{"id":396428,"date":"2024-05-23T02:25:08","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T02:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=396428"},"modified":"2024-05-23T05:06:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T05:06:55","slug":"american-aces-case-as-best-driver-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=396428","title":{"rendered":"American ace's case as best driver in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ask almost any hardcore motorsports fan who the best driver in the world is right now and the answer is probably going to be Formula 1's<\/a> three time reigning champion.<\/p>\n

But Alexander Rossi has raced against Max Verstappen<\/a>, just as he has raced against NASCAR star Kyle Larson.<\/p>\n

And now that he is teammates with Larson for his Indianapolis 500<\/a> debut, Rossi firmly believes Larson can hold his own with anyone.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Indianapolis 500 on May 27 only on Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> All the action streaming ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Kyle<\/p>\n

"Dude. I think he's already towards the top, so I don't know," Rossi said,<\/p>\n

"Put him at the top? Like, he's the man."<\/p>\n

As good as Verstappen, who has won 48 of 72 races in F1 since 2021?<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Abhorrent': Roosters stars drug tested after clip<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Shattered' Cleary's sad admission after injury<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Disgrace': Under pressure coach sprays journo<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Race<\/p>\n

"I would say they're on the same level. Which is like, yeah, that's a pretty big deal," Rossi replied.<\/p>\n

Larson qualified fifth on Monday (AEST) for his first Indianapolis 500, then flew to North Carolina, where he finished fourth at North Wilkesboro Speedway in NASCAR's $1.5 million all star race that night.<\/p>\n

Next Monday (AEST), he will be the fifth driver in history to attempt 'The Double' by running both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on the same day.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1793123557968679228?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

Tony Stewart in 2001, his second attempt, remains the only driver to complete all 1770km.<\/p>\n

He finished third in the NASCAR nightcap, the best showing by any of the double drivers.<\/p>\n

Not only is Larson capable of completing the gruelling feat of two races in two wildly different race cars in two different states, but people believe he might be a contender to actually win both races.<\/p>\n

\"Kyle<\/p>\n

He is among the betting favorites for the Indy 500 and the Coke 600.<\/p>\n

Larson won what has become one of NASCAR's crown jewels in 2021, his championship season.<\/p>\n

His two year Indy 500 deal is a joint effort between Arrow McLaren Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, his NASCAR team, with Jeff Gordon among the Hendrick executives who watched him qualify at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1792767276162396381?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, the idea that Larson could win the Indy 500 was mindblowing to Rossi, who knows what it's like to do it as a rookie.<\/p>\n

Rossi reached victory lane when he made his debut in 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing' in 2016.<\/p>\n

"Wow, damn. I'll be so annoyed," Rossi said of a Larson win.<\/p>\n

\"IndyCar<\/p>\n

"I'll understand how everyone else felt when I won. Is he capable of doing it? Yeah. Would I be happy for the team? Yeah. Would I be internally annoyed? Yeah."<\/p>\n

Larson had the same feelings a year ago following NASCAR's street course race in Chicago, which was won in the rain by Shane van Gisbergen in the New Zealander's debut.<\/p>\n

After van Gisbergen won NASCAR's first ever street race, Chase Elliott said the Kiwi "made me look bad," and Larson wondered whether van Gisbergen "thinks we all suck."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/simonchapman_\/status\/1793253040264523866?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

Rossi said a win by Larson would have the same effect.<\/p>\n

"We know he's good. But for him to come into our world, and in his first event win, like, that doesn't reflect well on us."<\/p>\n

Two time IndyCar champion Alex Palou disagreed, saying Larson could add even more cache to the Indy 500.<\/p>\n

"It's Kyle Larson. I don't think it would hurt," Palou said.<\/p>\n

"If Kyle Larson wins, it's Kyle Larson, so whatever. He wins everything. So I don't think it would make us look as idiots. It's not that I'm like: 'oh yeah, if he wins, that's cool.' I don't want him to win. But I think he will be there, for sure."<\/p>\n

Larson was back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after the all star race, walking onto the front stretch to take the traditional photograph of the 33 driver field with the Borg-Warner Trophy in the midst of them.<\/p>\n

As he sat on the pit wall in casual conversation, The Associated Press asked him about comparisons to Verstappen.<\/p>\n

Larson's dark sunglasses masked what appeared to be shock on his face, almost as if he seemed to think the idea ludicrous.<\/p>\n

"Not in an F1 car!" Larson replied.<\/p>\n

"I can't beat him in an F1 car. And I bet he can beat me in an Indy car, just based off his street and road course experience."<\/p>\n

So, where could Larson hold his own against the Dutchman?<\/p>\n

"I mean, I hope I can beat him in a sprint car," Larson said.<\/p>\n

He thought the entire conversation was a hypothetical – a waste of time.<\/p>\n

"I don't understand how this can even be a thing," he said.<\/p>\n

"If you don't run multiple disciplines, how can anyone say you are the best?"<\/p>\n

Like it or not, Larson will make his case for consideration on Monday (AEST).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ask almost any hardcore motorsports fan who the best driver in the world is right now and the answer is probably going to be Formula […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":396430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396428"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=396428"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396432,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396428\/revisions\/396432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/396430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=396428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=396428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=396428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}