Jimmie Johnson is truly one of a kind, and comparing any driver to the seven-time NASCAR Cup champion is proof of extraordinary potential. But what does it take to be the next Jimmie Johnson? It’s more than just talent; it takes one to be authentic, humble, and unapologetically themselves. Yet, there is one driver who might live up to such a legacy. A driver who possesses the greatness to dominate the world of NASCAR in 2025.

During the NASCAR post-race show, former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Steve Letarte revealed that the next Johnson is among us. More than just dominating the track, a driver must be mentally tough to conquer NASCAR. With twelve races into the season, Steve does not doubt that this driver, who continues to show grit and exceptional track performance, has what it takes to be a multi-time Cup Series champion.

A crown that fits

Of course, Steve Letarte was talking about none other than Kyle Larson. The #5 Hendrick Motorsports driver is already a Cup Series champion, winning 10 races en route to a dominant triumph in 2021. However, what separates Larson from everyone else on the track is his versatility and love for racing. He runs everything from winning the Chili Bowl in a dirt car to running his own Sprint Car Series, High Limit Racing. To add to that, Larson will also be taking on the Indy 500 for the second time this year. However, Steve Letarte put all this aside and had another barometer to judge Larson’s greatness by, and he feels this puts him in Jimmie Johnson territory.

Letarte said in a video posted by NASCAR on X, “From race 1 to championship 7 to today, when I call Jimmie Johnson on the phone, it’s the same guy, right? The conversations maybe change a little bit, but he’s the same humble, ‘Oh shucks,’ even as a team owner. I just feel like he is as authentic—authentic is the word I would use—as authentic as he can be. And I get a little bit of that out of Kyle Larson.”

Kyle Larson does not come from a racing background like Chase Elliott, whose father, Bill, was a Cup champion. He was introduced to racing when he and his dad, Mike Larson, saw his neighbor’s kids racing go-karts. That lit the fire in him, and his dad bought him a go-kart without their mother’s permission. Mike Larson has said, “Kyle and I made the decision to buy that car; didn’t say anything to Mom. It was one of those ‘Let’s just keep this to ourselves and get the car home, and then we will deal with the apologies.'” These humble beginnings are what keep Larson the same way he is to this day. All he wants to do is win races in anything he drives.

Letarte added, “Their personalities are very different, but that authentic, 100% honest trait is what I get from Kyle Larson… I don’t know if anyone is more comfortable at being a bada– racecar driver than Kyle Larson… He is the quintessential racecar driver.” The statistics back up Letarte’s claims. In the Next-Gen era, Larson has won more races and led more laps than any driver. However, he hasn’t won a championship yet in this era. But this year is looking as promising as it ever has.

Whatever you call him, @KyleLarsonRacin is a quintessential race car driver. pic.twitter.com/eSdEdt2eeZ

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 12, 2025

With sixteen races left until the playoffs and having won three of them, Kyle Larson now leads the drivers’ standings. He has successfully overthrown his teammate, William Byron, by thirty-five points to be at the top of the leaderboard. However, what stands out is that with dominant races like leading 477 laps at Bristol or 227 at Kansas, Larson has had duds in between, but his mentality has never dropped.

He had a terrible weekend at Darlington this year, spinning out early and coming back over 200 laps down, only to trigger the final caution. The very next week? He dominated Bristol in the Xfinity and Cup Series, winning both races. This level of confidence in oneself is what separates the best from the greatest, and Larson is showing that this season. And who knows about sustaining confidence better than the crew chief of a seven-time champion, Chad Knaus?

Chad Knaus, the vice president of competition at Hendrick Motorsports, said after Larson’s Kansas triumph, “Obviously, confidence is something that’s important in everybody’s life, and right now he’s got a lot of it.” The champion crew chief does not doubt Larson’s ability to win a championship. This is the mentality that Letarte was echoing, and he continued to add Larson to an esteemed bracket of drivers.

Steve Letarte trusts that Kyle should have a place on the walls of the Hall of Fame, saying, “Like A.J. Foyt, put him on the wall. Al Unser, put him on the wall. Rick Mears, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart. Kyle Larson, put him on the wall as well, tough as nails.” These are all multi-time winners in their sport, and Larson is on that path. The path to building a legacy like Johnson’s is long and uncertain, but with Larson’s trajectory, it may not seem difficult to follow through.

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Kyle Larson never rests

The 2021 season Cup Series champion doesn’t always have it that easy. Kyle has been the talk of the town, and with the month of May being his busiest. He will be racing in the Cup Series, managing his High Limit Racing schedule, and has also set his eyes on the Indy 500 race with Arrow McLaren ahead of his Kansas win. The double duty will be his second attempt at the historic feat, aiming to join Tony Stewart as the only man to complete the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

In the recent NASCAR Inside the Race show, co-host Alex Weaver, in conversation with Steve, was shocked by Kyle’s tight schedule. “I asked him [Kyle Larson] last week at Texas, and I was like, you know, we were talking about his schedule and where all he was going, and I’m good friends with Caitlyn, his wife, and so I was kind of just talking through the family dynamics and where the kids go and where Caitlyn’s going, and by the end of the conversation, I, like, kind of did, like, a wipe the sweat off my forehead, and I was like, “Woo, are you not tired?” And he was like, “No, why would I be tired?”

Larson, ever the workaholic, isn’t fazed by his extremely bustling calendar. Winning the Bristol Motor Speedway in both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series proves Larson’s mettle. Kyle Larson does not back down from a challenge. The challenge of balancing multiple series at once and still maintaining top-tier performance is not an easy task. Somehow, Larson makes it look seamless. Kyle Larson isn’t just winning races but is creating a legacy of his own, a legacy as grand as Jimmie Johnson’s.

Do you think Kyle Larson will retire as a multi-time Cup Series Champion? Let us know in the comments!