NASCAR Cup Series: The most talented driver, according to Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick revealed who he believes is the most talented driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, and he stated that this driver is the most talented driver since Jeff Gordon.

Kevin Harvick, the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion, has never been shy about making claims about various Cup Series drivers throughout his racing career. In recent months, he has made claims, about some of the sport’s most popular drivers, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick and Chase Elliott.

In fact, several of his claims have been deemed controversial by a lot of people, particularly his claims about Earnhardt Jr., which he made last August.

Now, Harvick has revealed who he believes is the most talented driver in the Cup Series. In fact, he believes that this driver is the most talented driver since one of the all-time greatest drivers in the history of the sport, 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Gordon, came along.

Harvick revealed that the Cup Series driver who he believes has the most talent since Gordon came along is Kyle Larson. Here is what Harvick had to say about the matter on his SiriusXM NASCAR Radio called “Happy Hours”, according to Yahoo Sports.

"“The best young driver in Cup right now is Kyle Larson by a landslide. He’s carrying a slower car and getting great results with it and he does it by just sheer talent…he’s the best raw talented driver, and I’ve said this on this show before, that I think has come along since Jeff Gordon.’’"

Larson, 25, has driven full-time in the Cup Series since the 2014 season. He has driven the #42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in all five of his full-time seasons in the sport thus far. In 161 career Cup Series races, including 157 as a full-time driver, he has been victorious five times.

Of Larson’s five race victories, four of them came last season in what was his breakout season. Only two other drivers, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch, won more races than Larson did last season.

But while his regular season win total of four was tied for the series led with the regular season win total of Truex Jr., Larson struggled in the playoffs and only managed to finish in eighth place in the championship standings despite the fact that he was deemed a championship contender all season long. That said, his eighth place finish in the standings was his new career-high.

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So far this season, Larson sits in ninth place in the championship standings despite the fact that he has not yet won a race. The Chevrolet teams and drivers have struggled mightily, but Larson has still managed to finish on the podium four times in 14 races in 2018. He is the only Chevrolet driver that currently sits in the top 11 in the standings.

The fact that Harvick has stated that Larson is the most talented driver since Gordon makes sense, and it is certainly a compliment that Larson should not take lightly. Gordon won 93 races in his 25-year (23-year full-time) Cup Series career, a total that ranks third highest of all-time.

Gordon also won four championships, a total that ranks behind only the championship totals of seven-time champions Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson. In fact, without the playoff system, Gordon himself would be a seven-time champion along with Petty and Earnhardt, but not Johnson.

Next: Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time

Do you agree with Kevin Harvick that Kyle Larson is the most talented driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, and if so, do you agree with Harvick that Larson is the most talented driver since Jeff Gordon came along?