One would imagine that someone like Kyle Larson, someone as talented, accomplished, and skillful as he has been throughout his racing career, would know everything there is to know about a racecar. But what Tony Stewart recently revealed proves otherwise. At least for the Kyle Larson of a decade ago.
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During a recent appearance on the Hot Rod Pod show, Stewart recalled the Yung Money story on which the 2021 Cup champion would laugh at this point. “Kyle Larson had been in NASCAR for 3 years already in the Cup Series. And there was a race where the oil temp. It was really hot in the car,” Stewart described.
“The oil tank is right behind the seat. And Kyle goes, ‘Man, I don’t know what is behind me but my seat is burning up.’ Kyle, that’s your oil tank behind your seat. Been there every race.”
Smoke claimed that drivers generally aren’t as smart. However, there are “a lot of smart drivers,” too in the larger car racing community. “You go to a sprint car race, you go to a dirt late model race, you go to a modified race, Ryan Preece, for example. These guys know every nut and bolt on those cars,” he added.
Now, Stewart’s comments lead to an interesting question- Should racecar drivers be knowledgeable about their racecars?
While there’s no right or wrong answer to that, considering it’s mostly a subjective opinion, Tony Stewart did share his take on this subject.
Tony Stewart believes drivers only have one role in racecar driving
Stewart, who has tasted success in various disciplines of racecar driving, claimed that during his career in which he jumped from car to car and raced multiple teams every year at the same time, he didn’t have time for anything other than what his job was. “My job was to get in there, drive the car, try to win races,” he said.
The 3x Cup champion recalled a story about Raleigh Helming, how when he was driving a car in the midget series in USAC, and grabbed a wrench to help out with a change in the car to which Helming told him, “‘No. Your job’s not to work on the racecar. Go up and watch the racetrack and let us know what the track, especially on a dirt track, let us know how the conditions are changing and what we need to be planning for.'”
“It was like, ‘Oh wow, I’m not supposed to know all this. I’m supposed to know this area of it and that’s all I’ve ever done since.’ My job is to drive the car, pay attention to the racetrack,” Stewart described.
He added that everybody has their role and responsibility, and the one he had didn’t go beyond the area from the firewall to the back of the seat. That was his area, his office, and his job.
