Over the years in racecar driving, there have been a handful of drivers who can do it all. In NASCAR, there have been two such names from two different generations. There was Tony Stewart, and now there is Kyle Larson.

Both of them have had careers in which they’ve tasted success like no other in a variety of types of racecar driving.

But there was one point in time in which their paths coincided, in which the veteran Stewart, who knew of Larson’s talent and immense potential right from the get-go, could’ve signed the youngster on his team, but he failed to do so.

As for why this fell through was because of a reason Stewart doesn’t really like going into. And in a recent interview as well, he maintained his silence on why he failed to secure Kyle Larson to his team.

Tony Stewart refrains from mentioning the “one hurdle” he faced in signing Kyle Larson

In a recent interview on Bubba the Love Sponge Show, the subject of Larson coming extremely close to being signed by Tony Stewart many, many years ago, came in the conversation. The host mentioned that it was “no secret” that Stewart wanted Larson, and it would’ve happened if not for one “scrape up.”

“We did, and we were really close,” Stewart said about potentially signing Larson. “We just had one hurdle to cross at the end, again I won’t mention, but yeah, we had one hurdle that we could not get across.”

The host then mentioned how there was AJ Foyt, someone who could do it all, then there was Stewart himself, and now there is Larson, that he is “the next guy” on that list. “Yeah, absolutely,” Stewart said to that.

“The thing about Kyle Larson is, he’s one of those kids that you literally, you take him out of a box, you put him in a car, and you just pat him on the head and go, ‘Go have fun,'” he described. “He just can drive anything and he doesn’t have to think about it.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Tony Stewart tries to bite his tongue as he reveals the difference between his and his wife’s car. 

Larson remains one of the biggest regrets of Tony Stewart’s career

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After Larson won the 2021 Cup championship with 10 wins to his name, Stewart claimed that the day he learned he couldn’t sign him was so frustrating for him that he said he didn’t even have words to describe how he felt.

“That will be one of the biggest regrets of my professional career is not getting that kid and having an opportunity to race him in our cars,” Stewart had said of Larson, according to Racing News. “He’s a once-in-a-lifetime driver. I say he’s a unicorn.”

Stewart described Larson as “one of those guys” who are very tough to come across in a lifetime. “It’s probably gonna be a long time before we see another person step up and another driver step up and do what Kyle has been able to do in the last year and a half,” he added.

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