Kyle Larson burst onto the racing scene from dirt tracks in California, where he honed his skills in sprint cars and midgets as a teen. By 2013, he entered NASCAR’s Nationwide Series and showed his talent right away. His full-time Cup debut was in 2014 with Chip Ganassi Racing, and since then, he has won the NASCAR championship twice. That rise from local ovals to stock car dominance hints at something special in his driving.

Mario Andretti set the bar for versatility in American motorsports decades ago, winning the 1967 Daytona 500 in just his second NASCAR try while chasing IndyCar glory. With one Cup win and triumphs in F1 and open-wheel, he proved his adaptability crosses all tracks. Larson’s own crossover between dirt and asphalt echoes that adaptability, drawing eyes from racing legends who see echoes of pure magic.

Marcos Ambrose spots a star in Larson’s early spark

Marcos Ambrose, the Aussie road-course ace with two Cup wins, both at Watkins Glen, first crossed paths with Kyle Larson back in 2014. Ambrose had dominated Kansas practices that October, but it was a quiet tyre test at old Rockingham that stuck with him. As Ambrose wrapped his NASCAR days after eight seasons and a 2015 Supercars return, Larson drove a Cup car for maybe his first real go.

Ambrose watched in awe as the kid outran veterans like Scott Lagasse Jr., leaving the veteran shaking his head. “Who’s this guy? Like, Kyle, who…they just, he’ll probably go down as, you know, like he’s like a Mario Andretti, you know, he’s just going to go down as one of those all-time greats.” Ambrose sees Larson etching the same all-time mark. That moment also made Ambrose a full-time Larson fan because he recognised Larson as a driver who was built differently.

Ambrose compared Larson to old-time legends like Andretti because both men thrive everywhere. Andretti’s Daytona upset came in an average Ford, and with that car, he led 112 laps despite pit drama, proving open-wheel talents could go toe-to-toe with stock car veterans. Larson, like Andretti, dominates races in sprint cars while winning 32 Cup victories.

Here’s a story I hadn’t heard before: Marcos Ambrose was on Apex Hunters United and told a story about not being able to keep up with Kyle Larson at a tyre test at Rockingham. It was one of Larson’s very first Cup tests, and he had taken over for Scott Lagasse Jr after lunch

“I’m… pic.twitter.com/aymABadly9

— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) November 20, 2025

What impressed Ambrose most was Larson‘s fearlessness across machines. From dirt racing at places like DeQuoin to running outlaws in super late models, he was barely touched by his competitors. Ambrose had raced from go-karts to two Supercars titles before he entered as a full-time driver in NASCAR.

“I’m just a fanboy of Kyle Larson; like, he jumps in anything and wins in it. What is he? And he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet,” he said, tying it to Larson’s off-track niceness and politeness vibe too, with no ego. Back in 2012, Ambrose had praised young talents like Larson in interviews, calling him “a great talent” when NASCAR was overwhelmed by fresh young talents. It’s that same eye for crossover skill that led Ambrose to drop his bold take.

As Ambrose stated, Larson is like Mario Andretti; let’s look back at a win by Andretti that made him alive in NASCAR forever.

Andretti’s enduring Daytona jewel

That 1967 Daytona 500 triumph still lights up Mario Andretti’s eyes nearly 60 years on. Fresh off back-to-back USAC titles but no Indy 500 win yet, he joined Ford’s Holman-Moody squad for the Daytona race. He started mid-pack after facing qualifying issues that left his car loose from a low spoiler.

Andretti ran high to dodge passes, which confused rivals who were drafting low to save their fuel. He led 112 out of 200 laps and survived a nine-second pit stop that was part of a conspiracy to favour teammate Fred Lorenzen. But after facing all these woes, he finally won the race under caution by beating NASCAR big names of that time like David Pearson, whose engine blew after 31 lead laps.

“It was quite a feather in my cap, quite honestly, and I was very proud of that,” Andretti reflected. “I represented the Open Wheel dudes down there in a good way. I loved that part. And then A.J. joined me, and we are still the only ones that have done that.” That nod to A.J. Foyt underscores the rarity because only those two guys won both Daytona and Indy.

“At that point, I had not won Indy yet… So arguably the Daytona 500 win at that time was the biggest event of my career… particularly satisfying to do it somewhere where it wasn’t my speciality,” he added. It fueled his later F1 crown and Indy glory, a crossover win that echoed his name through halls like his 2000 Motorsports induction.