Kyle Larson seldom shies away from a dare. The latest challenge that he has taken up is the Hendrick 1100 which requires him to complete the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, May 26. Few have been brave enough to attempt this double duty and fewer have been successful. Wading into deep waters, Larson has but one key worry on his mind.
Advertisement
In a recent interview with Fox40 Sports, he spoke about how the cars are on boost during the qualifying sessions in IndyCar and that it will be the fastest that he has ever gone in a race car. Mentioning it as something that is maybe causing him some nerves, he said, “That’s going to be the fastest I’ve gone in my life. It’s gonna be like 245 [mph] at the end of the straightaways.”
Regardless of those concerns, the wait that he has endured since the announcement [Early 2023] of his IndyCar debut has him eagerly anticipating the doubleheader. He underwent an open-day test for the Indy 500 on Wednesday and made an immediate impact. He raced second fastest on the grid and recorded a 226.384 mph lap.
Despite the show of promise, Larson did not let things get to his head. He told the press, as reported by Sportsnaut, “I saw Twitter was going crazy because ‘Oh, Kyle Larson was second in his first IndyCar practice with people,’ but there’s a lot of people that weren’t drafting out there or didn’t have the draft that I had. I take the credit but it’s really not a big deal, either.”
Larson looks forward to a challenging day during the Memorial Day weekend
The driver acknowledged to Fox40 Sports that he has never attempted something that demands the same as the upcoming doubleheader. He believed that it would be the closest that he could get to experience what being a triathlete would be like. Between the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, he will have a small window of 2 hours to fly from Indianapolis to Charlotte and jump into his Hendrick Motorsports car.
The different styles of racing that IndyCar and NASCAR demand will be a stark mixup for him to adjust to in that tiny gap. Thankfully, he will have an experienced team, including spotters Tyler Monn and Travis Gregg, to coast him through the effort. “I look forward to the challenge and I think it will be fun,” he said.
