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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

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  Debate

Debate

Kyle Larson's six-for-six streak—Is he the best sprint car driver of our generation?

What a year it has been for Kyle Larson; He’s enjoyed tremendous success in the Cup Series. Sitting comfortably in the first position, he has bagged four wins, the most by any driver this season. Larson has been extremely consistent, with twelve top 10s and nine top 5s. He even bagged a win in the Xfinity series this year.

Apart from NASCAR, Larson has six consecutive wins in Sprint Car racing, dominating the competition. His latest win came at the chaotic Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway, making him unstoppable.

Kyle Larson bagged his sixth sprint car race of the year

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What is amazing about Larson’s feat is that he is not a full-time racer. He doesn’t play all the Sprint races, however, when he does, it is a display of dominance. He now has six back-to-back sprint car wins. It all started at the Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 where Larson started from the 12th position to go and claim victory. The race was nothing short of a thriller, as at the very last lap Larson took the chequered flag.

This impressive feat was followed by a complete sweep of the Ironman 55, entailing a victory from the 12th starting position. Starting from deep in the field for both races, Larson had to overcome a daunting task: passing 31 cars combined over the 85-lap features, which he did gracefully. Undeterred, Larson continued his dominance at Southern Iowa Speedway, where he showcased exceptional skill by riding the curb to claim victory in the Front Row Challenge from the 13th spot.

Next, Kyle Larson dominated the Knoxville Nationals, securing a victory. His preliminary win earned him pole position for the prestigious race, positioning him as the clear favorite. Larson lived up to the hype, leading every lap (all 50) to claim his third Knoxville Nationals title in four years. After winning that race, Larson had said, “It doesn’t get any bigger than the Knoxville Nationals. It feels great to lead back-to-back 50 lappers from start to finish because the best Sprint Car drivers in the world are lined up behind me.”

Continuing on that high, Kyle Larson joined national dirt Sprint Car drivers at Tulare, where they raced for $25,000. Brad Sweet led the race as it commenced. While Larson, who started in the 5th position, quickly jumped to 4th. With just 10 laps to go in the 35-lap race, Larson and Sweet raced door-to-door exchanging leads. On the very next lap, Larson took the lead and continued to hold it for the next 9 laps. Things did not get comfortable for Larson as the race went into caution with Corey Day having contact with Shane Golobic. However, Larson held his poise, claiming his 6th back-to-back victory.

 

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Kyle Larson's six-for-six streak—Is he the best sprint car driver of our generation?

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Larson shows the true mark of a perfectionist. Post-race, he did not seem satisfied with the 6 back-to-back. He said, “Yeah, I mean it’s nice and too long to get back to this point. I wish we hit this stride a long time ago. We could have won a lot more races this year. It’s great, but my season is coming to an end. Hopefully, we can carry this on in the next year.” Unlike here, Larson was a bit less humble when he recently said he was a better all-round racer than multiple times Formula One champion Max Verstappen. Is he really? To be fair, his wins in multiple formats do show his versatility.

Kyle Larson thinks he is better overall than Max Verstappen

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NASCAR and Formula One are similar, yet incomparable, as both have several elements that set the two motorsports apart. What kind of brings the two sports together is both being motorsports and also the Best Auto Racing Driver ESPY Award, which is an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual from the world of motorsports. While Larson won it in 2022, Max took it for the next two years (2023, 2024).

In a recent interview with Flo Racing, Larson was asked who according to him is the better all-around racer. To which he said, “I know in my mind I am better than him as an all-around driver. There’s no way (Verstappen) can get into a Sprint Car and win the Knoxville Nationals. There’s no way he can go win the Chili Bowl. There’s no way he can go win a Cup race at Bristol.” 

via Reuters

Larson further went on to say that it would be hard for Max to race in NASCAR, but if he gave F1 a shot, he’d probably not struggle as much. He said, “There’s probably no way I can go win a Formula 1 race at Monaco, but I think I’d have a better shot at him (doing what he does than him doing what I do) just because of the car element.”

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Had Larson chosen F1 rather than NASCAR, we might have seen a rivalry between the two there. F1 apart, Larson has proven time and again that no matter what discipline he chooses, he excels at that. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below.

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