Kyle Larson is taking a way more laid-back strategy to prepping for the Indy 500

Don’t count on Kyle Larson to pound limitless laps testing an Indy automotive forward of this yr’s 109th Working of the Indianapolis 500 on Could 25. 

A yr in the past, the California native spared no expense in preparation for his maiden try at “The Double” – operating the Indy 500 and the 600-mile NASCAR Cup Collection race at Charlotte on the identical Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend (a joint effort with Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports). He participated within the Indy 500 rookie check in October 2023 earlier than pushing via roughly 172 laps of operating at Phoenix Raceway in February of 2024. Then there was the annual Indy Open Check final April, which allowed Larson to get a really feel for the weather towards the remainder of the Indy 500 entrants a month earlier than the race. 

Larson’s pursuit of turning into the fifth driver to compete in each races fell quick, with rain delaying the 2024 Indy 500 – the place he began fifth and completed 18th – and the Cup race being referred to as early after 249 of 400 laps, leaving him unable to show a lap regardless of arriving late in Charlotte. 

Whereas the 2021 NASCAR Cup Collection champion goals to finish “The Double” this time round, his buildup to Indy will not be practically as intensive.

 “After going via it as soon as, you recognize what to anticipate,” Larson informed Motorsport. “Final yr, I didn’t know what to anticipate on something. So, I really feel like I over prepped in a number of methods — which continues to be good, however as soon as I am going to do it, it wasn’t actually any totally different than what I’m used to.”

No preparation… but

It’s very possible that Larson’s first – and doubtlessly solely – time driving the No. 17 Arrow McLaren-Hendrick Chevrolet previous to the Indy 500 will come on the Open Check, set for April 23-24 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I haven’t achieved any prep, and I feel I most likely gained’t do something till the Open Check in April — after which shortly after that leads into the five hundred, with a few weeks there,” Larson stated. “I haven’t had the possibility to speak to anyone from McLaren. I don’t know what my group seems to be like. I don’t know something about it.”

One individual that Larson gained’t be capable to depend on when he returns to Indy will likely be Brian Campe, an Indy 500-winning engineer who helped Larson’s transition to Indy automobiles. Campe, who was with Hendrick Motorsports on the time, joined Arrow McLaren after 2024’s 500 earlier than leaving to hitch Legacy Motor Membership as its technical director again in October. 

Kyle Larson (far proper) on monitor in his Arrow McLaren on the 2024 Indy 500

Picture by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Pictures

Whereas Larson waits to see how his IndyCar group will take form, he’s fixated on this week’s Chili Bowl Nationals, after which the upcoming NASCAR season.

“I’ve simply been centered on the dust racing right here within the offseason and getting our NASCAR season began,” stated Larson, contemporary off a prelim Chili Bowl win on Monday evening. “I feel quickly we’ll get an concept of what every little thing seems to be like for Indy. However so far as prep and all that, I haven’t achieved something — and I don’t suppose there’s an extravagance or something additional particular you must do to prepare for that race.”