Kyle Larson replaced Juan Pablo Montoya this year in the #42 Chevrolet owned by Chip Ganassi and got into the running for the Rookie of the Year award. Some fans were skeptical of this move when it was announced last August, as Larson had just made his Nationwide Series debut that February, in a race at Daytona that saw him finish in spectacular fashion, airborne against the catchfence. His debut with Ganassi in this year's Daytona 500 was less than spectacular, and at first it looked like Richard Childress's grandson Austin Dillon in the reactivated #3 Chevrolet was the top rookie contender.
But Larson slowly started to prove himself, both in Cup and Nationwide. He got his first Nationwide win in Fontana, California in March. This delighted many fans, since California is Larson's home state. The next day, Larson finished second in the Cup race to Kyle Busch, who has defeated him in a number of races in what will soon be called the Xfinity Series, including two straight spring races at Bristol. Larson then won the 300-mile race the day before the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, and soon he was running in the top-ten in Cup almost every week. Larson finished in the top ten in the first two Chase races in September, at Chicagoland and New Hampshire. He finished the season with a good run at Homestead, after almost winning the Truck and Nationwide races, and ultimately won the Rookie of the Year award over Dillon. Larson has now proved the haters wrong, and now fans are eager to see him take it to the next level in his sophomore Cup season in 2015.
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