Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson will be one step closer to his much-hyped Indy 500 debut after Sunday’s race in Kansas. His participation in the event will be a part of his Double Duty effort to complete the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. While the racing world is eagerly awaiting to watch him try his hand in this challenge he doesn’t have his mind stuffed with it.
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Responding to a question from the press about his anxiety levels heading to May 26, he said that he was pretty relaxed. His words went, “I think everybody else thinks about it a lot more than I do. I think, as often as I race, I stay pretty relaxed with everything that I got coming up. So, just treating it normally. But yeah, I mean, for sure I’m excited about it. But I’m not overly anxious at the same time.”
Having known and prepared for the race for a long time now, Larson is in a position to get out on the race track already. Though he admits that the emotions of driving in the infamous IndyCar Series will be overwhelming pre-race, he is sure that once he is strapped in behind the wheel and the engines are fired up, he will be able to calm down.
The reason behind Kyle Larson’s incredible calmness heading to the Indy 500
The worst thing the Hendrick driver can do in the days leading up to his debut in the Indy 500 is lose focus on his main job in the Cup Series. With an impressive outing in the first 11 races, he is poised to challenge for his second championship title. It would be a shame for him to lose track at this point and he is aware of it.
Speaking to reporters ahead of last weekend’s race in Dover, he said, “Everybody thinks that I should be preparing for Indy every single day but we’re in the middle of our Cup Season. So, it’s important for me to focus on that… I will have to take some focus off of the NASCAR stuff once I get to Indy. But for right now, I feel like I’ve done as much as I can.”
Larson has time and time again proven his versatility in multiple racing disciplines. He has all the reasons and justification to not be spending all his time prepping for the upcoming challenge in Indianapolis. But that doesn’t make it any less difficult. The Double Duty effort will be a key milestone in building his legacy in motorsports.
