NASCAR: Kyle Larson doing himself no favors after Max Verstappen claim

In the world of NASCAR, the majority will quickly point out Kyle Larson as the driver with the most talent. In the world of Formula 1, most would agree that Max Verstappen possesses the most raw skill on the grid. They are both among the winningest drivers in either series, and they each have at least one championship to their name.

Love them or hate them, they are two generational talents who are the best at their respective crafts, are they are two of the most versatile drivers the world has to offer. They have been that for a sustained amount of time now.

Both have also shown numerous times the extremely rare ability to push the car beyond its limit and score better results than what their machinery deserves.

Larson scored six wins and numerous runners-up finishes for the otherwise mediocre Chip Ganassi Racing team from 2014 to 2020, while Verstappen scored two top five finishes for Toro Rosso, now known as RB, as a rookie in 2015, plus several wins from 2016 to 2020 when Red Bull weren't the top dogs.

Given the fact that NASCAR and Formula 1 are the two most popular forms of racing in North America, these two drive3rs are often considered the two best drivers in that space.

However, because of the sheer differences between the two with regard to cars, tracks, driving styles, rules, and conduct, they've never truly been compared.

That was until this past week, when Larson dropped this bombshell.

"I know in my mind I am better than him as an all-around driver. There's no way he 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... 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."

- Kyle Larson

Verstappen has since responded, simply saying, "That's fine. Everyone thinks their own way, right?"

Anybody who knows Verstappen well enough knows that's his way of politely blowing off the claims as rubbish and implying he's very much the better overall driver.

While the motive as to why Larson came out and made these comments remains unclear, that hasn't stopped the motorsport community from opening up this can of worms and dissecting it.

While comparing the two drivers is nearly impossible, Larson has not made a great case for himself recently.

That's not to say Larson hasn't been good, because that is far from the truth. Larson currently leads the NASCAR Cup Series with four victories this season, and he is in a very tight battle atop the regular season standings. He is still one of the favorites, if not the favorite, to win the Bill France Cup.

However, to say that Larson has been faultless in 2024 would also be an understatement. The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet has made a number of mistakes, many of which have been race-deciding and have thus cost him in the standings.

At the Chicago Street Race, Larson was in contention for the win in wet conditions, before sending it way too hard into turn six and wedging himself into the tire barrier.

At Iowa Speedway, Larson was clearly the fastest all race long, but after finding himself in traffic due to strategy, he made an ill-advised three-wide move off of turn four, resulting in him crashing out.

Then there's this past weekend at Michigan International Speedway, where Larson again had one of the fastest cars and threw it away by getting loose in the dirty air off turn four, spinning in front of the field and retiring with heavy damage.

It's mistakes like these that have caused him to lose what would be a tight grip on the regular season championship.

Unfortunately, big mistakes have been regular occurrences for Larson throughout his career, and they have become something of a fatal flaw for the 2021 Cup Series champion.

Last season at Texas Motor Speedway, Larson was fighting for the win against Bubba Wallace, before getting loose underneath the No. 23 Toyota entering turn one and crashing out of the race.

At Homestead-Miami Speedway later in the year, Larson charged way too hard on pit entry for his final stop of the race and smashed into the sand barriers, again ending his day.

Mistakes of this nature have arguably cost Larson multiple victories, and those are all just from the past calendar year.

When was the last time Verstappen made an error that cost him a chance of victory? The only one you could argue is his collision with Lando Norris in the late stages of the Austrian Grand Prix earlier this season, but it's highly debatable as to who was truly at fault.

Sure, he's had his incidents and mistakes when fighting in the pack, but since 2021, and arguably even 2020, Verstappen has almost never made a race-defining mistake when he's been in a direct fight for a win.

Verstappen's greatest accolade is how he stacks up against his teammates in equal machinery.

Those in the NASCAR world often say that of course Verstappen wins more races than Larson, as he has barely competed against anyone because of how good his car is.

What can't be ignored, however, is Verstappen's insane record against those who are in the same cars as he is.

Not since 2017, Verstappen's third season in Formula 1 and first full year with Red Bull, has he been beaten by a teammate over a season. Since then, the closest a teammate has ever gotten to him in the standings is 79 points in 2018, which is the equivalent of over three race wins.

Compare that to Larson, who since his 2021 championship campaign, has been outscored in both total points and wins by teammate Chase Elliott in 2022, outscored in both total points and wins by teammate William Byron in 2023, and is currently behind Elliott in the 2024 standings, while possessing four DNFs to lead Hendrick Motorsports' four drivers.

That's not to say that Larson has underperformed, or that he is not the best overall driver at Hendrick Motorsports. If you throw any of Larson, Elliott, Byron, or Alex Bowman on any race track with any race car, including a Cup car, Larson would more often than not get the job done, just based on raw talent.

Again, his mistakes have cost him.

The stats above just put into context how dominant Verstappen has been against those in equal machinery compared to Larson, and with very little error.

There's also an argument to be made about the quality of Verstappen's teammates compared to the three All-Stars whom Larson goes up against each week, but debates like that can go in circles forever.

The harsh truth is that the debate of whether Larson is better than Verstappen can never truly be settled.

The only way it can be settled is if Verstappen gives up whatever he's doing and spends a full season racing against Larson in the NASCAR Cup Series, before or after Larson gives up what he's doing and spends a full season racing in Formula 1. Whoever learns quickest and has the most success would be crowned the best.

Unfortunately, that is never going to happen, because Verstappen has mentioned numerous times in the past that he has a fear of racing on ovals and has no interest in doing so, while Larson would never race in Formula 1 because he would need to compete in numerous feeder series in order to gain the required FIA Super License points.

Even if the two of them were to set up a mini competition in which they would drive many different types of cars on different courses, something similar to the Race of Champions, it still wouldn't decide anything, because no matter the car or the track, one combination is always going to suit one over the other, given their differing backgrounds and skillsets.

It’s not like hockey or baseball, where you can compare goalie to goalie, or first baseman to first baseman, because race car drivers aren’t playing the same game in the same conditions like other athletes are.

That's why it's better to respect both the immense talent of Verstappen and Larson and appreciate what they do for their disciplines and how they do it, instead of tearing one down to put the other on a pedestal. They are both generational talents and are as good as they come.

Everybody will have their opinions on who is truly the best in the world. But if Larson can't clean up his fatal flaw, fans will naturally begin to side with Verstappen, whether it's right or wrong.