Nascar driver and top rookie Kyle Larson is turning heads. He’s an up and coming Asian American driver in a sports dominated by white men, but desperate to diversify its audience and its talent pool, according to the Asian Journal.
“I don’t think there’s another Japanese American in NASCAR so I think it’s pretty cool that I’m the only out there racing. It’s pretty cool. I accept it,” Larson said during a news briefing in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo.
“I’m not really, like, out there to do great being the first Japanese to race,” he added. “It would be really cool if I were to bring in a lot of Asians in NASCAR. Like I said there’s not a lot of them. It would be good for NASCAR and myself to help out the Asian community and get them to the racetrack.”
The Nascar rookie of the year came up just short in winning his first NASCAR race last week in Bristol, TN. This weekend he’ll compete in the Nationwide circuit at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA.
You can read more about NASCAR’s diversity problem and how Larson could be the Jeremy Lin of the racing circuit in the Asian Journal.
