“He’s in the Conversation”: NASCAR Legend Claims Kyle Larson Is a Contender for ‘Best Driver on Earth,’ Drawing Parallels With AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti

Kyle Larson is already a NASCAR legend in his own right! It’s not an opinion but a fact based on sheer numbers. Winning his first Cup race at Pure Michigan 400 in 2016, Larson has gone on to win 26 Cup races. Later, he went on to win 10 races and the Cup Series Championship in 2021, making him the second person to do so after legend  Jimmie Johnson.

Recently, Kyle Larson became the first driver since Kurt Busch in 2014 to attempt the ‘double duty.’ Although it didn’t go as planned with rain playing spoilsport, the driver certainly fulfilled his dream of completing the Indy 500. Larson, unlike a normal driver, fancies his chances of competing in anything that runs on four wheels. It’s just impressive to see such records from a driver hailing from the modern era of NASCAR racing.

Further validating his success, veterans have already started to utter his name in the debate of the greats. According to NASCAR icon, Rick Mast, the HMS star is destined for greatness, so much so that he even drew him level with the likes of Mario Andretti and AJ Foyt.

Mast thinks Larson can drive any kind of race car

It is indeed tricky to consider factors that identify great race car drivers across generations. For some, it is the sheer number of championships and dominance of a particular racing series. Just like Jimmie Johnson did in NASCAR and Lewis Hamilton did in Formula 1. Both, in their own rights, are greats in their respective sports. But, when it comes to being in the conversation of the greatest race car drivers of all time, it’s purely based on the driver’s compatibility and ability to perform on different racing circuits.

Mario Andretti knows a thing or two about this feeling as he reigns supreme in F1 circuits. And being able to replicate the success in NASCAR as well, winning the crown jewel event of the Daytona 500 in 1967. Similarly, AJ Foyt falls under the same umbrella as he is the only driver to have won the Indy 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Daytona 500, and 24 Hours of Daytona. Kyle Larson has yet to win any major crown jewel racing event apart from NASCAR. But his efforts and drive to excel are enough for Mast to add his name to the prestigious list.

Drawing a similarity between Larson and the two drivers, Rick Mast went on to make a bold statement, cementing the HMS star’s place amongst the best race car drivers in the world. “You know, Kyle Larson to me, and this is a very big statement because I don’t make statements like this; people shouldn’t make these kinds of statements, but he’s in the conversation of AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti as one of the best race car drivers period in any kind of race car,” he said, via Kenny Wallace’s YouTube channel.

The 67-year-old went on to add that, excluding Larson’s foray into different disciplines of racing, he would be ranked among the greatest-ever NASCAR drivers. “Again, we got back to strictly NASCAR; if Kyle wasn’t racing anything but NASCAR, we wouldn’t know how good he is at all this other stuff. He is a prolific winner; he’d definitely be in the top 10 NASCAR drivers that ever was right? Got a ways to go to get all that solidified, but he’s on the path to be spoken of in those terms in my mind.”

Again speaking purely in terms of NASCAR, Larson has found his gear once again as he was back to winning at Sonoma Raceway.

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Kyle Larson retakes his lead in the points standings

Missing out on the Coca-Cola 600 race was seen as a huge blow to Larson’s ambition to contend for the championship this season. With him out of the picture at Charlotte, Denny Hamlin made the most of the opportunity and dethroned the HMS star. Moreover, with the waiver situation, Larson was unable to string a good result at Gateway, and Hamlin once again, with a runner-up finish, was looking like a favorite to win the regular season champion title.

However, any such ideas or plans were put on hold as the #5 team escaped the early chaos at Wine Country and sparked a late charge to bag their third win of the season. By no means was the win a cakewalk for Larson; he had to fight tooth and nail against Martin Truex Jr and Chris Buescher. A brilliant strategy call by his crew chief, Cliff Daniels, paired with Larson’s driver to capitalize on Hamlin’s engine failure certainly did the trick for them.

It might be too early to make any predictions or bets about the championship winner, but Kyle Larson is certainly among the final 4 drivers.