Larson Completes the Circle at Indy
Kyle Larson celebrates his NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 win Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Two months ago, Kyle Larson attempted to do the double; race in both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Cup Series Coke 600 in the same day.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature intervened with rain delaying the start of the 500 by nearly five hours and ruining Larson’s chance of getting to Charlotte Motor Speedway in time to start the 600.
After completing the 500 miles at Indy, Larson flew to Charlotte to jump in his hendrickcars.com Chevrolet Camaro to at least finish the race that had been started by Justin Allgaier, only to have the race called because of rain ten minutes after his arrival.
While winning Sunday’s 30th Anniversary Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG in double-overtime was a different race, in a way it completed the circle of what Larson attempted to do in May.
“Yeah, definitely. I think it adds to the emotion of winning here. Obviously this race means a lot to win no matter what the circumstances may be.
“I think just with getting to compete in the Indy 500, then having the weather kind of get in the mix and not being able to compete in the 600, then getting to come here and run the same paint scheme I was supposed to run at the 600, ultimately win in the fashion that we did with a lot of things kind of going our way there at the end.
“Yeah, it was pretty emotional winning for sure. I think it definitely feels like it completes the circle of the double this year.”
(Photo by Aaron Skillman/Penske Entertainment)
That paint scheme contained splashes of papaya, the color associated with the Arrow McLaren Indycar Team he drove for in the 500.
“I think the motivation for us, at least for myself, even for our team, it was the paint scheme I almost didn’t get to run because I didn’t get to run the 600.
“It was important for me to run that paint scheme here at Indy. I think for sure it probably gave extra motivation to have a good showing. It meant a lot to me that Hendrick Motorsports and Hendrick Automotive Group was able to approve us getting to run that paint scheme again here. Now we’ll get to have some race-win die casts, which is pretty special.”
Whereas Larson was unfortunate in May, luck was on his side, Sunday. Race leader, Brad Keselowski, dove into the pits, out of gas, heading to the green flag of the first attempt at overtime on lap 161, gifting Larson the preferred front row, inside position for the restart.
“Well, leading into it, we had a lot of communication on our radio about Brad was going to be really close on fuel, he may run out of fuel under these cautions. I was going to choose (to restart) behind him no matter what lane he took just in hopes that he would run out before we got to the restart zone.
“I was trying to pay attention to him when he was cycling his engine,” Larson continued, “trying to clean and warm his tires up just to see if there was any bit of stumble.
“Yeah, he just ducked off onto pit road. I was like, Wow, I can’t believe this is going exactly how we had kind of hoped and had thought about. I came to the restart zone, and I’m sure Ryan (Blaney) and I were both probably confused on who is now the control car. I could tell maybe he didn’t know. We kind of both, I felt like, took off at the same time. The pace was up a little bit faster. It was just a bit confusing.
“I was able to get the position into (Turn) one, saw a big crash in my mirror, was a little bit bummed because I knew it would be really hard to pass me after clearing the lead.
“I had to sit through a lengthy red flag and kind of replay some things in my mind about how this next restart might work out. Thankfully it just worked out where I could get barely clear. He did a better job the second time to hang with me. I thought he might almost have leverage enough to stay side by side exiting one. If he would have stayed with me exiting one, who knows who wins. We were probably three wide down the backstretch with the 45 (Tyler Reddick) coming.
Kyle Larson leading Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Going into the race, there were predictions the Next Gen cars would have a difficult time passing on the 2.5-mile oval. Whether or not it had anything to do with his Indycar experience in May, Larson proved it could be done, coming from 23rd place to third behind Keselowski and Blaney in the final 37-laps before overtime.
“Well, I think it was circumstance. I think if the guys in front of me are not worried about fuel, then I don’t pass,” Larson confided. “I was stuck back in 20-something earlier in the race, went nowhere.
“What worked out in my favor was getting by the 9 (Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott), then I made a move on the 45 to get in front of him. Now I’m the highest-running car with the best fuel. I could be on offense while all the top 15 or whatever in front of me, I could tell they were saving. Nobody got stretched out from Brad. Everybody was just nose to tail.
“When you’re that nose to tail, there’s just an accordion at the end of the straightaway. Everybody starts lifting earlier and earlier and earlier. I could just pop out kind of late, I felt like catch them off guard some and make the move.
“It was pretty easy until I got to the top six probably or seven. I think they — I’m guessing teams were kind of communicating to their drivers what I was doing. The pace got just a little bit quicker. The air was getting cleaner towards the front for those guys.
“It got tougher. Once I got to third, I was kind of stuck at that point. My only hope then was that they were going to run out of fuel. Then, yeah, we had the yellows and the cautions, and ultimately things worked out.”
Kyle Larson acknowledging the cheers of the fans after winning Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.. (Photo by Doug Matthews/Penske Entertainment)
Given his dirt racing background in Indiana, as well as his performance during the month of May where he was named the 500’s top rookie, Larson’s win was a popular one with the fans.
“I lived here for a couple years and raced locally throughout Indiana and the Midwest.
“Indiana fans love their dirt track racing. I’ve always felt the support here.
“Obviously doing the Indy 500, I feel like it exploded for Indiana fans. I felt like when I was here for the 500, there were so many people wearing my T-shirts and my little jersey things that they made, all that.
“I recognized just as much of that here today. There was more, I feel like, 17 McLaren papaya (colored) gear as there was 5 Hendrick cars gear. I could tell there were a lot of fans that were back today from the weeks of the 500.
“Yeah, I could tell my cheer during driver intros was really loud. Even the caution there when I was in third, like, I look in the stands, all the fans were I felt like getting jacked up for me (smiling).
“Yeah, anytime you have good fan support, it makes it special. It was cool. I love the Indiana fan base.”
Kyle Larson during qualifying for this year’s Indy 500. (Photo by Justin Walsh/Penske Entertainment)
Larson drew big cheers from the crowd when he said on the public address system he’d see them again next May. Will he do what his fans hope and return to Indy for another shot at the double?
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Larson replied. “I mean, we definitely have been talking about it. I think weighing what’s important to everybody.
“It sounds good, I’ll say, so far, but things could change. We’ll see. I would obviously love to do it. I think everybody knows I would love to do it because in my mind I did not get to do it this year. I didn’t get to at least do the double.
“I hope that the pieces can fall into place and we can hopefully get things put together and announce something, get excited about doing the double next year.”
And completing it as originally intended.