Kyle Larson Confirms He Is Not Running the IndyCar Race At Phoenix During 2026 Doubleheader

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.

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.”

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee

Kyle Larson

About the author

Jerry Bonkowski

Jerry Bonkowski is a veteran sportswriter who has worked full-time for many of the top media outlets in the world, including USA Today (15 years), ESPN.com (4+ years), Yahoo Sports (4 1/2 years), NBCSports.com (8 years) and others. He has covered virtually every major professional and collegiate sport there is, including the Chicago Bulls' six NBA championships (including heavy focus on Michael Jordan), the Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX-winning season, the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs World Series championships, two of the Chicago Blackhawks' NHL titles, Tiger Woods' PGA Tour debut, as well as many years of beat coverage of the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA for USA Today. But Jerry's most notable achievement has been covering motorsports, most notably NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA drag racing and Formula One. He has had a passion for racing since he started going to watch drag races at the old U.S. 30 Dragstrip (otherwise known as "Where the Great Ones Run!") in Hobart, Indiana. Jerry has covered countless NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA races and championship battles over the years. He's also the author of a book, "Trading Paint: 101 Great NASCAR Debates", published in 2010 (and he's hoping to soon get started on another book). Away from sports, Jerry was a fully sworn part-time police officer for 20 years, enjoys reading and music (especially "hair bands" from the 1980s and 1990s), as well as playing music on his electric keyboard, driving (fast, of course!), spending time with Cyndee his wife of nearly 40 years, the couple's three adult children and three grandchildren (with more to come!), and his three dogs -- including two German Shepherds and an Olde English Bulldog who thinks he's a German Shepherd.. Jerry still gets the same excitement of seeing his byline today as he did when he started in journalism as a 15-year-old high school student. He is looking forward to writing hundreds, if not thousands, of stories in the future for TheSportsRush.com, as well as interacting with readers.

Don’t miss these