Kyle Larson returns to iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway competing in his “day job” as a NASCAR Cup Series driver in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG.
During the Month of May, the California native moonlighted as an NTT INDYCAR SERIES competitor, racing the No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
In his first try at the prestigious event, Larson earned Rookie of the Year honors after qualifying an impressive fifth among 33 participants and finishing 18th.
Unfortunately, inclement weather dampened Larson’s “double” attempt despite being whisked away after the completion of the “500” to rush to Charlotte Motor Speedway in hopes of joining the in-progress Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race.
Because the Indianapolis 500 was delayed and the “600” was rain shortened, the hopes of being the fifth driver – joining John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch – to make an attempt at completing 1,100 miles in the same day was washed away.
The sour taste didn’t settle long for Larson. The busy schedule of racing all over the country from dirt tracks to a rigorous Cup Series schedule allows him to keep focus ahead rather than dwell on the past.
But this weekend allows Larson the rare opportunity to do both. His journey competing in the Indianapolis 500 was too massive not to reminisce, albeit the flow of this weekend will be different.
“I’m sure once I get there, I will feel the difference in the way the NASCAR garage compares to an INDYCAR paddock,” he said.
Larson embarks on the rare feat of competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 presented by PPG in the same season. Kurt Busch was the last to do so, finishing sixth in the 2014 Indianapolis 500 for Andretti Global and 28th in the Brickyard 400 for Stewart-Haas Racing. They’re the only two drivers in racing history to win Rookie of the Year honors for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and return to race the Brickyard 400 that summer.
Other drivers to race both major events on the 2.5-mile oval in the same season are Andretti (1994, 2009), Gordon (1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004), Stewart (1999, 2001), AJ Allmendinger (2013) and Juan Pablo Montoya (2014).
Sunday’s 160-lap race (2:30 p.m. ET) is the first time the Cup Series has raced on the 2.5-mile oval since 2020, but Larson turned 280 practice laps in preparation for the “500” in May and another 200 race laps on May 26. Still, Larson cautions how much that experience translates to an advantage over the competition.
“Even though I say an Indy car and Cup car feel similar, it’s still different in the fact that an Indy car you’re running around there (IMS) wide open,” he said. “We’re going to be lifting every corner in a stock car. I think you’ll feel the weight a lot.
“The line will be similar, but it will be similar to what it was in the previous generation of car. I don’t think the laps that I have in an Indy car will mean really anything this weekend. Hopefully it does, but I’m fairly certain that it doesn’t matter.”
Larson is most eager to strap into his race car and compete at a place he said has separated itself from every other track on the schedule. Larson, the 2021 Driven2SaveLives BC39 winner, six-time Brickyard 400 starter, three-time Verizon 200 at the Brickyard participant and 2024 Indianapolis 500 rookie, has an enormous amount of respect for IMS no matter what car he’s racing around the iconic facility.
“I’ve always understood how massive the Indianapolis 500 is,” Larson said. “Living through it and really getting to experience every single day for the first time was amazing just to see how big it is just from the start to the finish when there’s 350,000 people there. Every practice day is a big deal.
“I just appreciate the facility. Every time I go there, I just appreciate it more and more. It’s just the most beautiful facility that we go to on the schedule. I think Roger Penske and his staff, Doug Boles, everybody there has just taken it already from what is the greatest facility to stretching away from the competition. It’s just a phenomenal place.
“It’s a privilege no matter what you get to race there, whether it be a midget on the dirt track or a stock car on the road course or the oval and obviously the Indy 500 is amazing. But the facility is just so, so beautiful.”
