Kyle Larson Blames Talladega Nights For Making NASCAR a ‘Joke’

NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson thinks the 2006 comedy movie, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, made the sport look like a joke. Although Larson admitted that he liked the movie, he believes it didn’t do much good for NASCAR.

Larson’s comments arrive amid reports of a Days of Thunder sequel in the pipeline that could help boost NASCAR’s popularity. The sport has been adopting several measures to increase fan interest following a reported slump in the sport’s following.

NASCAR enjoyed immense popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s, which began to fade after the economic crisis in 2008. In the recent past, NASCAR collaborated with Netflix for two seasons of the NASCAR: Full Speed docuseries, seasons 1 and 2, as an attempt to increase fan following. The introduction of the Chicago street race is also said to have popularized the sport.

Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, gave his opinion about the Talladega Nights movie, arguing that it worked against NASCAR rather than introducing the sport to new fan bases. Speaking on the Games With Names podcast, co-host Sam Morrill asked Larson if drivers liked Talladega Nights and if they found it funny or dumb. Larson said:

“I mean I like the movie. I think it did not do anything good for our sport. I think it turned our sport into like a joke, unfortunately.”

Larson also opened up about the possibility of a Days of Thunder sequel being produced, especially considering Hendrick Motorsports chairman Jeff Gordon’s keen interest, and his friendship with Tom Cruise. Larson added:

“I was with Jeff Gordon the other night and he’s good friends with Tom and he went to whatever the premiere or whatever of Mission Impossible. He’s like, When I saw Tom, he’s like, ‘We’re doing it. We got to do another Days of Thunder.’ I hope they do it.”

When asked if he would do a cameo, Larson said with a smile:

“I would absolutely be in it. I would like to be in it.”

Back in June Gordon revealed a confirmation from Cruise that a Days of Thunder sequel was coming. He said:

“Let’s do Days of Thunder 2, I am all for that. Tom Cruise has told me it’s gonna happen, so let’s make it happen. I can’t go back to driving, I am too old for that, so gonna have to be one of our four or all four of our Hendrick drivers, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, William Byron. When I came into NASCAR, Days of Thunder had just come out. It played a huge role in the growth of NASCAR. So let’s bring it back.”

Co-producer of the F1 movie, Jerry Bruckheimer, recently confirmed that a sequel to the Days of Thunder is being worked on. When he was asked if he was going to collaborate with Cruise for the movie, he said:

“Well, there’s always new technologies. There’s always new ways to do things and to see things, and Tom is such a great individual – comes up with phenomenal ideas. So we’ll have something really exciting for an audience once we pull it together.”