Larson says Rico Abreu can be a Cup driver within the next few years

Kyle Larson was just competing in the Chili Bowl, will be on the grid for the Daytona 500 next month, but this weekend, he's going to take part in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. To say that he is a versatile racer would be an understatement.

I definitely think he will be a Cup driver here in a couple years.

Kyle Larson on Rico Abreu 

Besides being the talented driver he is, Larson is also good friends with recently crowned Chili Bowl champion Rico Abreu, who is the newest sensation to rock the NASCAR world, even though he's never even competed in a single race ... yet.

Rico Abreu ... A NASCAR star in the making?

"I've known Rico for probably six years now and we've been best friends since the day we met really."

"He's obviously got a lot of talent and he's an inspiration to so many people so I think he'll be a perfect fit for NASCAR," Larson said of Abreu to Motorsport.com. "I think he'll do a great job. I'm excited to see what he can do (at New Smyrna in stock car debut) and I definitely think he will be a Cup driver here in a couple years."

His car will roll off third for this race, directly behind the sister No. 01 car. Outside of Michael Shank Racing, Ganassi and Action Express are the only teams to have shown consistently that they have the pace to run up front.

Ganassi DPs have more speed in 2015

"We have a lot more speed this year than we did last year," said Larson. "It's exciting for all us drivers and Chip (Ganassi) and the engineers but it's a long race and anything can happen. We qualified third so we'll have a good starting spot for a long race."

"Last year, this race was their first with Ford and I think just having that first full year with it helped when we got back to this race now," Larson explained to Motorsport.com in regards to why Ganassi looks faster this January.

Indy 500 dream

One recurring topic with Kyle is the Indy 500 and more specifically, when is he going to attempt it. Larson has no updates on that dream, but assures his desire to do it is still very real.

"I definitely want to run that race and I'm still young, so plenty of time to do it, but yes, I want to make sure I get there one day."