NASCAR & Auto Racing

A day after big change for Kyle Larson, he’s awarded at NASCAR celebration

By Noel Harris

November 29, 2017 05:06 PM

Kyle Larson drives a practice lap at Daytona International Speedway in June. The Elk Grove native will have Credit One Bank as his main sponsor in 2018 after Target ended its long relationship with Larson’s team, Chip Ganassi Racing.
Kyle Larson drives a practice lap at Daytona International Speedway in June. The Elk Grove native will have Credit One Bank as his main sponsor in 2018 after Target ended its long relationship with Larson’s team, Chip Ganassi Racing. John Raoux The Associated Press
Kyle Larson drives a practice lap at Daytona International Speedway in June. The Elk Grove native will have Credit One Bank as his main sponsor in 2018 after Target ended its long relationship with Larson’s team, Chip Ganassi Racing. John Raoux The Associated Press

Kyle Larson’s title hopes came to a disappointing end in 2017, but he was a winner at NASCAR’s season-ending celebration.

The Elk Grove native was named the Mobil 1 Driver of the Year on Wednesday at the Myers Brothers Awards in Las Vegas. Kyle Busch won the award last year.

Larson’s award, which includes a $100,000 check, comes a day after it was announced Credit One Bank would become his largest sponsor.

“It’s great that Credit One Bank will be expanding their partnership with our team next season,” Larson told NASCAR.com. “It’s been cool to see their excitement and interest in our team and NASCAR grow throughout this year. We’ve had some exciting races with them on board and hopefully there’s more to come next year.”

The bank, which sponsored Larson for 11 of his 36 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races in 2017, takes over for Target. The retailer and Chip Ganassi Racing, the team Larson races for, had a relationship lasting nearly three decades.

It’s unknown how many races Credit One Bank will sponsor Larson for, but it will be on his car for the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s signature race, on Feb. 18.

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