How a potential Larson vs Verstappen match-up could play out

Kyle Larson vs Max Verstappen. 

They have a legitimate claim to be considered the best two racing drivers on the planet right now, but until now, there has not been much of a debate about which of the two is the better driver. 

But Larson, the 2021 Cup champion, somewhat ignited that debate after winning the Knoxville Nationals sprint car title for the third time, earlier this week. 

Simply asked the question if he was better than Verstappen, Larson backed himself.

“Not really. I know in my mind I am better than him as an all-around driver,” Larson told FloRacing when asked if he had to beat Verstappen to be considered the best driver in the world.

“There’s no way Verstappen can get into a Sprint Car and win the Knoxville Nationals. There’s no way he can go win the Chili Bowl. There’s no way he can go win a Cup race at Bristol.

"There’s probably no way I can go win a Formula 1 race at Monaco, but I think I’d have a better shot doing what he does than him doing what I do just because of the car element.

"That’s what gives me ease and confidence that, like, I know I’m better than him. 

"Maybe not in an open-wheel IndyCar or Formula 1 car, but that’s one discipline. I think I would beat him in everything else. You can quote that."

That prompted a debate on social media about the merits of the two racers. So, lets attempt to delve into how this match-up could play out.

Specialist areas

Our hypothetical match-up will feature a best-of-five format, and we start with the specialist subjects. 

In a single-seater racing car, the three-time F1 world champion will clearly get the better of a driver who has done one open-wheel race in his career - being the 2024 Indianapolis 500 where he led for a time before finishing 18th having copped a speeding penalty on pit-road. 

Given IndyCar great Scott Dixon lost victory in 2023 due to his own pit-lane speeding penalty, we won't hold that against Larson, but in a single-seater, Verstappen clearly has the edge on Larson, no matter what track. 

And similarly, Larson pulls ahead of Verstappen when it comes to racing stock cars. In autumn 2021, Larson, without a shadow of a doubt was the best racing driver on the planet. 

In the lottery of the NASCAR Playoffs that year, he won on the Bristol short track, Charlotte roval - a mix of the road course and oval -, Texas and Kansas speedways as well as the title-decider at Phoenix. He won four of the final five races to clinch the title with 11 wins. 

His average finishing position throughout the year was 9.08 - an astonishing feat in the NASCAR Cup Series, with 26 top-10 results. 

Last season, Larson came within a whisker of making it two titles in Cup, but narrowly lost out to Penske's Ryan Blaney in the final race. 

He has also won three of the four crown jewels in Cup - the Southern 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Brickyard 400. Only the Daytona 500 is missing.

With the retirements in the last decade of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon, NASCAR has needed a new 'face'. 

Larson is arguably it.

SCORE: Larson 1-1 Verstappen

Extra-curricular activities

Larson and Verstappen are also remarkably similar in their love of extra-curricular activities away from Cup and F1. 

For Larson, he actually prompted a change of heart from owner Rick Hendrick, a man once famed for his resistance of allowing his NASCAR drivers to race anything non-NASCAR. Larson has changed all that, especially with his Indy 500 double-duty attempt. 

When he is not on Cup duty, Larson will be found at a sprint championship and during the off-season, is a frequent participant in the Chili Bowl Nationals - a midget racing series often compared to the Super Bowl in the NFL. 

He won that in 2020 and 2021, becoming the first driver to ever win Chili Bowl and the NASCAR Cup title in the same year. 

Elsewhere, during his Chip Ganassi days, Larson took part in and won the 2015 Daytona 24 Hours, partnering Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Jamie McMurray. 

For all his success in F1, Verstappen has not competed outside of grand prix racing in real life. 

Now, it is one thing to be a NASCAR driver traveling to nearly 40 events in one country compared to an F1 driver globe-jumping 24 times and it should not be held against Verstappen. 

The Dutchman thus spends his time racing virtually on iRacing and has his own team with Team Redline. 

Sim racing is increasingly being used as a tool to keep drivers match-fit, and there is no better proponent of it than Verstappen. 

SCORE: Larson 2-2 Verstappen

The decider

To split the two, for our hypothetical decider, Larson and Verstappen would need to be taken far out of their comfort zones and there is an ideal championship that would be unlike anything either have driven to decide. 

Machines in the British Truck Racing Championship can weigh in at about five tonnes and chuck out in excess of 1000bhp. 

When they are out on track, marshals must retreat far from the barriers for their own protection given the propensity of the trucks to keep going when they hit something.

Division 1 features bespoke machines whilst Division 2 is more stock-based. 

The two drivers would be taken to a track neither have raced at before, strapped in and then sent on their way for a 10-lap blast. 

Larson is not afraid to get his elbows out, having raced wheel-to-wheel with the likes of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Harvick. They very much give as good as they get.

On Verstappen's side, his ability to immediately work out the machine underneath him and be on it immediately would be a great counter. 

Whoever would win, motorsport would be the winner...

Who would come out on top between Kyle Larson and Max Verstappen? Let us know by voting in the poll below!