That was the revelation from former World of Outlaws powerhouse turned High Limit Racing co-owner Brad Sweet during this morning’s confirmation of a $100,00-to-win showdown in Perth later this year.
High Limits Racing, a new rival to WOO, will bring head down under for a three-day showcase at Perth Motorplex in late December, which will feature at least six HLR ‘High Rollers’.
Among them will be the likes of Sweet and Rico Abreu, who both raced in Perth last summer, while the headline act is undoubtedly Larson, the NASCAR champion to make his debut in WA.
Like Sweet, Larson is a co-owner of HLR, with a text exchange between the two during Sweet’s West Aussie swing last year setting the wheels in motion for the deal.
“When I went to Perth, it was kind of a no brainer,” said Sweet. “[Motorplex boss] Gavin [Migro] and his crew, they run a first-class operation.
“Kyle actually texted when I was racing there and said, ‘that has got to be our first big event. It’s a no brainer. The track races good, they have a fan base, there’s cars down there, it’s the easiest place for us to launch’.
“Gavin and his team.. it took a while to put all of the pieces together with [broadcaster] Flo and with Perth and with all of us with High Limit, but they were amazing to work with.
“They are excited. Beyond excited. It brings national and worldwide attention that they deserve, because they’ve been working there for 20 years to build the programme that they’ve built.
“They are ecstatic that we get to do this together. It’s elevating them and it’s great for High Limit as well.”
Larson did also tweet his desire to race at Perth Motorplex during the USA vs WA Speedweek late last year.
I think @Paul_Silva57 and I need to make a trip down to Australia next year in the 57….. @PerthMotorplex looks amazing
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) December 27, 2023
The six confirmed High Rollers for Perth this December are Larson, Sweet, Abreu, James McFadden, Cory Eliason and Parker Price-Miller – however Sweet reckons there are more US racers set to follow suit.
He is also predicting an upswing in east coast Aussie talent heading west for the summer.
“There’s many other High limit drivers putting their deals together unconfirmed,” he said.
“I suspect that you’ll see another handful of American drivers, whether they are High Limit or World of Outlaws. And I think you’ll see some Australian drivers that normally wouldn’t race in Perth come from the east coast and race in this event.
“Hopefully we get the mixed bag of drivers that these international events drive, because that’s what is exciting to fans, to see something that’s not standard and normal. That is what an international event is supposed to look like.
“It’s supposed to have a wide variety of talent and different cars and things that are unique to this international series.”