Kyle Larson completed every lap of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, finishing 18th in the NASCAR star’s debut on “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” despite a pair of rookie mistakes that cost him a chance to be. in the fight at the end.
Then he got into a pickup truck, headed to a waiting helicopter and headed to the Cup race in Charlotte.
Larson was attempting to become the fifth driver to do “The Double” by racing the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. But when a severe storm halted pre-race festivities in Indianapolis and delayed the start of the Indy 500 by four hours, Larson had to choose between the IndyCar race and the NASCAR race.
He ended up staying in the Indy 500, where he fulfilled one of his professional ambitions just by taking the green flag.
“I would definitely love to come back next year,” Larson said afterward. “I feel like I learned a lot. I made a couple of mistakes early on with the reboot, not sure what I did there. “I feel like I did a really good job after that and I was able to learn a lot.”
Larson started fifth and spent most of the 200-lap race, won for the second consecutive time by Josef Newgarden, alongside the leaders. But he made a small mistake shifting gears on an early restart and lost about 10 spots, then made a big one later in the race when Larson locked his tires entering pit road and was caught speeding. .
Larson was sixth at the time, but had to pit again to take the penalty, which dropped him out of the top 20. He managed to make up a couple of spots in the final 70 laps, but never received a yellow flag that could have left him out. out. an opportunity.
“This killed our chance,” Larson said of the mistake on pit road. “I could have executed it better.”
Although Larson didn’t have a chance to complete every lap in both races, he insisted on finishing the day in Charlotte, where Justin Allgaier had started the Cup race in his place. There were about 275 of the 400 laps left to go there, and Larson was hoping to get into his No. 5 car in time to take a second checkered flag.
“I’ve been around Kyle a little bit throughout my career. He is an extraordinary driver,” said NASCAR driver Noah Gragson, “and to be able to see one of our guys who we have raced with every weekend try a different discipline of motorsports is really cool.”
Arrow McLaren unveiled the car for Larson in partnership with Hendrick Motorsports. With rain in the forecast all week, the big question entering Sunday was whether NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick would call off the effort and send Larson to Charlotte early so he could compete for stage points and boost his chances. in the Cup playoffs. .
But when the rain ended, a Hendrick Motorsports spokesperson confirmed that the Indy 500 would be the priority.
Hendrick was on hand in Indianapolis to watch the race, along with Jeff Gordon, vice president of Hendrick Motorsports, who largely grew up in Indiana and once dreamed of racing the Indy 500. They were joined by hundreds of other fans who gathered around the No. 17 when he was pushed to the grid about an hour before the green flag dropped.
The storm that hit Sunday wasn’t the first to disrupt Larson’s plans. Earlier this month, he had to miss several days of practice, partially or completely, which limited the amount of time he could spend in the car.
Larson’s attempt at “The Double” had captivated those within the racing world. Most of its Hendrick Motorsports team flew to Indianapolis on Friday to watch the final Carburetor Day practice, and drivers in Charlotte were watching the rain-delayed start of the Indy 500 before heading to their own cars and preparing. for the start of the race. Cup Series Race.
“I’m excited for the NASCAR side, but I’m more excited for the sprint car side, to see another sprint car driver go to the Indianapolis 500,” NASCAR driver Chase Briscoe said. “He’s kind of from Indy background. You had these sprint car guys that came and ran (you had AJ Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Jack Hewitt, Bryan Clauson recently) and that was always the thing. If you were the best sprint car guy, you wanted to race the Indy 500. That was the dream. So from that point of view, it’s great.”
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