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

both on the Springfield, Il. dirt mile this coming Sunday!

I'll be watching, the Hoosier Hundred was fun to watch on Flo. My first Champ Car race was at the Phoenix Fairground Mile in 58. I was 10.

I was watching an interview with Kyle after that race and he said straight forward, "I chopped him off", while talking about his pass of Leary for the lead on the restart. That was his plan on the restart and he did exactly what he had to do for the win, with no regrets. If it had been Foyt that he had chopped off like that back in the day, I'm not sure he'd have been bragging about it.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

If Larson raced "back in the day" Foyt never would've won 4 Indy 500's (and I absolutely love A.J. Foyt).  Larson is that good, and we should appreciate watching him whenever we can. 

Larson has been OK on pavement, but not nearly good enough to dethrone AJ Foyt...

I'm assuming you are claiming he never would have done this to Foyt because he was such a tough guy?  If Foyt, Earnhardt, or any other tougher than life racer from "back in the day" punched me or roughed me up after moving them out of the way to win a race, I'd do it all over the next time the opportunity presented itself.  I get a kick out of how some of these guys come out as too tough to piss off.  Tony Stewart was 10 times tougher than Jeff Gordon-----but Jeff Gordon would give him the bumper to win a race any day.  Toughness has nothing to do with it----if that was your point.  

Foyt was that good on dirt and on pavement.  2 things ...1. if Larson raced back in the day some of the sliders he throws would have gotten him his ass kicked  2. They didnt have cages and full containment seats.  So alot of the bravery of today, you might not see.  3.(i know I said 2) no power steering

All that being said Larson is a great driver in this era....appreciate it.

I think you have it right egras.  Toughness isn't defined on the track as being the one who can kick everybody else's butt.  It can be that, but isn't necessarily that way.  I see it more as the "refusal to lose".  Races are tough to win at the highest leverls and some guys won't take 2nd place as an option if they win it by using a little bumper or chopping down on someone.

Other guys won't use the bumper, no matter what.  I can't think of an open wheel driver like that, but more someone like Mark Martin.  He would do everything he could to win but would stop short of using his bumper.  He just didn't feel right about it.  And he was fine with the outcome because it met his personal standards.

I think Foyt would have been okay....

I never said he would dethrone Foyt, but he would've likely taken some wins.  Conversely, had Foyt been born 20 years later, Steve Kinser probably wouldn't have won 12 Knoxville Nationals and 20 championships.  The whole debate about who's better is circular and pointless, as they are from different eras and different times.  The only point I was trying to make is that Larson is a generational talent and is really fun to watch. 

Maybe he would have bulked up and competed just as well.

Toughness is defined in two words, JACK HEWITT, Love that man.....

Great example.  As I began to read your response, I immediately thought of Mark Martin.  Had Mark had just a bit more evil in his eye, he wouldn't be "the greatest Nascar driver to never win a title."   I'd rather be 4-time champ Jeff Gordon than Mr. Never Uses the Bumper.  :)

Also, I never could understand why many Nascar fans say things like "they wouldn't pull that crap if Earnhardt were alive" or "Earnhardt would put a stop to that"           ?????????????????   One of the most aggressive drivers ever wouldn't put up with aggression?  I don't think Mr. Larson would give a flying crap what Foyt would think.  Just like he didn't give a crap what Sammy thought about his style after the Chili Bowl.  Sammy is Slammin' Sammy for a reason.  He may intimidate some, but great drivers don't give a crap about intimidation outside of the car.  

Yup, Mr Hewitt's picture is in the racing dictionary right next to "tough".

Hewitt would have never put up with being chopped off. Guaranteed he would have made sure the guy cutting him off would have known it was him.  Jack was badass, period.

BINGO.  You don't see studs out there that could handle 100 laps without power steering. Glad to see Gravel get a shot, would expect him to represent himself well. Larson, pretty sure he'll be in the hunt.

How big was Mario, back in those days? I don't think he was any bigger than Larson, and he did ok.

 Yes, I thought of Mario too, and that he and foyt both won the Daytona 500. That's one of the wins that Larson is looking for, but it won't be the same, not as good, and for an obvious reason.
 
Bobby Unser said that Foyt was a bully and the only driver who wouldn't back down from him was Parnelli Jones. It was a sit down talk show, and remembering all the stories about Parnelli, I believed him.

 Foyt became twice as popular the day he waked away for good.


 

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Can't argue with that...

You're ignoring the fact that he's not exactly lit up NASCAR. Perhaps he will if he ever gets to a top-notch team, but saying he'd have beaten Foyt when he hasn't beaten Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick consistently is a bit flawed. 

Legitimate question here and no I'm not trying to be an asshole. I'm just looking for everyone's take on things. If you look at Kyle Larson from say prior to April 2020, what is your opinion of Kyle from then and how does that compare to now? Was he always a "generational talent" or is this something that only evolved over the past few months based on his results this year?  If he goes back to Nascar and has results similar to what he had with Ganassi, meaning a few wins but not lighting this up, does that change things in your mind?