"He doesn't always utilize his talents": When Jeff Gordon offered mixed praise for Kyle Busch in talent debate with Tony Stewart

During his time racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, Jeff Gordon was asked for his opinion on who the most talented driver was on the grid at that time. Gordon chose not to say his own name but instead picked his competitors, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart. While sharing that Stewart was simply the most talented driver he had raced against, Gordon believed that neither of them completely made use of their full potential. He also added that Busch tends to be aggressive.

In an interview from 2010, when he was driving for Hendrick Motorsports, Gordon was asked by NASCAR journalist Jeff Gluck who his pick would be for the most talented driver. He replied, via SBNATION:

"Can I have a two-part answer? It's a combination of Tony (Stewart) and Kyle (Busch). I think sometimes Kyle just gets too aggressive and doesn't always utilize his talents the best he possibly can. And then I think Tony sometimes needs that extra push of motivation to utilize his talents. To me, I think Tony is one of the most talented drivers I've ever raced against."

By the end of the 2010 season, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Jeff Gordon finished seventh, eighth, and ninth in the championship standings.

Stewart, driving for his team for the second year, finished the season having won two races, scored nine Top 5s, and 17 Top 10s. Kyle Busch, in his third year with Joe Gibbs Racing, won three races and achieved 10 Top 5 and 18 Top 10 finishes.

Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon secured 11 Top 5s and 17 Top 10s in one of only four seasons in his career where he went winless.

Jeff Gordon shares the name of the driver he admires most outside of NASCAR

Jeff Gordon (left) walks with Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton before the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, November 22nd 2015 - Source: Imagn

Speaking with journalist Jeff Gluck in 2010, Jeff Gordon was also asked about the driver he's a fan of who didn't race alongside him in the stock car racing competition. Looking at Formula 1, Gordon admitted that he used to be a Michael Schumacher fan, but later took a liking to Lewis Hamilton.

The main thing that the HMS driver admired about the F1 talents was their cars and their races in exotic locations. He said, via the aforementioned source:

"I mean, I admired Michael Schumacher up until this year, but he's been brought back to earth. Before, he was like Michael Jordan. I like Lewis Hamilton a lot, I think he's really talented. The thing is, you usually can admire somebody from afar, but I like to always follow that up with meeting them and getting to know them and basing it off that. You don't really get a chance to do that with guys from (Formula One).

"But I love what they do and I love watching them, mostly because they get to drive really cool cars. And they get to travel to really cool places. That's what I admire about them! (laughs)."

The closest Jeff Gordon got to racing a Formula 1 car was during a testing session where he drove Williams FW24 in 2003.