Kyle Larson hits out at 'DISGUSTING' NASCAR tradition

Kyle Larson has continued his streak of criticising NASCAR fan favorites this week, taking aim at a new target after claiming Talladega Nights made the sport into 'a joke'.

This time, on the same Julian Edelman podcast which saw him take on the Will Ferrell classic, the No. 5 car driver moved onto a much older NASCAR institution.

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The Martinsville hot dog has been a staple of races at the famous short track for almost as long as NASCAR has been going to the track, with the classic bright red cased dogs covered with onions, coleslaw, mustard and chili – and still just $2, in contrast to concessions pricing at many other tracks.

The hot dog is so intrinsically linked to the track that when the Speedway was sold by Earles family to International Speedway in 2004, former NASCAR chairman and CEO Bill France Jr. raised his hand in the press conference to ask one simple question: “You’re not going to screw up the hot dog, right?”

NASCAR HEADLINES: Kyle Larson claims iconic movie turned the sport into 'a joke'

Larson: I think they're disgusting

Track president Clay Campbell revealed previously that he saw hash marks being etched by crew members onto support beams when the garage stalls were built along the backstretch at the turn of the century, recalling: “I saw those hash marks.

"You got the four and then across; four and then across. Well, what is that? Surely they didn’t use that many tires or whatever. And then I come to find out it was how many hot dogs they had.”

Larson, however, is less of a fan. "Martinsville's known for their hotdogs? I think they're disgusting. I don't know if they color dye them or what, but they're like...red."

The 2021 Cup Series champ had already raised some hackles on social media this week when he said of Talladega Nights: “I liked the movie. I think it did not do anything good for our sport. I think it turned our sport into like a joke, unfortunately.

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

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