INDIANAPOLIS – Kyle Larson’s garage stand in Gasoline Alley drew its usual crowd Thursday morning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
But this intense group was all business compared to the crowd of celebratory spectators usually fixated on the NASCAR Cup Series champion’s every move as he prepared to qualify for his Indianapolis 500 debut.
After replacing the engine as a precaution, Arrow McLaren team members rushed around the No. 17 Dallara Chevrolet from the moment the IndyCar garage opened at 8 a.m. for an extended practice session that started two hours later.
Larson missed the opening bell but was on track at 11:26 a.m. and made just a few laps before fellow rookie Linus Lundqvist hit the SAFER barrier at the exit of Turn 2 (the Swedish Chip Ganassi Racing driver was fine after the hit).
At 2:00 p.m., Larson had still only completed 11 laps, placing him last on the speed chart among 34 drivers with a best lap of 217.079 mph (because he had not yet driven in traffic that produces much higher speeds) .
“We’re a little behind,” Larson said. “Just because we fell behind we missed the drafting runs, so now we’ll just go back to the qualifying simulations to experience that.”
Thursday was the last scheduled practice day this week with race lineups. Teams will get a turbo boost on Friday, adding 100 horsepower, bringing average speeds during Saturday and Sunday’s qualifying sessions for the 108th Indy 500 to more than 230 mph.
With the track only open for three hours the previous two days due to rain, Larson and his one-off team had to play catch-up as the terrifying prospect of a four-lap qualifying round around the 2.8-mile oval loomed.
Described by many as the toughest 10 miles in motorsports, qualifying for the Indy 500 can be like landing a plane in heavy crosswinds. Sustaining at a top speed of 400 km/h, drivers must press buttons and turn knobs on the steering wheel while their engineers go through adjustments to optimize weight distribution and engine mapping for maximum results.
Although he has been practicing on the simulator at GM Motorsports’ Charlotte Technical Center, which is adjacent to Hendrick Motorsports in Concord, North Carolina, Larson began focusing on getting used to qualifying on Thursday afternoon (albeit without the turbo boost).
“Yeah, I just don’t really know what to expect with the boost and all that. Just going through the motions of, I guess, pressing buttons on our steering wheel and turning knobs and stuff will be interesting,” he said. “So far, the last few days have been going well. I just need a few more laps.
“There’s still a lot to learn and get comfortable with, but so far I feel like it’s been pretty smooth for me. I’m getting some drawing assignments (Wednesday), just to get familiar with everything.
Larson also tries to tame the slowest part of the track. He was given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane on Wednesday and also struggled with some false starts on the exit.
“I continue to find it difficult to leave the pit box and get into the anti-stall, so I have to improve there,” he said. “But yeah, just try to keep getting reps in so that all the little things are more natural and easier for race day.
“I think we’re done with race runs until I guess next week. So yeah, that’s a bit of a shame. I wish I’d had a bit more time setting up, but I suspect Monday (training) will be a bit more of that and of course (Carb Day last training May 24). So there’s still a lot of opportunity, there’s still a lot of hours left to get all that, but you’re kind of switching over now to qualifying and what that is and what you have to feel and all that.
Rain is forecast again for Friday, which could limit its exposure to the turbo boost. That will have little impact on the amount of attention he has received as he attempts to become the fifth Cup driver to race the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.
When practice finally started on Wednesday, several dozen fans gaped from behind his timing stand, while the rest of the pit lane was virtually empty.
Indianapolis native Conor Daly, who will attempt his 11th Indy 500 this year, has noticed the impact the latest NASCAR crossover is having.
“When I go into the comments sections of my podcasts and stuff, there’s a lot of excitement about Kyle Larson,” says Daly, co-host of the Speed Street podcast for Dirty Mo Media. “I’m excited about Kyle Larson. I’ve noticed that the most viewed episodes of my podcast are those of Kyle Larson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are.
“So NASCAR is so powerful that you need some kind of crossover that’s going to be useful, right? It must be useful to us. We have to embrace it.”
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The crossover would be further enhanced as Larson is in the race for the pole position on Sunday before heading to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the NASCAR All-Star Race.
The twelve fastest drivers from Saturday’s qualifying will advance to two rounds of Indy 500 pole qualifying on Sunday. Arrow McLaren placed all four of its Chevys in the Fast 12 last year, and Larson says for now that’s the goal.
“The team has sent me a list of where rookies qualified since 2018, just to have a goal in mind, I guess, and there really haven’t been that many rookies who qualified that well,” he said. “If I could make the Fast 12, I think that would be a pretty good achievement for us and a composite team.”
Nate Ryan has been writing about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is the host of the NASCAR on NBC Podcast and has also covered several other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.
