What a year it has been for Kyle Larson; He’s found tremendous success in the Cup Series. Sitting comfortably in first place, he has bagged four wins, the most by any driver this season. Larson has been extremely steady, 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 field. His latest win came at the chaotic Tulare Thunder bowl Raceway, making him unbeatable.
Kyle Larson bagged his sixth sprint car race of the year
What is amazing about Larson’s success is that he is not a full-time racer. He doesn’t play all the Sprint races, however, when he does, it is a show 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 12th place 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 place. Starting from deep in the field for both races, Larson had to face 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 displayed 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, earning a victory. His preliminary win won 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 take 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 began. Larson, who started in 5th place, quickly jumped to 4th. With just 10 laps to go in the 35-lap race, Larson and Sweet raced door-to-door, swapping 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 an impact on Shane Golobic. door-to-door,However, Larson held his poise, winning his sixth back-to-back victory.
Six Sprint Car wins in a row for Kyle Larson as he wins the High Limit race at Tulare over Rico Abreu and Brad Sweet
Eventful and exciting race out in California
Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) August 16, 2024
Larson shows the true mark of an expert. Post-race, he did not seem pleased 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 speed 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-time Formula One winner Max Verstappen. Is he really? To be fair, his wins in various formats do show his versatility.
Kyle Larson thinks he is better overall than Max Verstappen
NASCAR and Formula One are similar, yet incomparable, as both have several factors that set the two motorsports apart. What brings the two sports together is both motorsports and the Best Auto Racing Driver ESPY Award, which is an annual award honoring the achievements of a person from the world of motorsports. While Larson got it in 2022, Max took it for the next two years (2023, 2024).
In a recent chat 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.”
Larson further went on to say that it would be hard for Max to run 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.”
Had Larson picked 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 picks, he excels at that. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below.
