Last year, NASCAR star Kyle Larson’s debut at the Indianapolis 500 was completely uneventful. In fact, it looked as if he had been racing in the 500 for 15 or more years. From his rookie orientation, through an open test, several days of practice, qualifying and the 108th Running of the 500, Larson started fifth and ultimately finished 18th, earning Rookie of the Year honors.
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But in his sophomore year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during Thursday’s second day of open testing for this year’s 500, it ultimately wound up being a rookie mistake by Larson. This gave him his first up-close look and feel of just how hard IMS’ walls truly are.
As he was getting up to speed on his first lap of the day, it’s likely the tires on Larson’s car were not quite up to full heat. In Turn 1, Larson exited too fast, clipped the wall and damaged the right front suspension, leaving him with no control over the car.
The Arrow McLaren open-wheel Indy car slid across the track in the short chute between Turns 1 and 2 and then hit the wall again in Turn 2 before coming to a stop at the exit of Turn 2, ending Larson’s day prematurely.
While his car was damaged, Larson himself wasn’t hurt – except for maybe his pride.
“You hate to tear up a really expensive car, but the same point, I’m happy that I got it (his first wreck at Indy) out of the way,” Larson said, according to FoxSports.com. “It didn’t feel too, too different than like hitting the wall in a similar fashion in NASCAR.
“I know obviously there could be much bigger wrecks than that in Indy, but I’m happy that it didn’t feel way bad.” Larson added.
Larson’s first-ever tangle with the IMS wall will likely not be his last. Heck, even the best of IndyCar’s best have hit the wall numerous times over the years, including pretty much every driver entered in the 109th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing this year.
Will it be the Daily Double or double trouble for Larson?
The Elk Grove, California native is making his second bid at completing the “Double” — finishing the Indy 500 and then completing NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 later that evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
While several drivers have attempted the Double, only one – NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart – has completed all 1,100 miles, finishing sixth at Indy and third at Charlotte in 2001.
Kyle Larson hoped to emulate Stewart’s showing last year, but weather caused the 500 to be delayed by rain for several hours, ending Larson’s hope of getting to Charlotte in time for the 600. He will attempt it again one month from now on May 25 – provided he doesn’t have any more wrecks between now and then, that is.
“It just felt normal. I guess,” Larson told FoxSports.com about Thursday’s impact. “I’ve never hit the wall before in IndyCar, so as I was knowing that I was going to hit the wall, I was like, ‘Man, all right, here we go. We’ll see if it feels way worse than hitting the wall in NASCAR.’
“But it felt very similar. But again, there’s way bigger crashes here than what that was. So I know it could hurt way more than what that was,” Larson admitted.
Much harder to run the high line at Indy than in NASCAR or other series
Kyle Larson’s tangle with the IMS wall Thursday was an eye-opener but remember that Larson has had a history of hitting walls, be it in NASCAR, sprint cars or other racing series.
No matter where he has raced at over the years, Larson has made it a habit (some call it a bad habit, which used to drive his former NASCAR owner Chip Ganassi nuts at times) of riding the high line – in other words, running so close to the outside wall that he invariably would skim it, if not completely bounce off it.
While many race fans may believe Thursday’s wreck will change Larson’s approach around Indy, I wouldn’t bet on it. Sure, he may have learned a lesson, but that’s one of the key elements of Larson’s racing style: the higher he can go around a track, he also believes he can go around that track faster and quicker.
It doesn’t matter if it’s an oval, short track, superspeedway or Indy. Larson hasn’t changed his racing strategy up to now, and he’s likely not going to start doing so at Indy. While Larson’s way around racetracks has been successful for him over the years, he’s also had more than his fair share of hits costing him wins or strong finishes.
Last year at Indianapolis came almost too simple for the 32-year-old. He had no on-track incidents, to the point where he made it look easy in his quest for a high finish in the 500. Only racing at Indy is anything but easy, never has been and never will be. Much like racing at Talladega, where Larson and NASCAR visit this weekend, or other legendary Cup tracks like Darlington, Bristol or Daytona, there is no easy track in stock car racing.
And that’s the same principle Larson must adhere to at Indianapolis. Even though he made it look like beginner’s luck through the month of May last year at Indy, Thursday’s incident should be a wake-up call that if he doesn’t rein in his confidence just a slight bit and respect IMS’ historic legacy, Larson’s hope of completing the Double may never happen.
Larson has plenty of advice to rely upon
To his credit, Kyle Larson has picked the brain of a number of drivers who’ve raced in the 500 over the years, including Stewart and Kurt Busch (who attempted the Double in 2014), as well as IndyCar veterans Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Will Power and others.
Don’t get me wrong, Larson is not hard-headed. If a fellow driver tells him what he should and shouldn’t do, particularly at a place like the fabled Brickyard, Larson will invariably listen.
He may like to do things his own way – and has a trail of smashed up race cars left in his wake over the years to prove it. But if Thursday was any indication, Larson better toe the line from here through May 25th, lest his car ultimately wind up toeing another kind of line – like at the end of a tow truck.
And with Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports planning that this will be the second and last year – for now – of any partnership for future Doubles, this could be Kyle Larson saying goodbye to racing immortality in the Double.
