From a 49-year-old superstar to a NASCAR king making his debut, via a tarnished 2023 winner, there’ll be plenty to keep an eye on in America’s big one
JOEY BARNES
RACEPREVIEW
LARSON: 1100 MILES IN ONE DAY
There are very few things that Kyle Larson hasn’t experienced in motorsport. He has long been notorious for bouncing from his main focus in the NASCAR Cup to various dirt tracks across the country to race late models, midgets or sprint cars. Now he adds IndyCar to his CV with the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 on 26 May. The 2021 NASCAR Cup champion will be driving the Chevrolet-powered #17 entry that is co-entered by Arrow McLaren and Rick Hendrick, for whom Larson drives in NASCAR. At 31, he is the fifth driver to attempt ‘The Double’, competing in the Indy 500 and the 600-mile Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the same day. The last to do that was Kurt Busch in 2014; the first was the late John Andretti in 1994, with Robby Gordon (five times) and Tony Stewart (twice) in between. Stewart’s 2001 effort remains the most successful, finishing sixth at Indy and third at Charlotte, and he remains the only driver to complete all 1100 miles.
“I’m not sitting here saying I’m going to win the Indy 500,” says Larson, who qualified an impressive fifth. “I could run worse than 20th all race long and not be surprised at all. It would be hard for anybody to just come into a foreign type of race car, foreign race procedures and everything, and win.”
Tony Kanaan, the 2013 winner of the Indy 500 who now serves as sporting director for Arrow McLaren, has been frequently present in aiding Larson’s transition. He also has Hendrick Motorsports technical director Brian Campe to lean on. Campe was the lead engineer with Team Penske for Juan Pablo Montoya’s victory in the 2015 500, and guided Josef Newgarden to his first IndyCar Series title in 2017.
“I guess the thing that I know is I’m with a great team,” adds Larson. “I know I’ve got a couple weeks of practice that will translate some to the race. I’ve got great team-mates [Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi and Callum Ilott]. I have Kanaan to talk to, a guy who has won the race. I have all these resources that are going to help prepare me.
“I really just want to finish the laps, enjoy the experience, gain the exp
