Whether or not you believe in the narrative surrounding Kyle Larson being touted as the greatest driver in the world, it is hard to deny the fact that the notion has gathered a lot of steam recently.
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With the Hendrick Motorsports ace’s abilities behind the wheel of his No. 5 Chevrolet, and the Sprint Car domination Larson is often known to display, the Elk Grove, California native certainly did have much to carry on his shoulders this season. Back-to-back Indy 500 attempts in 2024 and 2025 also somewhat played to that narrative.
However, Larson has now clarified his stance on the matter. Speaking ahead of the inaugural Viva Mexico 250 last Sunday in Mexico City, the avid dirt track racer set the record straight. Responding to Corey LaJoie’s claim that he’s the greatest driver in the world, Larson addressed the public perception that he believes it too.
“Although the public thinks that I think that, I don’t necessarily think that I’m the greatest in the world. But I’ve heard the accolades and the comments for a long time, and being compared to Jeff (Gordon) or Tony (Stewart) or even sometimes Mario (Andretti) and AJ Foyt, guys like that, it makes me feel really good,” he said on the pre-race show.
The 2021 Cup Series champion also touched on how he envisions a long racing career ahead of him, being only 32 years old at the moment, and how his future achievements could further solidify his name in the company he is often compared to today.
How did the claim of Kyle Larson being the world’s greatest originate?
Speaking to Jeff Gluck recently on the topic, Kyle Larson admitted how the media and fans formed a narrative around what he said about Max Verstappen last year.
While Larson did compare himself to the four-time F1 World Champion and put himself ahead of the Dutchman as a better ‘all-around’ driver, many people took the same comment as Larson claiming he was the best in the world, according to the HMS regular.
“People act like I’m the one who said I am the greatest race car driver in the world. I never said that. I just said I’m a better all-around driver than Max Verstappen.”
“They took that as I said, ‘I’m the greatest in the world.’ Because, for some reason, Max is considered the greatest in the world. So it’s funny. I mean, I expect it when I have a crash or something. But it’s fine,” said the No. 5 Chevy driver in an attempt to set the record straight.
Now, whether you consider Kyle Larson the greatest driver in the world or not is entirely up to you. But Larson himself isn’t trying to promote that notion, and that seems pretty clear.
