NASCAR broadcaster Mike Joy delivers honest opinion on Kyle Larson's place among NASCAR legends

Fox Sports' broadcaster Mike Joy sat down with former Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick on his podcast to talk about his start in NASCAR, his career in broadcasting, and who he considered some of the best drivers on the grid. He believed that Kyle Larson could be placed amongst the top ten greatest drivers in the sport's history.

Speaking on the podcast, Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour, Joy was asked about where he would rank the #5 car's pilot amongst the NASCAR greats, considering he has a lot of his career ahead of him. While the Fox Sports' broadcast announcer believed that the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion was up there, he admitted that if drivers from different eras of the sport were put in today's Next Gen vehicles, they might be better, so it's hard to say for certain.

"Certainly top 10 and possibly top five. It's very, very hard, of course, to compare eras. We have no idea how David Pearson would do in this car today, or Richard Petty, or even Jeff Gordon. Yeah, we don't know. We'll never know."

Another aspect that Mike Joy considered was that the Hendrick Motorsports driver's recent string of successes this season might overshadow the rest of the grid.

"The other thing is sometimes you get a driver that's so dominant that the success of other drivers pales by comparison."

Kyle Larson has achieved two dual victories this past season, scoring wins in the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series races in the same weekend at the Homestead-Miami Speedway and the Bristol Motor Speedway.

Mike Joy considers Christopher Bell to be a "champion of the sport"

Kyle Larson (5) and driver Christopher Bell (20) race for position during the Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway, November 5th 2023 - Source: Imagn

Speaking with Kevin Harvick on his podcast, Mike Joy also highlighted the potential of this season's three-in-a-row race winner, Christopher Bell. He considered the 30-year-old driver to be one of the best in the sport and was disappointed that Bell wasn't in the final four last season.

Joy also explained that the #20 driver was someone NASCAR has begun to respect.

“He will be a champion of this sport. Yeah, I have no doubt. I really wished he'd had the chance to run for it last year.

“I think now he's someone that NASCAR respects and listens to, and I think they're ready for him to be a champion. And he is.”

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver sits in third place in this season's standings, having scored three wins at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, COTA, and Phoenix Raceway, along with five Top-fives, and six Top 10 finishes so far.