Nascar Champion Says He's Better Than Verstappen: 'You Can Quote That'

Thursday, 15 August 2024 at 16:00

2021 Nascar Cup Champion Kyle Larson asserted he is a better all-around driver than the triple F1 World Champion Max Verstappen.

As F1 fans, all of our readers are definitely familiar with the triple World Champion Max Verstappen, who won three consecutive Championships from 2021 to 2023 and is on his way to scoring the fourth one.

Who you might not be so familiar with if you're not a fan of Nascar is Kyle Larson. The 32-year-old is best known for his accomplishments on the American continent.

He won the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, the Coca-Cola 600 (one of Nascar's crown jewel events), the Nascar all-star race twice, the Chilli Bowl Nationals twice in 2020 and 2021 (one of the toughest dirt track races), and the 24 Hours of Daytona in GTLM class.

Asked in an interview with FloRacing if he had to beat Verstappen to be considered the best racing driver in the World, Larson replied he doesn't need to because he is already better in his mind:

“"Not really. 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.:”

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Larson is known for his adaptability, as he has won races in many types of cars (sprint cars, midget cars, late models, and NASCAR stock cars) and on multiple surfaces.

That is probably why he is confident that he could beat the Red Bull Racing F1 driver if he raced in a different series. He noted that he probably wouldn't have a chance in open-wheel racing like IndyCar or F1, but he is confident he would outperform the Dutchman in anything else.

“"There's probably no way I can go win a Formula 1 race at Monaco, but I think I'd have a better shot doing what he does than him doing what I do just because of the car element."”

“"That's what gives me ease and confidence that, like, I know I'm better than him. Maybe not in an open-wheel IndyCar or Formula 1 car, but that's one discipline. I think I would beat him in everything else. You can quote that."”

Larson might be underestimating the triple World Champion here because he has not been able to show what he's got in different series so far, but Verstappen already plans to compete in GT3 class with his own team and more.

Moreover, the engineers and drivers who had private testing sessions with the Dutchman in different types of cars were left astonished, as he exceeded even their super high expectations.

It is already clear that Verstappen is also quite an adaptable driver, but he has yet to prove that he can win in a series other than F1. Do you think he should quit after his contract expires to show everyone what he's got in another series?