NASCAR’s Kyle Larson Begins Second Quest For Indianapolis 500 Glory

It was Opening Day for the 109^th Indianapolis 500 on Tuesday, May 13 and during a lengthy rain delay drying the race course, there was one bit of drama in Gasoline Alley.

It involved Pato O’Ward versus the United States Customs Department.

The Arrow McLaren driver from Monterrey, Mexico was waiting on his specially designed racing helmets featuring an Indy 500 paint scheme that were being shipped from Germany.

Unfortunately, the helmets were being held up by the U.S. Customs waiting on O’Ward to pay the Customs fee on the helmets.

FOX Sports attempted to interview O’Ward during the delay, but he was on the phone trying to get his Customs issue sorted out.

Finally, after the track was dried, and O’Ward’s helmets arrived at his house in Indianapolis, practice for this year’s Indy 500 finally began at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, 2-hours-34-minutes late.

One of the 34 drivers on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval was NASCAR Cup Series points leader Kyle Larson. The Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR driver is back at Arrow McLaren for his second attempt to compete in the Indianapolis 500.

Larson was the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year in 2024 after a brilliant month in practice and qualifications, only to have his dream of completing the Hendrick 1100 by racing in both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 washed away because of rain in both events.

He completed the full Indy 500 starting fifth and finishing 18^th after he was nailed for a speeding penalty on pit road midway through the race.

Larson never had a chance to compete in the 600 because by the time he arrived, it began to rain after the halfway point, meaning it was an official race. After a delay, NASCAR flagged the race as complete.

Larson returned to his No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet Indy car on Tuesday and was the 24^th fastest driver out of the 34 car/driver combinations that turned laps on Tuesday. Larson’s fastest speed was 221.207 miles per hour.

Team Penske’s Will Power, the 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner, was the fastest at 227.026 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. His teammate, two-time and back-to-back Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden was second at 226.971 mph in the No. 2 Shell Chevrolet. IndyCar Series points leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing was third at 226.673 mph in the No. 10 DHL Honda followed by teammate and 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon’s 225.059 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, last year’s Indy 500 pole winner, was fifth at 225.005 mph in the No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet.

The first day of practice ended at 5:29 p.m. Eastern Time instead of the schedule 6 p.m. as rain and lightning returned to the area.

Although Larson was 24^th in speed, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion realizes it’s the first day of a long week of practice at the Indianapolis 500.

“It doesn’t seem any different,” Larson told me afterwards. “It’s just practice. It’s not a huge deal. Last year was just practice, as well.

“You have plenty of time to make some laps.”

Larson is a true racer. On Sunday, he blew away the NASCAR Cup Series field to win at Kansas Speedway. Monday night, he was in the High Limits Sprint Car at Kokomo Speedway, finishing sixth.

Tuesday meant a return to the Indy car for Opening Day at the Indianapolis 500.

There is no driver in racing more versatile than Kyle Larson.

“Our day was good,” Larson explained. “I kind of took it easy to start in clean air, made sure our balance was comfortable, which it was, so was happy about that. There at the end I finally got in some traffic and as normal, had some understeer.

“But just happy with the first day. It was a nice smooth day. Good place to start from.”

It’s going to be a busy week and a busier weekend for Larson. After a full week of practice, Larson will attempt to win the Indy 500 Pole during the two days of qualifications beginning Saturday and concluding Sunday. He will also fly back to North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday night for the NASCAR All-Star race in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

“For me and definitely for Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports, I think no matter through this whole experience, especially this year, Cup should be the priority,” Larson said. “I just assume we’re going to run the All-Star Race no matter what.

“Hopefully we run into that predicament because that means our car is fast.

“It would be extremely nice to go for the pole at the Indianapolis 500, but at the same time it’s hard to turn down an opportunity to race for a million dollars.

“Like I said, I hope we’re in that predicament.”