Kyle Larson was ranked as the eighth-best driver of 2021 by Autosports in their Top 50 list, which didn’t go well with many fans.
The Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 driver has always been a very talented driver. But this year, he backed his talent with consistency and wins and led the Cup Series in terms of wins and a championship. Such was his dominance throughout the season that it would have been undeserved if Larson hadn’t won the championship race.
Well, now everyone knows Larson’s worth in the NASCAR industry. But it doesn’t seem to be the case in the general racing world. Autosport which ranks drivers from different motorsports disciplines deemed it fit to consider Larson as the eighth-best driver of the year 2021 in their list. This led to numerous fans hitting out at the list for numerous reasons on different social media sites.
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Some were angry because Larson finished below the likes of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who didn’t win a single race in 2021.
One fan wrote: “That list is bonkers they really put leclerc and sainz ahead of Larson coke to think of it the top 3 should be Larson because of how much winning he did in different cars, Verstappen then hamilton.”
Another fan called the ranking “a massive joke.”
One fan wrote on Reddit that “there’s clearly open-wheel bias on this list, but beyond that even their open-wheel rankings suck.”
Another person wrote: “This list is about as dumb as it gets. The F1 champion is behind the guy who finished 2nd to him and they have F1 drivers ahead of Larson who didn’t even win a single race. What a joke.”
NASCAR is one of the top motorsports racing out there. And Larson is the guy who won the most prized Cup in the top tier of NASCAR. And he didn’t just win it, he showed a great level of consistency throughout the season. So, the list certainly doesn’t make sense.