"NASCAR has to get off their a**": When Tony Stewart insisted on 'the right thing' with Kyle Larson amid 2020 suspension
In 2020, Tony Stewart made his support clear for the suspended Kyle Larson who was without a seat in NASCAR. The former Chip Ganassi Racing driver was fired and suspended mid-season because of using a racial slur during an online stream.
But despite him not racing stock cars at the highest level, Larson was racing on the grassroots level, in the Sprint Car, and winning races. This got Stewart's attention, who was one of the front-runners to sign Larson at SHR before Hendrick Motorsports got the all-important signature on the page.
In quite a vocal support for Larson, the 3x Cup champion Tony Stewart urged NASCAR to give him another chance.
"The kid was hot in NASCAR and was doing a great job. Then since his problems, he’s got in a Sprint Car and absolutely annihilated the Sprint Car field. So, I think if you gotta pick somebody right now, you gotta pick Kyle Larson. But NASCAR has to get off their a** and do the right thing and give this kid an opportunity to get back in the car. I think he’s paid his penalty," Tony Stewart said.
In another interview in August 2020, Stewart addressed the Kyle Larson subject again on two different fronts.
Smoke opened up on Larson fitting in the SHR plans as well as suggested NASCAR lift the ban on the young driver.
"I mean, I feel like it's time to get Kyle back in the sport. I feel like he has paid his dues. I think he's served his penalty as far as society is concerned and I think it's time for NASCAR to let the kid have an opportunity, get back where he belongs, and I think that's behind the wheel of a stock car," Stewart added.
Tony Stewart deemed Kyle Larson a generational talent earlier this year
Earlier this year, when Kyle Larson opened up on the big debate of whether he's a better racecar driver than Max Verstappen, Tony Stewart chimed in with his own thoughts. Stewart, who has never shied away from expressing his admiration and acknowledging Larson's talent, raised the #5 driver's place to be one of a generational talent.
Stewart admitted that he's a 'huge Kyle Larson fan', one who has seen the 2021 Cup champion rise through the ranks of dirt late-model races and taste success. The former #14 driver claimed that one can put Larson in any form of a racecar, and Yung Money would be 'up to speed pretty quick' and figure that out. He added:
"I just like watching him drive a racecar. He just polarizes people with what he can do behind the steering wheel and...he's a guy that's once in a lifetime type guy. It seems like every generation has that one guy that stands out above the rest and Kyle's that guy."
It's worth mentioning that Kyle Larson had claimed he's a better 'all around' racecar driver than the 3x F1 champion Max Verstappen.
Larson believed that while Verstappen could excel in a single-seater, he has the edge when it comes to being a holistically better driver.