Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.

NASCAR Broadcaster Makes Bold Claim About Kyle Larson

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated May 9, 2025 6:15 PM ET

There's no denying Kyle Larson's talent, but where does he rank among the all-time greats? NASCAR broadcaster Mike Joy offered his thoughts on that subject.

Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, has been successful at every level NASCAR has to offer. In just the past two months, he has won a Cup Series race at Bristol, Xfinity Series races at Bristol and Texas, and a Truck Series race at Miami.

It's too soon to mention Larson's name in the same conversation as Richard Petty, Jimmie Johnson, David Pearson, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jeff Gordon. However, that won't stop certain people from projecting where he'll rank all time.

Joy shared his thoughts on Larson's career during an appearance on "Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour." The Fox Sports broadcaster made it very clear that he's a huge fan of the man driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

In fact, Joy believes Larson could finish his career as one of the five best drivers in the history of NASCAR.

"Certainly top 10. Possibly top five," Joy told Harvick, via On3 . "It’s very, very hard, of course, to compare eras. We have no idea how David Pearson would do in this car today, or Richard Petty, or even Jeff Gordon. We don’t know, we’ll never know. We have no idea how you [Harvick) might’ve done in one of those cars in the 70s and 80s, before power steering or even before front-steered cars — before Bobby Allison made the front-steered car a thing. Everybody was driving rear-steered banjo cars. Essentially, they were all racing ’63 Ford Galaxies, with different sheet-metal on them, because that was the underpinnings, and maybe a different engine. So, we’ll never really know."

That's heavy praise for Larson, but he's still young enough to go on a generational run.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: