If there are times where you wonder if NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson is from another planet - you are not alone.

The 33-year-old from Elk Grove, California is now a two-time title winner after somehow pipping Denny Hamlin to the 2025 championship in a gripping finale in Phoenix.

Hamlin, who is still without that elusive first Cup Series title, led for more than 200 laps and looked in complete control right up to the final caution and restart. Then what turned out to be a fatal decision to pit for four tires instead of just two changed things in an instant.

It was a moment which once again showed the Hendrick Motorsports superstar’s ability to capitalize on the smallest of opportunities, as he claimed the advantage and the second title of an already glittering career.

Kyle’s other-worldly skills were up for discussion this week as legends of the sport Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart put those talents under the microscope in a podcast discussion about the Mount Rushmore of multi-skilled drivers.

Clearly they are both in awe of both his ability and his resume.

Dale Jr and Tony Stewart on Kyle Larson

Dale Jr kicked things off by asking Stewart: “Isn’t Larson like this alien? Where he’s kind of like you were in your prime, AJ Foyt, a Mario Andretti - a guy that can jump in anything. You know, Mario Andretti could jump in a Cup car and win a Daytona 500.”

Stewart, himself a four-time Cup Series champion, was in full agreement as he responded: “Absolutely, no doubt. I mean, the funny thing about that kid, it’s like you pick him up, you put him in a car, go play nice with the other kids.

“Just send him off, you don’t have to tell him anything, you just send him off and let him drive. And he figures it out. What he does, going from late models to sprint cars and then getting in the Cup car - and how good he is at all of them - you don’t find guys like that any more.

“He is the diamond in the rough for sure.”

Larson will begin the defense of his Cup Series title on February 1 when the 2026 season opens with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.