Car or driver? Kyle Larson issues verdict on what's more important in NASCAR

Hendrick Motorsports star Kyle Larson has issued his verdict on whether a driver or the car that they are driving is more important in NASCAR.

Larson is widely regarded as one of, if not the best all-around driver in the Cup Series at present, but he also drives for one of the big teams in the sport, meaning he often has a good car underneath him.

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Some might say that his success has been aided by being in such a good car consistently, whilst others will claim that Larson's talent alone has earned him his victories.

It is a debate that has been raging in motorsport more widely for decades, and now, Larson has had his say, in terms of NASCAR, on whether the driver or the car is more important.

“That’s a solid question,” Larson said when quizzed on the matter on the Field Day podcast.

“It's hard to really like put a number on it. It's probably, you know, everybody has a different opinion, but I would say in NASCAR we’re probably 60, 65 [percent] car, and the rest driver.”

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Kyle Larson says car more important than driver in NASCAR

Despite the above, Larson added: “But then you can look at it other ways too,”

“You could be like, ‘Well this guy can't get in my car and go as fast’, so then the driver does mean a lot.

“So it's really hard to say but maybe 50/50 would just be the right answer.”

Whatever the answer, Larson will be looking to get back into consistent form as the Cup Series hits the streets of Chicago this weekend.

The Hendrick Motorsports star is accustomed to running at the sharp end of the field, but he has only finished inside the top five once over the last six races, and during that period, results have been very up and down.

Last time out at Atlanta Larson finished 17th, for example, whilst he was 37th in the Coca Cola 600 in late May and 36th in Mexico City last month.

On the flip side, over that same period, the No. 5 driver has finished eighth at Nashville, fifth at Michigan, and seventh at Pocono.

Larson hasn't fared well on road courses so far this season, either, so it will be interesting to see if this weekend is any different.

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