Tony Stewart weighs in on debate of best driver in the world

Tony Stewart weighed in on the debate regarding who the best driver in the world is at the moment that’s been raging throughout the NASCAR and the Formula 1 world.

NASCAR fans believe it’s Kyle Larson, Formula 1 fans back Max Verstappen, and the rest of the motorsports world simply loves to chime in on the debate. Stewart is uniquely positioned to give his answer.

While it’s evident he has respect for both wheelmen, he made some fascinating points in his explanation, claiming Larson is a once-in-a-generation talent.

“Well, I know it’s a huge debate and I’ve been standing back watching,” Stewart started, via the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. You know, obviously I’m a huge Kyle Larson fan. I love what he does in a sprint car. I watched him run his first dirt Late Model races and he’s had success there. Now going to Indy, I was super excited about him going to Indy and I’m really excited he’s getting the opportunity to go back. Very appreciative of that. I think people need to look at this multiple ways. You know, I totally agree with you. I think Kyle Larson, you can take him and drop him in any race car and he’s going to be up to speed pretty quick and he’ll figure it out pretty quick. I also remember taking Juan Montoya to Eldora Speedway, putting him in a dirt Late Model that he’d never even seen before. He had never raced on dirt before. I literally had to show him how to just drive the car to get on the racetrack because there’s low and high speed gear and how to do it is a little bit different than just driving a normal stick shift. His third lap on the racetrack, he was third on the board.

“It’s like, here’s a guy that had never seen anything like that. Could you take Max Verstappen, could you bring him and set him in a Cup car and him be competitive? I think you could. I don’t know how long it would take him, but you could. Could you take him and bring him into a wing sprint car? I believe yes, mainly because I remember we did a deal with Gene Haas. We brought Kevin Magnussen, his F1 driver, brought him to a dirt track in North Carolina and put him in a 360 wing sprint car, and by the end of the night, he was within two tenths of a second of me. And that was in four runs that he made. These guys all, I think all race car drivers, when you get to the pro level, and you and I have both seen it enough, I mean, there’s drivers in the Cup Series that ultimately probably don’t necessarily belong in the Cup Series because of their credentials. They’ve got there for different reasons and different ways. But there’s drivers that you could take from the Cup Series, from Formula 1, from IndyCar, from NHRA, and put them in cars and they’re gonna figure it out because they’re pure race car drivers. That is what Kyle Larson is.

“It’s so much fun to watch him in any kind of race car. I don’t give a crap if it’s a go kart, the Cup car, the Sprint car, the IndyCar. I just like watching him drive a race car. He just polarizes people with what he can do behind the steering wheel. And you know, you and I’ve been a part of motorsports for a long time, he’s a guy that’s a once-in-a-lifetime type guy. It seems like every generation has that one guy that stands out above the rest and Kyle’s that guy.”

Perhaps one day we’ll get to see Kyle Larson and Max Verstappen settle the debate, racing each other in various mediums to figure out who the best truly is. Until then, we’ll just have to take the word of legends like Tony Stewart.