Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Turn 2: He won Saturday and took his best shot Sunday. How good is Kyle Larson going to be, and how soon will he win a Sprint Cup race?

Hinton: Let me edit the sentence for brevity and accuracy: How good is Kyle Larson? From here, it's only a matter of how good Chip Ganassi's equipment lets Larson show he is at the Cup level. Larson's Turner Scott equipment at the Nationwide level is more than adequate. The last time I saw as magnificent a driving performance as Larson's in the Saturday Nationwide race was Jeff Gordon in the 1999 Daytona 500, when 42 drivers were working against him out of resentment for his championship and record-tying 13 wins in '98. And that was in a plate race. Larson's brilliance is showing on unrestricted tracks, where most of the races are run. Read into this what you will: The owner of the best -- and highest-paying -- team in NASCAR, Rick Hendrick, came to Victory Lane to congratulate Larson on the Nationwide win.

Brian Lawdermilk/NASCAR/Getty ImagesKyle Larson

James: Very good and coming fast. Very rarely does a driver live up to the sort of hype that preceded Larson. Even rarer is a driver who does it so quickly. There is the sense that big things will begin happening in bunches when he makes that next career leap into Victory Lane at a Sprint Cup race. And it feels as if it will happen this season. Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon and all his now-counterparts who predicted greatness appear to have nailed this one. Now they have to contend with him, it seems, for the rest of their careers.

McGee: Really good. And no one should be surprised after the way that guys like Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon have publicly gushed over him. And that was before he had won. There's no reason to think he can't win a race as early as this spring. I would have predicted that it was more likely to happen at a place like Richmond, but now I'm thinking it'll be on one of the mile-and-a-half tracks. Kansas seems to be place that rewards hanging it out on the edge, so circle your calendars.

Oreovicz: Longtime followers of USAC racing say Larson is the best prospect to come along in 20 years, since Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart in the early '90s. Dominance in USAC is a pretty good indicator of NASCAR potential, and Larson's Cup career is off to a great start. His results have improved every week; he hasn't made any glaring mistakes; and he was downright electric at Fontana. He didn't put a wheel wrong in a thrilling final 10 laps in the Nationwide race, and did you see that last-lap run he had on leader Kyle Busch in the Cup race? His racecraft needs honing for the big leagues, but a Cup win this year isn't out of the question.

Smith: When drivers at every level of NASCAR and myriad diverse racing series all over the world tweet congratulations to a young man on his first Nationwide victory -- not Cup, Nationwide -- you know he's special. That's what happened Saturday after Larson won a thriller over Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have gushed over Larson's talent for a few years. That's a quality endorsement if ever there was such a thing. He's the real deal. His car control is special. I said Saturday evening that he'd win a Cup race in 2014. He almost made me look like a prophet Sunday afternoon. He'll win one this year. Betcha.

 
I LEARNED ESP FROM MY MOM

"PUT YOUR SWEATER ON: DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW WHEN 
YOU'RE COLD?"

I hope red yellow reads this and explains how these heretics are full of blasphomous bullshit .

you give red and yellow's comprehension skills way too much credit.

to indy and beyond!!

Can I get an AMEN?

hum, makes me feel like cali weather has a part in all this. Lol. Wish the kid great succes and a safe journy to the cup title. No joke, the title. Give him a few years and a few more wiskers. Besides, he already owns a sprint car team and thats just what we all want as fans. Right ?

Peace, Out.

from: central coast of cali.

actually larson got the most first place votes. those in the know voted him #1

to indy and beyond!!

I am just wondering, according to what is written in that article, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have been gushing over Kyle Larson's talent for years, why the hell is he stuck with the car owner that he is?  Why wasn't he snatched up by Hendrick, or Stewart?  They dropped the ball on that one.....JMO

I can see Larson in the Hendrick #5 at some point, or even the 24 if Gordon retires in the next few years.

Let's see how long it takes for someone to blame Danica...

the drive for diversity gave him much clout.  a little over two and a half years ago he was still just a yung shoe lookigg for a place to land.  BK saw the talent early on, and helping $$$ to escalate his carreer.  money well invested in the "yung gun" i would say.  RH wants him, he will have him!  the contract with chip allows him to opt of his contract if he is offered more and not matched by CGR....stay tuned.

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

Partially correct. It was Rich Stadelhofer that funded the car that you are referring to. He was the one who put the money where his mouth was. Brent may have discounted some things but you can rest assured that he did not do it for free and probably did not lose money on that deal either. Actually - I would change that to definitely did not lose any money on that deal.

Larson will be in the 24 when Gordon retires. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Hendrick was footing part of the money Ganassi is spending on Larson currently, just waiting for Gordon to retire. 

Nicely played..