SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Kyle Larson has four wins at three of the NASCAR Cup Series road courses and would love to add the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit to the list.
The 31-year-old racer holds the distinction as the Hendrick Motorsports driver with the best result of third on the 2.439-mile course—and ranks third behind Jeff Gordon (9) and Chase Elliott (7) for most wins when turning right and left.
Larson, who is running the 2024 Indianapolis, plans to reveal the No, 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on Sunday morning. With his packed schedule this weekend jetting between Indianapolis and Knoxville, Iowa, Larson had no time to dwell on his IndyCar debut.
“I’m sure I’ll overthink the crap out of it come March, April of next year,” Larson said. “But for right now, I’m just so busy racing all the time. If I wasn’t racing as much as I am, yeah, I’d have more time to sit around and think about upcoming events that I’m going to run.
“But especially this week, my mind has been on this race and Knoxville, so I haven’t thought about the 500 at all.”
Larson will start sixth in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Following time trials, he had to attend the team debrief before departing for Iowa—which precluded Larson from hanging out with the Arrow McLaren team.
“I won’t be in like a super rush to leave, but their race starts when our debrief goes on,” Larson said. “So, I’ll miss the beginning. I’ll probably roll out after the debrief and get to Knoxville. I haven’t been here all weekend to even see them for their practices and qualifying. So I’m kind of out of the loop on everything.
“I don’t really feel like going in, being in the way for 15 minutes just to so people can take a picture of me. I’ll try and pay attention on my phone as I’m going to the airport. But yeah, I’ll have to get to Knoxville.”
After finishing second to Carson Macedo in his preliminary night at Knoxville Speedway on Thursday, Larson had enough points to win the pole for the 62nd Knoxville Nationals. Although he won the iconic event two years ago, he’s always wanted to add winning the pole to his list of accomplishments. On Saturday night, he’ll start alongside his long-time friend and competitor Rico Abreu.
“Rico, in my opinion, he’s been the favorite all year,” Larson said. “He’s been the best car all around, but then he’s been the best car by far at Knoxville. Donnie (Schatz, 11-time Knoxville Nationals winner) has always been tough, for sure. (Logan) Schuchart, he’ll be really good.
“Everybody in the top six is going to have a shot to win. Then you got guys like (David) Gravel coming from deep in the field and Brad (Sweet, WoO champion), so it’ll be tough.”
Larson was the last racer to win a Saturday night World of Outlaws feature when he out-dueled Schuchart for the win last weekend at Pevely, Mo., in the Ironman 55 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway.
Unlike the inconsistency, Larson has experienced in NASCAR this season, his dirt game has been spot-on.
“Well, I’ve had a great year in dirt and our cup season has been very up and down,” Larson said. “Speed-wise it’s been up but results-wise it has been up and down. So I would say it doesn’t matter. But if I wasn’t having a good season on dirt, maybe I’d be having a worse season in Cup. But I don’t really know.
“Just try to race as much as I can, get as much seat time as I can, and yes, I believe it does help your mentality and your confidence.”
Larson also believes having an international flair to Sunday’s NASCAR race will be a bonus as well. Shane Van Gisbergen, who qualified eighth, leads the list of bona fide road course ringers that includes Brodie Kostecki (11th), Kamui Kobayashi (28th), Jenson Button (31st), and Mike Rockenfeller (37th).
“I enjoy it for sure to see those guys try to figure it out and they’re always competitive,” Larson said. “Having Shane win in Chicago, I thought was amazing for everything, really, for our sport, for Supercars, for his career, all of that. So I like to see it. This week, there are a lot of ringers in the field in good equipment as well. All of us enjoy it.
“I think people sometimes assume that we don’t like when outsiders come into our sport. But, personally, and I think I can speak for the rest of your typical American NASCAR drivers, that we all love it. I would love to see them get to experience an oval and stuff like that as well.”
Larson believes that having elite talent from other series can also provide teaching moments to the NASCAR Cup regulars.
“I think the opportunity is there to always learn off of them,” Larson said. “Whether you’re looking at their data, running behind them on the race track, or in front of them battling to keep them behind you, there’s always an opportunity to learn.
“I think when you get drivers from different backgrounds, it’s great. I think the same can be said for me even when I race a sprint car. There are things that I learned from NASCAR that I’m sure I take to that and those guys probably learn off of me racing around me. It’s always good to race with people from that race other things.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
