Kyle Larson, in a recent appearance far away from the racing tracks, has declared he will not suit up for his third straight Indianapolis 500 next year. What’s more, Larson also will not race an Indy car in next year’s NASCAR-IndyCar weekend doubleheader at Phoenix Raceway.
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Prior to throwing out the first pitch at an Arizona Diamondbacks game, Larson confirmed Thursday, during a special interview with Speed Freaks, that he’ll skip the IndyCar part of the Phoenix weekend.
The IndyCar segment will be held on Saturday, March 7, just before the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts (currently NASCAR Xfinity Series) race later that same day. It will mark the first time the IndyCar Series has raced at the one-mile flat oval since 2018.
“I think it’s awesome,” Larson said. “I love crossover motorsports. That’s kind of what I’m all about. I heard about it, and when I saw the schedule released, I got really excited.”
“I think it’s going to be great just for the fans to get to experience a lot of different racing that weekend, some high-profile racing. So kudos to both series for collaborating, and hopefully we can see more of that in the future.”
When asked if he’d consider running both the IndyCar and O’Reilly events, the Hendrick Motorsports driver was more than adamant.
“No, no, no, no, no, I’m good,” Larson said. “I’ll have a really good time watching and supporting where I can. But no, we’ll just enjoy that weekend. Maybe if it was another track, but I love Arizona so much. I like outside the track. I’ll probably be golfing, maybe during the IndyCar race.”
