Few people in the world of motorsports know what it’s like to show up in a different league and own the competition better than Shane Van Gisbergen. After all, the V8 Supercars legend won on his NASCAR debut in 2023, a feat only achieved by seven other drivers. Kyle Larson has tried his luck in major events outside of NASCAR. Notably, he ran two Indy 500s and hoped to run the Adelaide 500, but neither did he have luck with the IndyCar, nor did he get to race in Gisbergen’s old stomping grounds.
Kyle Larson explains why he didn’t race in the Adelaide 500 in 2025
The Adelaide 500 is a prestigious race and takes place during the last weekend of November – usually a few weeks after the NASCAR finale. This meant Kyle Larson could have competed in the race, but he decided against doing it.
During a conversation with Kevin Harvick and Will Buxton recently, Kyle Larson opened up on why he decided to let go of the Adelaide 500 despite previously showing a desire to race there.
“I was just like, ‘Man, I’m burned out right now. I need to focus on my family and just kind of recharge and not go straight into the offseason of being in Australia for three weeks, come home for a week, go back to Australia to race car.’ So, I ended up not doing the Adelaide thing,” he explained.
Having said that, he claimed he’d be open to doing something like the Adelaide 500 in the future when his racing career ‘slows down,’ and he’s not a full-time Cup driver.
Shane Van Gisbergen won three Supercars Championships in his career, and the shift to NASCAR has been seamless so far. Larson would want to repeat SVG’s brilliance in two different series. However, being a full-time Cup Series driver and juggling that with his son’s racing schedule has made it tough for Larson.
“I’d like to run a Supercar, in particular in Adelaide. It’s their finale; they have a sprint car track in the city as well, so I could do both. I would like to do that. There’s been some conversations. We’ll see where it goes,” he claimed.
Unfortunately for Larson, he was not able to bring home an impressive result in his second Indy 500 stint. He finished 24th, which was worse than his 18th-place finish in 2024. However, the Hendrick Motorsports driver did finish the Cup season with a championship, the second of his career.
While there is no doubt about his passion for racing, it is equally important for the driver to devote time to his family, which is one of the reasons he has had to make tough decisions.
Larson isn’t good at balancing his life and work
In terms of total race appearances in a year, Kyle Larson could be in contention for the busiest racecar driver in the world. Along with being a full-time Cup driver, he also owns and races in the High Limit Series, in dirt races and events like the Chili Bowl, in crown jewel races like the Indy 500, and more.
Therefore, for someone like him, it is important to have a balance between work and his personal life. However, Larson admitted he lacks in that respect, because of which he decided to make a major decision about his racing.
“I think for me, and probably for any athlete, I don’t know if you ever really figure out the right way to balance your life. I think that’s why this year I’m trying to cut back my racing a little bit,” said Larson. “So I can be there for more activities for them, and then we’ll assess kind of how it went, and maybe, maybe I still will have room to race more next year or even less,” he claimed in conversation with Harvick and Buxton.
Aged 33, he still has a few years left in him and could compete in a lot of races before he decides to call it a day. There is no need to exhaust himself by racing throughout the calendar, an approach Larson already seems to be taking.
