Kyle Larson Gets Up to Speed at Indy Open Test
Photo Credit: Chris Jones, Penske Entertainment
Kyle Larson, who is attempting “the double” that includes both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26 with Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports, showed strong pace in Wednesday's open test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Larson’s fastest lap at 226.384 mph was topped only by reigning Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden before rain shortened the day’s track activity.
“It was a good day,” Larson said. “ We didn't get a ton of laps, or at least laps in a pack or anything like that, but it was still good for the amount that I got in, just to visually kind of see what that looked like and feel the runs and all of that. It was good.
“I feel like for what I needed to learn and check off my list, I thought it was a successful day.”
Photo Credit: Joe Skibinski, Penske Entertainment
More rain on Thursday canceled the remainder of the scheduled two-day test. Given his tight schedule, any track time at the Speedway for Larson, the current point-leader in NASCAR’s Cup Series, would have been beneficial. Or would it?
“Yeah, I don't know. I think there's a couple ways you could probably look at it. I think laps would be great. I would obviously like more laps. But I think in conditions like this, I don't know how well of a representation it would be for the month of May, especially race day.
“Maybe it's best that I don't get that many laps this week because then I would have a false sense of what's real and what's coming in a month. I think there will be a lot more to learn once we really get into the two weeks that we're on track here.”
Considered the most versatile driver of his generation, Larson easily moved to stock cars and sports cars from his dirt background in midgets and sprint cars. It’s not unusual for Larson to run two or three different types of cars in a single week. Given that, nothing really came as a big surprise for the 31-year-old Elk Grove, California driver on Wednesday.
“I don't think anything is quite real out there in practice like to what I'll experience in the race. I think I'm going to be overloaded during the race trying to process information -- not only information, just learning during the race.
“But for practice, like the few laps I got in the second session, there was a lot of checking up for whatever reason like getting in the corner. I think that kind of helped me realize that I needed to look further ahead than the one car that's in front of me. I think I was like fourth or fifth in line at that point, and I probably needed to look a couple more cars in front of that person. When I say that person, also it's like, I don't know who I'm out there around because in a stock car somebody turns the corner you can see a door number or there's a number on their back bumper. I've got no clue who I'm out there around and learning off of. That was surprising. I thought it would be easier to know who was out there around me.
“Then I don't know, just the cars to me feel very similar to a stock car, in a way. Everything that I feel out there is like what I would expect from a 9:00 a.m. practice session in a stock car at the Brickyard 400. Cool conditions, got grip, all that. We wouldn't be running around here wide open in a stock car. The way the tires feel, and all that, feels relatively similar.”
Photo Credit: Chris Jones, Penske Entertainment
While he completed his Rookie Orientation Program at Indy last fall without traffic, Larson did have the opportunity to run in several small packs on Wednesday. But the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion expects what he experienced in the open test will be different come the month of May.
“Yeah, so when I was able to go that faster lap, or whatever, we were just -- I think that was my first run on that set of tires, and there was a few cars in front of me, and I've been hearing about how the dirty air is, and all that, and how bad it is. In that run I was like, man, it doesn't feel that bad. It didn't feel that different from clean air, and I was wide open behind them, and it was no problem.
“Then we did some ins and outs and got towards the end of that set of tires, and I was by myself just kind of running and building lots of understeer by myself, and we stayed out there to kind of allow Newgarden to catch me, and he ended up passing me, and I totally lost the nose. That was pretty crazy kind of feeling that and all of that.
“But I think I could have done a better job, as well, when he passed me timing the air and the run and all that. Once I kind of lost the nose, it was hard to recover from it.
“It was so sensitive that, again, I don't even know if that's real,” Larson explained. “But I would assume that's more real than me not feeling a balance change in traffic. But yeah, that's why it's just kind of hard to learn right now when the conditions are like this and the packs are smaller and all that. There's still a lot left to learn. But that's what I felt in those couple runs.”
Photo Credit: Walt Kuhn, Penske Entertainment
Jimmie Johnson was the most recent NASCAR driver to run in the Indy 500. Larson spoke to him briefly about his experience at the speedway.
“He just said I was going to have a blast. Honestly, I've tried not to ask too many questions to people. I feel like the way I've learned in the past is I just need to learn on my own a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I'm leaning on Tony Kanaan (Arrow McLaren’s INDYCAR Sporting Director and 2013 Indy 500 winner) a lot and was in there during the couple-hour break talking to my teammates and stuff. But I think to a point, I just need to almost feel things out on my own sometimes.
“Like Jimmie didn't -- hasn't ran a (NASCAR) NextGen car that much, so I don't know how well he could compare to what I currently feel in a stock car and how that would relate to this. Any information is good. I just don't want to overload myself with too much information from too many different people and just confuse myself. Although we're on track a lot (in May), it's a small window of time to learn, and I think if I overwhelm myself with too much info, I can get lost.”
Overall, Larson was encouraged that he will be competitive when practice for the 500 begins for real next month.
“Yeah, I mean, it's tough to really say because I just think I got like a magic draft and laid a lap down. So I really don't know.
“I think I still have a lot of time to learn, so I'm excited about that. But yeah, I'm not sure. 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.”