CHARLESTON, S.C. — Dylan Simmons couldn’t resist giving Kyle Larson a big hug.
Simmons’ brother had met Larson during the driver’s 2017 visit to Meeting Street Academy. But during the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing driver’s recent visit to the Charleston, South Carolina-based school on Aug. 14, young Simmons had a chance to make his own memory with Larson in his Pre-K class.
“That’s Kyle Larson,” his teacher told Simmons, whose face lit up. “Go give him a hug!”
Simmons marched to Larson and wrapped his arms around him.
“The kid kept saying he loved Kyle Larson,” Larson told NASCAR.com. “So, I thought that was super cool. … He walked over and gave me a hug, which was pretty sweet.
“Getting to do these things now with having my own children, it makes it even more fun than it used to be because now Owen’s getting older and going to start going to kindergarten — he’s in preschool right now,” the father of two said. “Just makes it more enjoyable.”
Larson’s visit to Meeting Street Academy marked his second straight year visiting the school, a charter-type school dedicated to reaching students in under-resourced neighborhoods in the Lowcountry area.
Larson’s sponsor Credit One Bank donated $25,000 to the school, bestowing it during the main presentation, which was also comprised of a question-and-answer session with Larson and students. Children were given the microphone, asking Larson questions about why he chose racing — “Racing is a great sport for short guys,” five-foot-six-inch-tall Larson quipped — and his job in NASCAR. Afterward, students were able to see the No. 42 show car up close, which was decorated with a Meeting Street Academy decal on its side.
MORE: Behind-the-scenes photos from the visit
Larson also visited several classrooms, bringing students copies of “Kyle Loves Racing” — a picture book that he worked on — as well as die-cast cars of the No. 42 Chevrolet.
“Are you as fast as Lightning McQueen?” a student asked.
“Lightning’s probably a little faster than I am, but we try hard to be faster,” Larson replied with a smile.
One of the students showed Larson his die-cast car from the 26-year-old driver’s 2017 visit to the school that he had kept.
“A lot of these kids this year, I recognized them from last year,” Larson said. “… I recognized a lot of their faces. When I would go to the different classrooms, they were really excited to get another toy car because we gave them last year’s car last year. … So, it’s just cool that we get to see them and see how each of them got taller. Kids grow a lot in a year, so that was something I noticed right away. But then there was a new group of kids that were in the kindergarten classes that were definitely excited to see me.”
Accompanying Larson on the visit were members of his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew department, who danced and high-fived the children while the DJ pumped Drake’s hits over the loud speakers during the presentation portion.
“I wasn’t planning on dancing; I didn’t stretch, I didn’t prepare for that and then next thing I know, I’m in the middle,” gasman and pit coach Mike Metcalf joked. “It was the environment, it felt right. The kids, I don’t know how they knew all these songs and dances, but I was just trying to keep up with them.”
Metcalf, along with Marshall McFadden and Shaun Peet, also spoke to the students in a session of their own about perseverance, teamwork and hard work.
“You have to start now,” Metcalf said. “I think it’s too late in life … at 22, 28, try to say ‘OK, now I want to look at what’s it like to be a leader? What’s it like to serve others? What’s it’s like to be efficient in how I operate?’ The sooner that you start this stuff, the better. The more experience that you have, talking about being gritty, talking about perseverance, talking about failing quickly, talking about arriving with the best energy and the best work ethic that you have. … There’s no boundary on that on time or language or culture or anything like that. Those things work all the time.
“So, if we can get kids to do that now at fourth grade, I would love to see what the future would be like for them as they get older.”
As the team’s visit drew to a close, Larson and his crew ran around with the children on the playground in a bit of an impromptu play session during the children’s recess. Several students grabbed Larson’s hands or arms and hung close to his side, while pit crew members pushed other children on the swings. More students chased Larson and played tag and hide-and-go seek.
Several asked if they could work in racing one day, too.
“Getting to get in front of kids at that age and showing them something different that maybe they’ve never had their eyes on or opened to is good because me just going there, bringing our pit crew, it might lead them down a totally different path than what they originally thought they might have wanted to be when they grew up,” Larson said.
“I think it’s really neat and kids just soak up and absorb everything. Just being able to go there and talk about what we do is fun and maybe a handful of them will think it’s really cool and will pursue something in our industry.”
