Kyle Larson liked ‘Talladega Nights’ but says NASCAR suffers from it

• NASCAR driver Kyle Larson believes the movie “Talladega Nights” negatively impacted the sport’s image.
• Larson suggests the film turned NASCAR into a joke and shaped public perception.

Well, maybe a “Days of Thunder” sequel would help the cause.

As for now, Kyle Larson thinks too many people associate NASCAR with the 2006 Will Ferrell hit, “Talladega Nights.” 

We’d like to think moviegoers didn’t view it as a documentary on the life of a real NASCAR driver named Ricky Bobby, but then again, some folks used to see Clayton Moore in the streets and think he really was the Lone Ranger.

Hell, Clayton Moore thought he was the Lone Ranger! So maybe Kyle has a point.

His point, by the way, starts out fine enough: “I liked the movie,” he said before offering a however. “I think it did not do anything good for our sport. I think it turned our sport into a joke, unfortunately,.

“That’s gotta be one of the most popular racing movies. … But the rest of the world, I feel like that’s what they think of our sport now.”

He has a point, in a way. Even nearly 20 after the movie’s release, it’s still part of pop culture, as we saw last weekend at the MLB game at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Larson was a guest Tuesday on retired NFL receiver Julian Edelman’s podcast (“Games With Names”) and the wide-ranging interview included talk of racing movies.

Now, about that “Days of Thunder” sequel. Like the rest of us, Larson has heard the chatter about a possible follow-up to that 1990 hit that starred Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle, who was certainly more familiar to race fans than Ricky Bobby.

Unlike the rest of us, Kyle Larson has access to Jeff Gordon, former NASCAR legend and current vice chairman of Larson’s race team, Hendrick Motorsports. And Jeff Gordon has access to longtime friend Tom Cruise.

And according to everything we hear, both Gordon and Cruise are gung-ho for dusting off Cole Trickle’s helmet.

“I hope they do it,” Larson said. 

And for what it’s worth, Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, seconds his opinion of “Talladega Nights.”