One of the NASCAR drivers who doesn’t want a Cup Series race at Eldora is former dirt racer Kyle Larson

You’d think Kyle Larson would be all for a Cup Series race at Eldora Speedway, but you’d be wrong.

A true racer’s racer, Kyle Larson estimates he will compete in nearly 70 different events this year, some of which are on dirt tracks. As a former World of Outlaws competitor and Eldora Dirt Derby winner, that makes sense, and when it comes to the recently hot topic of a potential NASCAR Cup Series race at Eldora, it would also follow that Larson would be all for it.

Uh, not so much.

Larson was one of the many drivers to talk to the NBC Sports crew during the lengthy rain delay for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Asked about a potential Eldora Cup Series race, he simply said he felt that “Cup races belong on asphalt,” which is kind of surprising for a driver with his background.

Yet his stance is at least consistent, as his comments echo the ones he gave during media availability on Friday.

"I wouldn’t like to see Cup on dirt. To me, Cup belongs on pavement and real road course tracks."

He also weighed in back in 2016, when he cautioned that expanding the number of national NASCAR series races on dirt could ruin what makes the Eldora Dirt Derby special.

"There are a lot of other dirt tracks that have nice facilities, just like Eldora does. But I think if you get too many of them on the schedule, it takes away from how special they are. Or at least this event. If it happened to just stay Eldora (as) for the only dirt race on the schedule, I think it would be cool also."

What’s kind of unsaid in all this discussion is that Larson would quite possibly have an advantage over drivers without much experience on dirt if Eldora was added to the Cup Series schedule. It’s big of him not to want to lean on that even though it would undoubtedly work to his benefit.

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He also joked that Tony Stewart, who owns Eldora Speedway, and a few other people might be upset with him for his views. Regardless, in an era when NASCAR Cup Series stars are often criticized for sticking to the company line, Larson makes no bones about holding a contrary view on a subject where the other opinion seems to be gaining steam, and we should all thank him for that.