Born on July 31, 1992, in Elk Grove, California, Larson attended his first race with his parents a week after his birth. He began racing at the age of seven in outlaw karts in Northern California. As a teenager, he raced open-wheel cars in the United States Auto Club (USAC) midget, Silver Crown and sprint car categories, competing for Keith Kunz Motorsports and Hoffman Racing with Toyota backing. A series official gave Larson the nickname "Yung Money" in recognition of his talent.
Larson won the 2011 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway, winning in all three types of USAC cars in a single night — only the second driver in history to accomplish the feat. He won two silver crown races that season and was named the 2011 Rookie of the Year. Larson holds the sprint car track record at Ocean Speedway, set in 2010. In 2012, Larson won six USAC National Midget races including the Turkey Night Grand Prix.
Larson was signed for the 2012 season by Earnhardt Ganassi Racing as part of their driver development program. In February 2012, he won his first race in a full-bodied stock car at New Smyrna Speedway. Larson won the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship with two wins and 12 top-tens in 14 races, and was named the K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year.
In February 2013, Larson was announced to compete full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driving the No. 32 Chevrolet for Turner Scott Motorsports. In the season opener at Daytona, Larson was involved in a violent crash on the final lap when his car became airborne and hit a crossover gate, piercing the catch fence and injuring 28 spectators, two critically. Larson was unharmed. He won the 2013 Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Asian-American and first Drive for Diversity participant to win a Rookie of the Year Award in one of NASCAR's national touring series.
On March 22, 2014, Larson scored his first career Nationwide Series win at Auto Club Speedway. He scored his second career Nationwide Series win at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In 2015, he won the season finale at Homestead, the first win for HScott Motorsports. In 2016, Larson scored two Nationwide wins at Pocono and Texas.
In 2022, Larson returned to the Xfinity Series and won at Watkins Glen. In 2023, he won at Darlington after a last-lap pass on John Hunter Nemechek. In 2024, Larson won at Circuit of the Americas on the final lap. In 2025, Larson won at Bristol and substituted for Connor Zilisch at Texas to score his second Xfinity Series win of that season. In 2026, he won at Las Vegas.
On June 28, 2012, Larson made his Camping World Truck Series debut at Kentucky Speedway, finishing 10th. On April 14, 2013, he scored his first Truck Series win at Rockingham Speedway, holding off Joey Logano. During the celebration, Larson performed donuts without his steering wheel attached — a habit from go-kart racing — prompting NASCAR to request he keep it on for safety reasons. Larson scored his second Truck Series win at Eldora Speedway. In 2023, he scored his third career Truck Series win at North Wilkesboro. On March 4, 2025, he won at Homestead driving a No. 07 truck for Spire Motorsports after overcoming a late-race spin.
Larson made his Sprint Cup Series debut on October 1, 2013, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the No. 51 car for Phoenix Racing, finishing 37th due to a blown engine.
For his full rookie season in 2014, Larson drove the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing. He earned the Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year award with 8 top-fives and 17 top-tens. His rookie statistics were noted as better than those of several notable drivers, including Richard Petty and Jeff Gordon.
On August 28, 2016, Larson scored his first Sprint Cup Series win at Michigan, qualifying him for the Chase for the first time. He was eliminated in the Round of 8 after a blown right front tire at Dover.
In 2017, Larson won four races — Auto Club Speedway, Michigan (twice), and Richmond — and reached the Round of 12, but an engine failure at Kansas ended his title run. In 2018, despite being winless, Larson made the playoffs with five second-place finishes, eight top-fives, and 13 top-tens, finishing ninth in points. In 2019, he won the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race and won at Dover, snapping a 75-race winless streak, finishing sixth in points — his career-best at that point.
In 2020, Larson was indefinitely suspended by Chip Ganassi Racing and NASCAR after using a racial slur during an iRacing event on April 12. Multiple corporations including McDonald's, Credit One Bank, and Chevrolet terminated their sponsorships. Larson was fired from CGR and replaced by Matt Kenseth in the No. 42 car. On October 4, Larson published an essay on his website accepting accountability. NASCAR reinstated his competition privileges effective January 1, 2021.
On October 28, 2020, Hendrick Motorsports signed Larson to a multi-year deal for the No. 5 car. The contract included a clause permitting him to continue dirt racing provided the Cup program remained his primary commitment.
Larson won 10 races in 2021, including the Coca-Cola 600, the NASCAR All-Star Race, and his first road course win at Sonoma. His Coca-Cola 600 victory was the 269th career Cup victory for Hendrick Motorsports, surpassing Petty Enterprises for the most Cup victories as a team in NASCAR history. He won at the Charlotte Roval to clinch a Round of 4 berth, becoming the first driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win three different road courses in the same season. At Phoenix, Larson started on the pole and led 107 laps to win his tenth race of the season and claim the championship — the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win 10 races and a championship in the same season. Larson ended the season with 10 wins, 18 stage wins, 20 top-fives, 26 top-tens, 2,581 laps led, and an average finish of 9.1.
Larson scored three wins (Auto Club Speedway, Watkins Glen, Homestead) and signed a multi-year contract extension to remain with HMS through 2026, announced on September 16. He was eliminated in the Round of 12 after finishing 35th at the Charlotte Roval.
Larson won the Southern 500 at Darlington on September 3, which was also the 500th overall win by Hendrick Motorsports' engine department. At the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, he scored his third career All-Star win, tying him with Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon as the only drivers to win the All-Star Race on three different tracks. Larson won at Las Vegas to advance to the Championship 4, but finished third at Phoenix behind Ryan Blaney, who won the 2023 championship.
Larson scored his first win of the season at Las Vegas. At the Kansas spring race, Larson won by 0.001 seconds over Chris Buescher — the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history. His Sonoma win was his 26th career win, tying him with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Fred Lorenzen on the all-time wins list. On July 21, Larson won the Brickyard 400. Larson attempted to run both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, but rain delayed the Indy 500 and he missed the start of the Coke 600, being substituted by Justin Allgaier. He was granted a waiver to maintain playoff eligibility. Larson did not advance to the Championship 4, finishing sixth in points.
Larson scored his 30th career win at Homestead to open the season. He made the Championship 4 after finishing fifth at Martinsville without a playoff win. At Phoenix, a right front tire issue dropped him a lap down, but a lap 221 caution gave him the wave around. Larson restarted fifth and finished third to win his second Cup Series championship.
On February 11, 2026, Larson signed a five-year contract extension to remain with HMS through 2031.
Larson's dirt track career has run parallel to his stock car career throughout. He won the Chili Bowl Nationals in 2020 (over Christopher Bell), 2021, and 2025 (leading flag-to-flag from the pole). He won the Knoxville Nationals in 2021, 2023, and 2024, becoming the eighth multi-time winner and the eighth back-to-back winner of the event. In June 2020, Larson won all six races of Indiana Midget Week in the USAC series and went on to win nine consecutive sprint car features. He won the Pennsylvania Speedweek title with four wins and three podiums and was named the 410 Sprint Car Driver of the Year for 2020.
Larson owned a World of Outlaws sprint car team named Kyle Larson Racing, which fielded a car for Carson Macedo. The team closed following the 2020 season.
On January 12, 2023, it was announced that Larson would attempt to qualify for the 2024 Indianapolis 500 with Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports, aiming to become the fifth driver to attempt the double. At Indianapolis, Larson started fifth, was penalized for speeding on pit lane, and finished 18th, earning 2024 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honours. In 2025, he returned to the Indianapolis 500 with McLaren but crashed on lap 91 in turn two.
On January 4, 2014, Chip Ganassi Racing announced that Larson would enter the 24 Hours of Daytona in the No. 02 car alongside Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, and Marino Franchitti. In 2015, Larson returned with CGR teammates Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, and Jamie McMurray, and the team won the race. In 2016, the same driver lineup encountered brake failures throughout the race.
Larson's mother is Japanese American; her parents spent time in a Japanese internment camp. His wife is Katelyn Sweet, sister of World of Outlaws driver Brad Sweet. Their son Owen Miyata Larson was born on December 22, 2014. Their daughter Audrey Layne Larson was born in 2018. A third child, Cooper Donald Larson, was born on December 31, 2022. Larson made a cameo appearance as a limo driver in the 2017 film Logan Lucky.
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