The hinge of fate turned 60-plus years ago at kindergarten registration in Sacramento, California. And aren’t we so very glad it did.
Mike Larson had no background in racing. He was five years old, and on that fateful day as he prepared to begin his schooling he met another young boy named Tim Green. The two became friends.
A short time later Mike’s father took him to the races at West Capital Speedway in Sacramento. As they made their way into the stands Mike spotted his classmate sitting nearby.
“What are you doing here?” Mike asked his young friend. Tim pointed to a car rolling around the track, a supermodified that carried the lettering, “Leroy Green.”
“That’s my dad’s race car,” Tim said proudly. Mike’s eyes widened as he watched the car roll past. “Hey, why don’t you come over to my house tomorrow and we can look at my dad’s car!” Tim said.
SprintCar and Midget Magazine editor Doug Auld interviews Kyle Larson in 2017. (Doug Auld photo)
The next morning Mike was surprised to discover that the Greens lived only three doors down the street. They spent that day climbing all over Leroy’s race car, brimming with tales of adventure and excitement as only young boys can.
That was the hook. Mike Larson fell in love with racing that day, and for all of his life has been a passionate, enthusiastic zealot of horsepower and motorsports. Tim Green went on to a Hall of Fame career in sprint car racing, and he and Mike continue to enjoy their friendship to this day.
As a young man, Mike met Janet Miyata and asked her for a date. He took her to the race track. They walked up into the stands and sat down, and Mike gestured toward the track and the grounds.
“This is what I do,” he said.
There is nothing like setting things straight at the very beginning.
Janet embraced Mike’s passion for racing, and was soon nearly as enthusiastic as Mike. Their daughter Andrea came along in 1988, followed four years later by the birth of a son.
They named him Kyle.
As a family Mike and Janet and the kids were fully invested in racing, and Mike had Kyle in the seat of an outlaw kart at age seven. The kid showed promise almost from day one, and by his teen-age years was wowing people with his generational skills. He won in USAC competition at age 19 and won with the World of Outlaws sprint cars one year later.
Open wheel people enjoy claiming Kyle Larson as one of their own, and that’s fair. Mike and Janet are sprint car fanatics to their core. Kyle’s gateway to greatness came through midgets and sprint cars. Along the way he proved his ability to win on any day, on any surface, in any type of car.
Dave Argabright and Kyle Larson at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum in 2013. (Doug Auld photo)
At 33 years old he just clinched his second NASCAR Cup title, one of the most elite accomplishments in all motorsports. He is safely in the conversation as one of the best to ever climb into a race car. If his appetite remains strong and he stays healthy he can win at this level for many years to come.
At this moment you could make a strong case that Kyle Larson is the best active racer in America, and maybe beyond.
But it all comes back to destiny. It happened because all those years ago five-year-old Mike Larson and Tim Green connected at kindergarten registration, and a few days later connected again at West Capital Speedway. Without that meeting, without that moment…what if?
Ah, fate. It’s a beautiful thing.
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