Larson Eyes Return to Indianapolis 500, Second Attempt at the Double

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Kyle Larson has been the talk of the town both in NASCAR and the IndyCar world after his debut in the Indianapolis 500 in May and Sunday’s win in the Brickyard 400.

If Larson has it his way, he’ll be back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next May looking to have another go at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing and hopefully be able to complete his attempt at the Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 Double.

Immediately upon climbing from his car as the winner on Sunday, it was evident that was on his mind as he turned his attention to the cheering crowd to get their input on whether or not he should take another crack at it.

“I love you, Indiana fans. I know you guys love me, too. How about we come back next May and try to kiss these bricks in an INDYCAR?” Larson asked the crowd, to healthy applause.

“I’d love to [try the Double again]. We’re working on it. I hope we can announce something soon. See you guys all next May.”

In his debut in the Indy 500 in May, Larson was earning his worth as a part of the four-car Arrow McLaren stable of Chevrolets. He was hanging tough in the top-10 for the first 132 laps, learning the intricacies of NTT IndyCar Series racing as he went, until everything unraveled on a green flag pit stop.

Larson came into the pits too hot, locking up the front tires on his HendrickCars.com sponsored machine, exceeding the pit road speed limit and drawing a pass-through penalty from series officials as a result.

After serving his penalty, Larson dropped off the lead lap to 21^st place.

Following a crash by Will Power that brought out the caution, Larson was able to take the wave around to get his lap back with 46 laps remaining.

Larson would cycle to the lead on pit strategy, putting himself at the top of the leaderboard for four laps before having to peel off onto pit road for his final stop.

In the final rundown, he would be classified with an 18^th place finish, with the entirety of his experience only amplifying his want to return to Indianapolis again and make another run at the Double.

With the way the second half of his Double attempt ended in Charlotte with him unable to even turn a lap in the Coca-Cola 600, Larson noted that it feels like unfinished business.

“We definitely have been talking about it. I think weighing what’s important to everybody,” Larson said.

“It sounds good, I’ll say, so far, but things could change. Yeah, 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.

“Yeah, 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.”

After his win on Sunday, Larson explained that the toughness of the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 are comparable, and should he be able to return to make another attempt at it, he’ll do so with the added knowledge of how to try and get it done the second time around.

“Getting to live through that race this year, like, it’s obviously a very tough race,” Larson said. “Very similar race, but very tough. Those Penske cars are stupid fast. Pato did a great job to almost win. It was going to be virtually impossible for anybody to beat Josef.

“Hopefully next year with the hybrid stuff, there’s more opportunity for more teams to be faster. I will say it’s pretty special. Hopefully someday I can get a chance to win the 500.

“I’ve won on the dirt track on the BC39, got to kiss the bricks there. Now today in the 400. I guess there’s one more to check off, which is the Indy 500, which would be pretty special.”