Turn 2 Blog: Is Kyle Larson the best dirt racer in the country?

Turn 2 Blog is a regular feature on InsideDirtRacing.com. Here, site operators Michael Moats and Richard Allen take turns offering their thoughts on the dirt racing topics of the day from east Tennessee and beyond.

The latest edition of the Turn 2 Blog is presented by the American All-Star Pro Late Models Presented by PPM Racing Products

It’s amazing how the same three drivers keep finding themselves in contention, isn’t it?

Richard: The last half of the North-South 100 provided some of the best racing I have seen and part of that was because Bobby Pierce, Ricky Thornton Jr. and Hudson O’Neal were involved. It’s crazy how, no matter where they start, we can almost count on those three or some combination of two of those three being on the podium at the end of the night.

The racing among these three has been highly compelling this summer and I don’t see any reason why that might change. Of course, stars like Jonathan Davenport, Chris Madden, Tim McCreadie and Brandon Overton aren’t just going to just give up but they have their work cut out for them going forward.

As these big races continue to play out, I look for Pierce, Thornton and O’Neal to continue doing what they have been doing. In particular, I look forward to the World 100 in September to see if it plays out like the racing did at Florence.

Michael: The good thing about Saturday’s race is that it lived up to the expectations of the top drivers in the sport fighting for the win. In last year’s race, Davenport and Madden were clearly the two best drivers heading into the race. Madden had trouble in his heat race and didn’t continue. That left Davenport to dominate the race.

That was not the case this year. It looked like it was going to be another Pierce-O’Neal showdown until Thornton got into the mix and it finally came to down to he and Pierce. A race fan can’t ask for anything more than that.

Even though Pierce and O’Neal compete in two different series, it seems like it comes down to those two almost every week. This will be the last time we see those in the same race for several weeks. This will be continued.

Put Kyle Larson’s dirt racing achievements into words

Richard: Quite simply, I’m not sure I can.

Jimmy Owens once told me that he considered the second time he won big races to be the most important because it confirmed that the first win wasn’t a fluke. Not that anyone would consider Kyle Larson’s first Knoxville Nationals victory a fluke but to win the biggest Sprint Car race in the world twice places him even higher up the list in terms of great dirt racing accomplishments.

He wins in everything he sits in. We’ve seen him win big races such as the Prairie Dirt Classic and the Hillbilly 100 in Late Models and he has won the Chili Bowl in a Midget on multiple occasions.

I know this statement will probably upset some but I might be willing to go so far as to call him the best dirt racer in the country. While there are great Late Model and Sprint Car drivers, there aren’t any who can go so seamlessly from one to the other and be competitive like he can. Even Sprint Car legend Donny Schatz has difficulty in the times when he runs a Late Model.

And keep in mind that Larson’s accomplishments come on a part-time basis considering that dirt racing isn’t his primary form of racing. After all, he is a NASCAR Cup Series champion with all the time demands that come with being such a big star in that form of racing.

Michael: A lot of fans and media members have long considered A.J. Foyt as being the best all-around driver since people have been racing cars. Foyt’s accomplishments speak for themselves. I’m still not sure if Larson has surpassed Foyt because Larson has not won the Daytona 500 or the Indy 500, yet.

As far as dirt racing goes, I can think of no one that has a resume anywhere close to what Larson has. Many have considered Tony Stewart to be the best multi-disciplined racer of this generation. But for everything that Stewart has accomplished, Larson is surpassing that. To be a NASCAR Cup series driver that wins regularly in a Sprint Car and a Dirt Late Model is not anything I can see another driver could do now. It’s amazing.

Should there be a limit on provisionals given out for major races?

Richard: There were seven provisionals used in the starting lineup for Saturday’s North-South 100.

This is one of those issues I have never quite understood why people get so worked up about. I get the whole idea of earning one’s way into the feature through qualifying, heat races and B-mains. But, in my opinion, a driver and team who have gone through all that had to be gone through to follow a series over the course of the season is due some sort of concession as well.

I will agree that there should be limits on the number of provisionals a particular driver can use over a certain period of time such as no more than two per every ten series races or something like that.

Provisionals keep drivers on the tour. Knowing there is a guarantee of making the main event will allow a team to make a long haul to get to a track that they might not have made without that assurance. It’s a way for a series to guarantee tracks that there will be a full field of cars on the track come feature time. Furthermore, the more cars in the race, the more traffic for the leaders to contend with which makes for better racing.

My guess is that those who complain about the number of provisionals would also complain if car counts were low. I don’t have a problem with how ever many provisionals a series needs to use to reward its faithful teams.

Michael: Series provisionals are fine because it keeps drivers on the respective tours. Not having them would cause more drivers to drop off the tour and do it earlier in the season.

What I have a problem with is fans and promoters that don’t know the difference between a provisional and a promoter’s option. Typically, a promoter’s option is when the promoter decides to add a driver or two to the starting lineup that did not transfer to the feature. Many people refer to this as a provisional. To the people that don’t know the difference, they lump them together and generically complain about provisionals. Some fans do understand the difference and still complain about provisionals. It’s a necessary evil.

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