“Salty Max Verstappen Fans” Hijack Twitter as Kyle Larson Wins the Espy Award

Published 07/21/2022, 9:15 AM EDT

After yesterday’s ESPY award winners were announced, NASCAR fans were in pure joy as Kyle Larson won the award for Best Driver. Meanwhile, some fans on the Formula one side were not too happy.

NASCAR defending world champion Kyle Larson was announced as the best driver award at the ESPY edging out Max Verstappen of Formula one among others.

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Kyle Larson who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, had a spectacular season last year. He had 10 wins which is an amazing feat in NASCAR. He also held 20 top-fives and 26 top 10s. Larson also broke the record for laps led in over a season with a staggering 2,581. Apart from this, Kyle also notched up 18 victories in dirt track racing.

In a glorious career spanning almost a decade, Kyle Larson has won a total of 17 Cup Series wins, 12 pole positions, and the 2021 Cup Series title. Back in 2015, he also bagged a win at the 24 Hours of Daytona in the IMSA endurance championship. Overall throughout the time, Kyle has been in the sport he has showcased his absolute dominant racecraft and on-track prowess.

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Meanwhile, salty Verstappen fans were not having it. They rumbled over Twitter.

I mean concensus is Lewis got robbed by FIA, but you do you.
— Darth Stateworker (@DarthStateworkr) July 21, 2022

insert salty Max Verstappen fans
— DennyDeliversYT (@DennyDelivers) July 21, 2022

All the salty F1 fans in here that failed to do any research on how good Kyle Larson actually is. He’s dominant in multiple types of cars and disciplines. Easily the most talented driver on the planet.
— Dylan Fink (@Dylan_Fink52) July 21, 2022

Kyle Larson had to fight to become champion, Max had his handed to him on a silver platter.
— Views (@Iamanoob4) July 21, 2022

Glad he beat the “human error” champ
— Nick Piombo (@nick18racing) July 21, 2022

I'm just here for the angry Drive to Survive fans.
— Andy Trupiano (@Trup__) July 21, 2022

Good deal! Glad it wasn’t Mad Max
— Queen Nina of Holbert Haus ☮️🇺🇦🏳️‍🌈 💉 😷☕️ (@HausHolbert) July 21, 2022

One fan took a fun dig at former F1 driver Nikita Mazepin.

Sure he wasn’t nominated but I would’ve gone with Mazepin, personally
— Drips Camino (@DripsCamino) July 21, 2022

Lewis earned that award, Versafetycar had his Mickey Mouse championship handed to him
— Wheel Knower (@KnowerOfWheel) July 21, 2022

Because Kyle Larson won a legitimate title unlike Fraudstappen
— Skydog 🇺🇸🇵🇱🇩🇪 (@FCB_Skydog) July 21, 2022

Kyle Larson is still optimistic despite average performance in 2022

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The 2022 season with the new Nex-Gen cars hasn’t been at par with the California native’s previous performance.

When asked what he thought of his title defense this year? He responded, “I haven’t been frustrated yet. I think I understand that the season we had last year was hard to repeat, especially going into a season with a new car and all that. I’m sure if we were in last year’s car and I was sitting here with the same stats, I’d probably be frustrated. But I think having the understanding that we have a new car, pit stops and everything, that helps kind of forget about the success, I guess, of last year.”

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Watch This Story: Ty Gibbs Gets the Better of Kyle Larson

Do you think Kyle will be able to defend his championship this year? or will the like of Chase Elliot win it this year? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments.

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Written by:

Srijan Mandal is a NASCAR author at EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Master’s in Journalism and has been writing for his own blog, 'Noobs Onboard', for a while now, covering NASCAR, F1, W Series, MotoGP, WRC and the WEC. Following motorsports for more than a decade now, he has become a devout supporter of McLaren Racing, Sir Lewis Hamilton, and Ayrton Senna.

Edited by:

Pritam Priyedarshi