NASCAR Remains Priority For Larson As He Prepares For Second Indy 500 Bid
(Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
By Dennis Krause
NASCAR driver Kyle Larson maintains his priority, and that of car owner Rick Hendrick, will be on his Cup Series commitments, both this weekend and next, as he prepares for his second bid to run the Indianapolis 500 and Coke 600 on May 25th.
Larson’s attempt to do the Hendrick 1100 was thwarted by weather last year, both in Indy where rain delayed the start of the race, and later in Charlotte where rain prevented him finishing the NASCAR race, ending the event before he got a chance to get in the car once he arrived from Indy.
According to Larson, the decision has been made that if he advances to the Firestone Fast Six in qualifying on Sunday, he will likely forfeit his chance to run for the pole in order to get to North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to run for the $1,000,000 prize in NASCAR’s All Star race where he is a three-time winner.
“Yeah, I think just always for me and definitely for Rick and Hendrick Motorsports, I think no matter through this whole experience, especially this year, Cup should be the priority. Yeah, I just assume we're going to run the All-Star Race no matter what.
“Hopefully we run into that predicament because that means our car is fast, and two, yes, it would be extremely nice to go for the pole at the Indianapolis 500, but at the same time it's hard to turn down an opportunity to race for a million dollars.
“Like I said, I hope we're in that predicament.”
(Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
That being said, the current NASCAR Cup Series point leader says his focus this week is on Indy, and not on the All Star race.
“Yeah, just focused on Indy now. Before I left Kansas, (NASCAR crew chief) Cliff (Daniels) and I talked, maybe if there was time on Saturday during qualifying, we could get together and just talk about how their practice went and stuff like that and get prepared for the race on Sunday.
“But yeah, I think it's nice that we are so kind of well-organized over there that I can completely shut myself off from them for a handful of days to really try and learn this and get prepared for the 500 because there's just a lot that's a little bit unfamiliar that you've got to get refamiliarized with this week.”
As far as his first day of practice, Tuesday, at Indy, Larson was pleased with his first day back in the No. 17 hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
“Yeah, our day was good. Kind of took it easy to start in clean air, made sure our balance was comfortable, which it was, so was happy about that. Then yeah, just there at the end kind of finally got in some traffic and as normal kind of had some understeer. But just happy with the first day. It was a nice smooth day. Good place to start from.”
(Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
While he did briefly run in traffic, Larson was more focused on hitting his marks rather than making adjustments from the cockpit.
“Yeah, just right there at the end. I don't know, six, seven laps maybe, and I was in the front two or three cars. I felt balance-wise okay, just a little bit draggy. I felt like people could pass me earlier down the straightaway than when I would pass them, it would be later down the straightaway. I think we could work on that probably and work on the balance maybe a little bit, but I could also do some things differently in the cockpit. I was more so just trying to hit my marks today than worry about adjusting on things.
“I think we can get better, but it was a good start today.”
Larson’s best speed Tuesday was 221.207 mph, good for 24th overall. His best non-tow speed (unaided by a car 10-seconds or less in front) was 217.752, 13th best on the day.
2013 “500” winner and Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan will take a refresher test Wednesday morning in case he needs stand in for Larson on race day should weather delay the start in Indianapolis and Larson must leave for Charlotte.
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.