The shift from stock car to open-wheel racing can be quite drastic, but former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson seems to be keeping his options open. Larson will be competing in the iconic Indy 500 this season with Arrow McLaren and there have been rumors about him making the switch to IndyCar. In a recent interview with FOX, Yung Money was asked about a potential switch and while he was not exactly a fan of the idea, it was not an outright denial of the prospect.
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“I don’t know. Never say never, I guess, but I don’t know,” he said. I don’t foresee myself doing a full season ever. But I guess check back in 10 years or something and maybe I’ll maybe I’ll have a different answer. But right now, I don’t have any desire to run a full season. I just think I would get smoked.”
on Kyle Larson’s 1st day in an Indy car. pic.twitter.com/ZrAKFG3IaF
— Nathan Brown (@By_NathanBrown) October 12, 2023
Some fans may be confused by this statement because he ran quite well in an Indy 500 practice session a few weeks back. The reason Larson is not sold on the idea of becoming a full-time IndyCar racer is simply because he does not believe that he would be very competitive. Yung Money does not fancy his racecraft on road courses and IndyCar has that in abundance.
Larson has had examples from the past to look at as well. There have been examples of Cup Series racers making the switch and failing miserably. That even includes the great seven-time Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson.
Jimmie Johnson’s failures haunt Kyle Larson’s Indy aspirations
As per the current driver of the #5 car, Johnson is the greatest driver to have ever raced in NASCAR. So when even someone like him struggles to get the job done, you wouldn’t be filled with a lot of enthusiasm. There is also the matter of age which is extremely crucial in motorsports and for a driver in his 30s, venturing into open-wheel racing might not be the best idea.
“I don’t want to just do it to do it. I would want to do it and be competitive. And I feel like your window of age to do that — I’m 31 now — I don’t think I would be competitive trying to learn something new at 40. Jimmie [Johnson] going to do that, who’s the best stock-car racer of all time, he struggled really bad at the road courses [from 2021-22]. I view that and I’m like, “Man, I don’t think I could do a whole lot better, probably,” the former Cup Series champion added.
Then again, Yung Money is one of the most versatile drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series today as he runs different types of races in the middle of the week (sprint cars for example). He might do a better job than Johnson but still, winning races in Indy would prove to be a humungous challenge.
