Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Kyle Larson wanting to 'embarrass' Xfinity Series field, NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a two-time Xfinity Series champion as a driver and four-time champion as the owner of JR Motorsports. The NASCAR Hall of Famer is passionate about the series and so you knew he would address Kyle Larson‘s controversial comments from earlier in the week.

Following his double victory in Xfinity and Cup Series competition this past weekend at Bristol, Larson spoke with FOX Sports analyst Kevin Harvick. Larson said his main motivation in racing in Xfinity is to embarrass the competition, as well as NASCAR. Earnhardt responded to Larson’s comments on the “Dale Jr. Download.” Earnhardt understood what Larson was getting at when he said that the younger drivers needed to see what the standard is. Mark Martin was once that guy, and now, it’s Larson.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. responds to Kyle Larson’s controversial comments

“The first thing he said, I didn’t like. He said he wanted to embarrass the field, and he wanted to embarrass NASCAR, and he was not happy that they limit the races the Cup guys can run. The rest of the point he made was valid,” Earnhardt said. “He’s basically saying that these kids that are in there think they’re better than they are and I like to go in there and show them where the standard is or what they might be up against if they were to ever get to the Cup level and they need to know that now. They need to know how much harder they need to work. I get that, Mark Martin was that guy for years.

“He was the guy that would show up and you’re like, ‘Sh*t, nearly impossible to beat.’ Damn, he pushed you. Pushed us all to try harder. We would not have raised our game if he had not showed up. Kyle Busch did that. [He] would show up and take the money. It was frustrating because racing against Kyle Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing, you’re racing against not only an elite driver, but elite equipment. … When he showed up and was going to run first, he knocked everybody in the field down a notch. When you do that a lot throughout the year, that adds up financially for those teams.”

There was a time when some of the Cup Series’ best drivers would compete in Xfinity races on the same weekend. Busch, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and others frequently did it. The problem? Those drivers were winning too much.

NASCAR has since limited Cup participation. Cup drivers with more than three years of full-time experience are limited to a maximum of five Xfinity and five Truck Series starts per season. The final eight races of the season — the playoffs and regular season finale — are off limits to Cup drivers.

Kyle Larson flexes, reveals reason for racing in Xfinity Series is to ’embarrass’ drivers and NASCAR

Larson has an issue with that rule: “In Xfinity, I do get motivated, and this is going to come across like very cocky, but I want to embarrass them, honestly. I want to embarrass NASCAR a little bit because they just don’t let Cup guys run anymore, and the kids probably think they’re in a good spot and they don’t know where the bar really is at.

“So, I like to go run those Xfinity races and just get 10-second leads to let them realize that they’ve got a lot of room to improve. I think that’s only better for our sport. When those young guys can compete with Cup guys, they’re better suited for the Cup Series once they get there. … I want to smash the field when I run Xfinity. That’s motivating to me, for sure.”

Earnhardt doesn’t know if five is the right number. For Larson, that number is actually two. He isn’t scheduled to run again this year in Xfinity. Earnhardt wishes he would run more this season.

“I think that has served a good purpose. Is it the right number? I don’t know about that,” Earnhardt said. “Kyle Larson’s complaining that it’s not. But he’s only running two and he only ran the two tracks that he’s really, really good at, Bristol and Homestead. He picked Homestead and Bristol because he knew those two would be a great shot at winning and he wanted to win two triples this year so he could tie Kyle Busch. And then he doesn’t have another race on the schedule. Gets out and goes, ‘I embarrassed them, I embarrass them every time I drive.’

“You know, I wish he would sign up for some more races now. Because I know one race team, one owner and 160 employees that would love another shot. … He can expect that to absolutely nerf the other teams and our team. We have a relationship with them [Hendrick Motorsports]. We share information with them. They’re in our meetings and they take all the information we have and then they put it in his car. And he goes out there and runs good. It was just odd.”