After Mother Nature threw a major monkey wrench into Kyle Larson’s plans to “run the double” last year by dumping prodigious amounts of rain on both Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, Larson is once again going “for the double” of running the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600.
Already a very busy man running races in anything that has four wheels and a steering wheel, Larson’s May is overflowing and needs a little help to get everything done.
On the first day of 500 practice May 13, inclement weather forced a hours long delay before the 34 drivers could get out on the track. Ending the day in 24th place, Larson noted that he mainly used the time to refamiliarize himself with the car. Larson noted, “I was more so just trying to hit my marks today than worry about adjusting things [in the cockpit], but it was a good day.”
Again this year, JR Motorsport driver Justin Allgaier will be qualifying Larson’s number five Hendrick Motorsports car at North Wilkesboro Speedway while Larson is in Indianapolis.
Noting that he is focused on Indy, Larson said, “before I left Kansas, [NASCAR crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and I talked that maybe if there’s time on Saturday we could get together and talk about how their practice went and stuff like that and get prepared for the race on Sunday. It’s nice we are so well-organized over there.”
After missing the Coca-Cola 600 last year, NASCAR granted Larson a waiver so that he could compete in the playoffs. NASCAR has since rephrased the ruling on granting waivers and Larson will have to run in the race in order to be eligible to run in the playoffs. Larson won his third race of the season at Kansas Speedway on May 11.