In 2020 Kyle Larson was on the verge of the biggest career change of his life. As the biggest free agent in NASCAR in years it was no surprise that the two biggest teams with vacancies in Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing were knocking on his door. Ultimately he chose Hendrick and it was clearly the right decision. What if that wasn’t the case though? What if Kyle Larson went to SHR?
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42 comments
What do you think would change in NASCAR had Kyle Larson went to SHR instead of Hendrick?
Erik Jones or Brad Keselowski would be at Hendrick
Harvick would’ve won more races
Larson wouldn’t’ve gotten that waiver, that’s for sure.
@@brittonnevans2208 yes he wouldve quit crying about it
Tony would have stayed engaged (no pun intended) and he wouldn’t have pissed away Harvick’s last couple of years.
I’ll be bitter forever
I think if Larson went to SHR they would’ve gotten Kyle Busch too
can you imagine that team, Kevin, Kyle and Kyle. Its entirely possible Kevin doesn’t retire because its still fun, as having those 2 as teammates would easily elevate the team in terms of performance, even if they don’t have the power of Hendrick.
Having the two Kyle’s on the same time sounds like a recipe for confusion
@@hengineerharvick woulda prob gone as long as mark martin (maybe not harry gant)
I completely agree, that’d totally happen
A NASCAR Alternate Universe? A Suprise to be sure, but a welcome one at that!
I love democracy…
He’d run slightly better than he did at CGR. If SHR was allowed to make an offer to Larson, he could’ve still ended up at HMS anyway.
As a former intern at SHR
The contract was in dry ink
It was gonna happen if ford didn’t say no at the last second
Even if Ford said yes I HIGHLY doubt Larson would have went to SHR. The idea of Larson going to Hendrick was talked about as early as 2014 and the legitimate rumors of him going to HMS for the 2021 season started mid to late 2019. From all I heard, Larson in a Hendrick chevy was pretty much a lock before the 2020 season even started, the suspension just forced them to take even more time to figure out how sponsorship would work out.
@@jacobevenson8702 uh man
He was going to go to SHR before ford said no
TRUST me I know way more about that whole situation than you do
No offense at all
@@JackCallSports I’m not denying anything you said, but who’s to say the exact same scenario didn’t happen at HMS and Chevy was all in while ford wasn’t? Realistically there is no way in my mind that SHR would have been his top pick given the equipment difference and the fact that Rick was clearly willing to fund Larson’s entire first season with the team out of pocket. The entire time it only seemed like he’d go to SHR if the HMS deal fell through.
@@darthhull85 word about something like that would probably get around pretty quick in all honesty.
Too bad Ford didn’t want to take him due to his reputation at that point in time. Larson would’ve been the new Harvick t the team for many years to come no doubt, and would definitely brought in new sponsors. meanwhile, HMS would probably snag Noah Gragson instead to replace Johnson. Ross may have gone to HMS if Gragson stayed in Xfinity in 2021 in this alternate universe.
WHEN DID KYLE LARSON ROCK A MULLET?? WOAHH
Mullets: the official hairdo of NASCAR
@@lets-go-larson5 i feel like every nascar driver has worn the mullet at some point in their career
2022 i’m pretty sure
where did you even see that…?
@@jacobevenson8702 thumbnail
I guarantee this is an alternate universe a lot of SHR fans wished existed.
If Larson went to SHR, i think the team would be top tier Ford, nothing would change my mind than Tony Stewart give the middle finger to Ford and NASCAR after Ford rejected Larson, and Ford reject Larson just to not be canceled in Twitter (and i think this is what pissed Smoke)
If that happened, I don’t think the team would’ve shut down after the season
Kahne at one point was supposed to go to SHR as well but Hendrick got him first. Same with Larson
Kahne was reportedly also a contender for the #41 team for 2020 before retirement happened.
What could’ve happened if Kyle Larson went to Stewart-Haas Racing instead of Hendrick Motorsports?
– Martin Truex Jr would be a 2-Time Champion.
– SHR wouldn’t go downhill (The organization would still contend for wins in 2023, as well as get more wins in 2021 and 2022).
– An up-and-coming talent or an experienced veteran would drive the iconic #5 car.
– Larson would still be a Playoff Contender (I don’t know how far he’ll go though).
They wouldn’t have brought back the 5 car and SHR was gonna close either way. The only reason they had the 5 car was because they had to rebrand the 48 car. There was no way ally would sponsor Larson but they wanted Larson in the 24/48 half of the hendrick garage. The 88 became the new 48 and the old 48 became the 5. With SHR, you can only elevate equipment so much. In the end, the team still goes belly up because you’re not getting 4 cars consistent finishes.
What if Kyle Busch went to 23xi Racing instead of RCR racing in 2023.
It obviously would have made SHR more competitive but I don’t see Larson winning four races in 2021 given HMS’s across-the-board advantage in the last year of the Gen6 car that nobody was trying to improve. SHR had lost all their downforce advantage late in 2020 (Rodney Childers has talked about this often) while HMS found something at around the same time that put them in a class of their own.
The fact chase finished 2nd to Larson so many times in 21 makes me think he would’ve picked up some of those wins and probably that championship
Denny would have at least been the favorite in 2021 if Larson wasn’t there. He went winless through the regular season and still somehow almost stole the regular season championship from Larson. If Larson is in the 14 Hamlin would clear the field at least in points
Man, this alternate reality hurts. Very tough to root for anyone since I was a big fan of Stewart growing up.
He wouldn’t have had a season like 2021 and no title.
The only team any driver should pick against HMS is JGR. HMS was and is always going to be the best option. SHR might’ve been better than CGR but not great.
Ford said No, Tony fought tooth and nail to get Kyle in a SHR car. Ford said No, so they deserved this part of the sinking ship.
I think the last straw for stewart was losing larson. First he was soured by Harvick losing 2020, then Larson at the same time…he was out of fucks to give at that point.
SHR ends up with KB too and it kicks off a 16 year period of dominance where it becomes the Kyle-Kyle show, each winning 8 championships. Their reign is brought to an end when Jimmie Johnson has their aircraft sabotaged in separate incidents, like Junior Johnson did to Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison in ’93.