinity rivals, he is overlooking one factor. NASCAR’s Bristol purses demonstrated the age-old jaw-dropping disparity between Cup and Xfinity. While the Cup purse crossed $11 Million, the Xfinity purse was barely above $1.5 Million. Larson bagged hefty portions of both purses – and you can imagine the scraps that Xfinity drivers got in comparison to their Cup neighbors.
That is what concerned Dale Earnhardt Jr most about Kyle Larson’s daring comments. In a recent Dale Jr Download episode, he acknowledged the stark disparity in finances between Cup and Xfinity. If stars like Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, and Joey Logano came to Xfinity to dominate, then their peers’ coffers would run dry. Dale Jr said, “I would also argue that it’s not a good business model for teams that are trying to compete in the series and trying to make a living doing it…If Hendrick, Joe Gibbs, Penske – any of those top Cup teams fill one or two Xfinity cars with a Cup driver on a very regular basis, you’re talking about maybe on an average 5 or 6 spots less of purse money that all of the other regular teams are going to have to miss, right? …That really adds up. It would affect everything.”
The veteran also recounted the old days when Cup drivers could take up unlimited schedules in Xfinity. That is how Kyle Busch still leads both Xfinity and Trucks in wins. Dale Jr said, “When I came into the Xfinity Series, you’d go to Charlotte and there’d be 25 Cup guys. 60 cars trying to qualify for the race. It was insane. There’s still 36 to 40 Xfinity regulars. If they were to open up the floodgates and say, ‘Hey guys, run as much as you want. We might get back to 15-20 guys showing up for some of the marquee events throughout the year.”
However, Dale Earnhardt Jr also added, “I don’t know if that’s better.” A brief demonstration of Dale Jr’s concerns lies in the Ambetter Health 400 purse – it was over $11 Million. In contrast, the Xfinity purse for Atlanta was only $1.6 Million. Atlanta Cup winner Christopher Bell accrued around 1 million dollars of prize money. That is more than what half of the Xfinity Series field received.
Clearly, the JR Motorsports team owner is critically dissecting Kyle Larson‘s comments. However, the Xfinity Series also has its ways of coping with the financial gap.
Small incentives for the drivers
Well, the Xfinity Series has had a program of incentives since 2009. The Dash 4 Cash is a midseason program that rewards drivers for performing well during a select stretch of four races. Last weekend’s Bristol Motor Speedway witnessed Justin Allgaier cashing out his second $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize during the 2025 program. The other eligible drivers were Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed, and Brennan Poole. By the end, Allgaier was just battling with Hill as both Creed and Poole encountered a major impact that dramatically ended their race. Ultimately, Hill also fell a lap down during the race and Allgaier just had to battle his teammates Carson Kvapil and Sammy Smith in the top-five.
After winning the Dash 4 Cash prize, Justin Allgaier reflected on the importance of the bonus. “Getting the Dash 4 Cash and what Xfinity does for this series is really a big deal. To be able to get the Dash 4 Cash was important. We’ll go back to the drawing board — figure out what we can do better when we come back here in the fall and hopefully win ourselves one.” Allgaier clinched his first $100,000 check at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He could not harness the same luck in Martinsville, where Austin Hill snuck past him in the final corner to win the purse.
Nevertheless, the Dash 4 Cash bonus remains reserved for the cream of the Xfinity field. That means Dale Earnhardt Jr’s concerns about Kyle Larson ’embarrassing’ the field remain intact. Let us see how the HMS driver goes about his ‘cocky’ claims in the upcoming races.
The post “It Would Affect Everything” – Kyle Larson’s Arrogance Could Ruin the Future of NASCAR Teams Claims Owner Dale Earnhardt Jr appeared first on EssentiallySports.
