McDonald: Could Kyle Larson be the next Mario Andretti?

Kyle Larson – a front-engine car ace. We'll see if he can dominate in a rear-engine car

Norris McDonald of the Toronto Star makes the observation that Kyle Larson could be, like Mario Andretti, a driver who can race any kind of car

Every now and again in racing, you come across a guy who can drive just about any kind of car.

This doesn’t happen all that often.

Mario Andretti is really the only one I can think of, off the top of my head. Mario could race — and win — on dirt bullrings in a sprint car or a midget, drive Indy cars and stock cars on paved ovals or road courses and race sports cars and Formula One cars whenever and wherever. He won the Indy 500, the Daytona 500 and the F1 world championship.

A.J. Foyt was close to Mario, winning at Le Mans, but that was just one race while the F1 title was a season’s worth. Dan Gurney could race stock cars, Indy cars, F1 and sports cars but never ran the sprints and midgets. Bobby Unser was versatile as well.

A young Mario Andretti

Now comes Kyle Larson. This weekend, he finished second Saturday night to the incomparable Donny Schatz at the Indy 500 of sprint car racing, the Knoxville Nationals, and then Sunday afternoon, he won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race at Michigan International.