Kyle Larson reacts to FireKeepers 400 being rescheduled: 'I miss the 1 p.m. start times'

Kyle Larson wants to go back to his rookie days of NASCAR when the races started earlier in the afternoon. After learning that the FireKeepers Casino 400 has been rescheduled to Monday at 11 a.m. ET, Larson went to X to reveal he would love to go back to the 1 p.m. ET start time for races.

“I miss the 1pm start times from my rookie season….” Larson wrote. The FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway was set to begin on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET. The race was delayed due to weather and didn’t start until a little after 5 p.m. After Stage 1, NASCAR waived the red flag due to more rain in the area. It was later announced that the race will continue on Monday at 11 a.m. ET.

Larson was racing well before the red flag came out as he finished 14th after the first stage. And during Stage 2, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion was in seventh place. Larson has already clinched a playoff spot but is looking to win the regular season title since he’s in first place in the Cup Series standings with three races remaining.

Kyle Larson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are on the same page

Larson isn’t the only one to speak out on the later start times. In July, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. said NASCAR should start all their races at 1 p.m. ET like the NFL.

“I’ve always been for 1:00 starts right after the lunch getting the race going,” Earnhardt said. “I feel like people are just coming off of if they’re going to church or just a family lunch or whatever it may be, right after the lunch, BAM! Get the race started. The NFL does it every week,1:00 game, 4:00 game. There’s reasons why the networks run it at 3:00 and 3:30, and there’s good reasons why they do it that way. For me, I prefer the 1:00 starts.”

None of the races this year have a scheduled start at 1 p.m. ET. The earliest a race has started is at 2 p.m. and other races had start times of 2:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 6 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. Once the playoffs begin, all the races will start at other at 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m. or 3 p.m. There one playoff race that will start at 7:30 p.m., and that’s the Bass Pro Shops Night race at Bristol Motor Speedway.