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

Enjoy while we can . we'll be tellin storys years from now. He just left that beast eat tonite .Sammy , kinser, wolfgang etc. etc.  He's there.

Hard to compare him to the old timers, but easily the best dirt track driver on Earth at present...

He's got the gnack

Hes in a good place.Race with one of the top NASCAR teams and be competitive plus race midgets and sprint when it doesnt interfere with his schedule.The no qualifing has helped his dirt schedule and being let go from Ganassi even with all the drama might have helped his carreer. He will get a chance to run the Indy 500 some day. Amazing talent!

Not only is he competitive in Nascar, he is a fraction of an inch away from dominating.  Sounds silly to say that with him only having one win, but if you tune in on Sundays, that car is always coming to the front.  He has not had the wins to show it, and has had a few DNF's or dumb mistakes for some poor results, but they have been good enough to win almost every Cup race this season.  Looking forward to the remainder of the season and keeping my fingers crossed that Rick lets him venture out to Knoxville in August.  

He's way beyond Sammy Steve and Doug. Those guys are legends but they don't have the raw talent Larson has. It's actually not even close. No disrespect to our legends either its just the way it is. He is without a doubt the best to ever do it in a winged sprint car. 

You obviously never had the pleasure of watching AJ or Mario.  

I as born in 1951 and started going to races in 1960 and I think it's difficult to make a comparison.  The cars of the 60's were slower and a lot less technical to drive.  In the 50's and 60's we see so many stories of drivers who worked in garages and talked their way into the seat of some old home built jalopy to get their start where they got noticed and were offered a Sprint Car ride.  Today we see a lot of drivers coming up through Outlaw Karts and Micros with family backing starting at around five.  It's a completely different world today and I'm just enjoying watching Kyle Larson and seeing him be so successful in so many different types of cars.  A lot of the drivers of yesteryear were of bigger stature due to the lack of power steerling. It's like apples and oranges as the cars are like rockets compared to those of the 60's.

Stan Meissner

Can we all agree he's the best driver of this millenium?

Damn, I thought you were just an old grouch, but it turns out you're a young whippersnapper....

I had a girlfriend your age half my lifetime ago & it was barely legal.... ;)

I will second that....I could watch him race every night of the week. Being a sprint car fan, I now enjoy watching Dirt Late Model races because of Kyle. Once he drops out of a Cup race, I lose interest rather quickly. He is still very humble in victory lane and just has a true love for dirt track racing. How can you not root or like the guy????

If anyone here doesn't agree with that, I would seriously question their racing intelligence.  The "all time" thing-----will always be a debate and no one will ever be able to quantify their reasoning.  He will never get to Kinser's WoO wins, be able to put a line together like Foyt or Mario, so those that like pure numbers will always have their arguments.  Those of us who think the numbers lie, and comparing eras is impossible through numbers, will always have our arguments.  

So, for you to put it that way, who could not agree?   (and please no one give me a Donny Schatz response---that's not even a valid argument---unless we say "who's the best WoO driver of the millenium)

BINGO

Within hearing distance of Tri City Speedway

Add Tony Stewart to that list and it's complete.

I don't think Tony is up there with AJ & Mario...

I was spectatin' in the early 80s and this kid named Kinser came along,  lived in Phx at the time, people forget how really good he was when he was younger, he was always good but he was a master back in his prime, I watched him win the Western World Championship in about 84....came from the back of the pack, brakes glowing, no wings, before the days of video.....it was fun to watch

It's also tough to make that argument.  How do we know that?  Things are so different.  Tony may have given them a beat-down.  We don't, and will never, know.   Those that have the opinion that Larson is the best driver ever, may be correct.  We don't know and never will.  Both sides have some very valid points.  I personally don't think he is there-----------yet.  I may be of the opinion that he is the best ever in 10 years.  It also has nothing to do with how many Daytona 500's, Indy 500's, Nascar Championships, Knoxville Nationals, or King's Royals he wins.  I will look at the whole body of work.  The Daytona 500 is mostly luck.  The talent at the King's Royal is similar to about any WoO race in the Ohio or PA area---nothing separates it from other events run at or near Eldora other than the big check.  The Indy 500---same.  All of the same guys show up for the Indy 500 that run at every other event across the country.  Nascar Championships are watered down garbage that are not a reflection of how well you ran the season.  It's not like the old days. 

So, trying to compare drivers who did this and did that back in the day to drivers today, is simply not going to yield fair results.  He has to be judged in the era he is in.  

Everything you say is correct.  I loved watching Steve.  However, I have to ask the question----when Kinser came from the back through a field of cars, do you think it held the same weight as coming through a field of cars today?  I will argue that superior equipment in combination with great talent would allow Kinser to stomp on almost everyone.  You come from deep in the field in a World of Outlaws race today, that's something special.  Watching Wolfgang, Sammy, and Kinser fly through fields of cars that were, as Brad Doty put it, equivalent to today's 305's, was fun, but it was not a true measuring stick to compare to drivers like Larson.  Hell, I'll go ahead and say it----Donny Schatz's career may be more impressive than Kinsers if you really take a good hard look at the last 1/2 of it.  Sorry to piss off the sprint car world there----and I'm not even a fan of Donny's.  But it may be true.  We'll never really know, but the argument can be made and both sides would have valid points.  

OK, but it was still fun to watch!