NASHVILLE- One of the perks of winning the NASCAR Cup Series championship is receiving the Champion’s Journal.
Kyle Larson got the small brown leather book from teammate Chase Elliott after winning the title in 2021. The 30-year-old driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com was planning to hand the book off to 2022 champion Joey Logano at some point on Thursday when the 2022 NASCAR Awards take place.
He just had to formally write his entry in.
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"I’ve got really bad handwriting, so I typed it out and I need to run like a rough draft and make sure my handwriting looks good," Larson remarked during a Champion’s Week media availability.
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The tradition was started by Jimmie Johnson at the suggestion of NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton in 2011. The then-five-time champion wanted something special to be shared by the club of NASCAR’s top talents. Johnson went on to win seven championships with Hendrick Motorsports.
"It’s definitely an amazing tradition," Larson said. "I’m glad that Jimmie was able to start it. I’ve gotten to read the nice things that drivers have written to the next champion. It’s pretty cool.
"It is a pretty secretive book. I don’t think anybody really talks about what is written in there but it’s just a lot of respect. It’s cool to read all that and have my piece in there."