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

Question is how good would Larson be in a sprint car now if he ran them full time for the past 3 years. We'll never know.

True, when I saw him at Pa. Speedweek a few years ago, he didn't do much, but he was in somebody's else's car, & it was slow as molasses. In his own car with his own crew chief, I'm sure he'd be a contender.
And with a few years experience, I think he would challenge The Mighty Schatz

The equipment today is what makes many young guns look good.  Larson is the cream of the young crop, but not the only one. But he has probably got eqiuipment on par with the best and has had all along.  When Schatz, Pittman, Joey, Danny....Stevie, Hodnet and that group came along sprint cars were still in the developement stage compared to where thay are today. Plus....don't forget who they were up against. That's why they took a little more time and age which equalled experience to become winners. I think Larson would make top 5 in the WoO tour okay, but the rigors of the first year would make it tough. Second year....maybe a contender. That tour is one rough SOB!

I think with a couple of seasons on the road focusing on one car and not driving in 100 different divisions, he'd absolutely become a World of Outlaws champion some day. He'd win races right out of the gate but as another poster stated, the consistency wouldn't be there right away. That however, would come with time as he matures as a driver. Someone mentioned Rico and I think the same can be said for him as well as Christopher Bell. What really pisses me off is, that this thread is discussing a hypothetical situation that will never happen because NASCRAP lured them away to make the big bucks. Don't blame them at all for doing it. It's safer, easier and much more lucrative plus they'll still get to be a part of our sport when time permits or as an owner like Kyle is but it sucks for us fans. We missed out on the next "big 3". 

this is SPOT ON!....IF larson and silva woulda went FULL time WoO back in 2012...i have NO doubt he would have won the title or had a shot at it last year and donny wouldn't have had the seasons he had the last two years...the silva/larson combo is just too damn good for them to NOT be winning if they ran a FULL tour(s) together.... IMHO.

here's a nugget to chew on...just imagine if NASCRAP wasn't as lucrative as it is now,the possible drivers on the WoO tour might rival the GREAT driver rosters of the 80's... JS.

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In my opinion, Larson would easily finish top 5 in the WoO points, if not top 3, if he ran the full tour.  It only takes about an avg. of 7 wins and 35 top 5 finishes in 90+ events to be right around 3-5 in points the past few years in points, which I feel like Larson could easily eclipse through out a full year.  Do I think he would challenge Schatz for the title, not in his first year, but I do think he would take a few of the 25+ wins a year Schatz has away from him.  

I just don't see how David Gravel, Paul McMahan, or even Joey Saldana would consistently beat Larson on a nightly basis. Larson no doubt tears up some equipment, but night in night out, Larson would most likely have talent, crew chief, and equipment on his side.

Same thing was said about Silva and Stewart.  Full time racing and part time racing are different animals.

When part time, if they crash a car, they can go back to the shop, build a new car and race again when they want.  On the road, you can crash a car on Friday night and destroy it, spend all night thrashing and putting together another and destroy it the next night and then have to thrash again to race again on Sunday.

Yes, I'm sure they would have parts and pieces to do this, but the work is what makes teams dropp off consistency wise. 

The difference between Schatz and everyone else right now is they aren't building new cars very often (if at all) due to crashes.  Gives them more time to "finesse" their set-ups and make sure everything is buttoned up correctly.

Not sure if about your second point.  Who in NASCAR today would have had the funding to go WoO racing if they weren't in NASCAR?  I'd say maybe Rico Abreu.  The rest were scraping by in USAC (financially) before they got there (except Dave Blaney) and none had the money backers to go WoO racing back then even, and for many, it wasn't even a goal. (Stewart, Gordon, Yeley, Newman).

I'd stack today's roster against the 1980's roster in equal equipment.  Steve, Sammy and Doug had WAYYYY better equipment than everyone else in the 80's.  Today, everyone has the same equipment and on an equal playing field, Pittman, Saldana, Gravel, Lasoski, Sides, Kraig Kinser are every bit as good as Shuman, Herrerra, Tim Gee, Rich Bubak, Jeff Swindell and those than ran in the 80's (IN MY OPINION).

so lets compare.  lets say someone compiles the races that the two have raced each other and nothing else.  larson i believe would be the victor with the most wins...jmo

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West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

From Cocopah Website, latest news update: "“I’m just glad Mother Nature cooperated a little bit,” said Stewart, who won by more than seven seconds and lapped up to eighth place. “I’m very happy we were able to get the race in. It’s always a pleasure racing Kyle. He’s so darn good that he’s almost like racing Donny (Schatz) honestly. He sets such a strong pace."

But he did say "almost"......

I am not talking about fast time. I am talking about making the invert consistently. Larson didn't do that often, he'd need to to beat Schatz on a consistent basis.

That makes sense, Do you have numbers on KL's qualifying with WoO?

Sorry for the formatting, but you'll notice that while it is a small sample, Larson's average starting spot was frequently outside the top 10.
I'm not in any way saying he wouldn't learn to qualify, or he isn't already better at it given how in NASCAR you need to be on the edge in qualifying, but he would need to be more consistent than he was to have a chance at beating Schatz.

Average start 13.7?

OK, I'm convinced.

Good point, good evidence

Since you're on a roll, what was Schatz' average start?

thanks

Where are you finding this data anyway?

All I can find on WoO website is number of quick times....

Schatz will never be headed. As soon as any new driver shows any talent or form the scouts from NASCAR have whisked them away to the bright lights & rediculous pay cheques. Sprintcar racing is in a tough place with all the talent being stolen!!

Losing is natures way of saying you suck.

And please list the same thing for Schatz with a starting point at his first WoO race just for shits and giggles..

I've seen Kyle do amazing things in a sprint car. Just a few years ago I watched him lap up to I think 7th place to win the gold cup. Donny was second a half of lap behind.

We need more sprint car racing at our home track.

Wouldnt it be cool to see Kyle give up his Nascar ride making millions to winning races with the World of Outlaws fulltime and stil doing well for himself financially?! I dont think Kyle could ever admit it, but i am sure he really misses racing sprint cars and winning races! :-) I love watching/ going to sprint car races and just cant get into nascar! 

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West series schedule! 

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racecars on dirt! 

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