Kyle Larson’s Indianapolis 500 Deal With Arrow McLaren For 2024 Took A Little Patience

Patience was the key for 2021 Nascar Cup Series Champion Kyle Larson to put together a deal to race in the 108^th Indianapolis 500 in 2024. The 30-year-old racing star for Hendrick Motorsports wanted to find the right opportunity with the right team.

He found it with Arrow McLaren Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series, which announced its alliance with Larson and Hendrick Motorsports on January 12.

Larson must wait over a year, though, and that will require even more patience for the diverse driver from Elk Grove, California who is just as adept at wheeling a dirt car as he is a Nascar Cup Series Chevrolet.

“I had to be really patient with it,” Larson revealed to an exclusive group of media Thursday night. “Thankfully, patience has paid off. I feel like I’m in the best possible opportunity to run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Without Rick Hendrick, (McLaren CEO) Zak Brown, everybody at McLaren, Hendrick Motorsports and Hendrick Automotive Group, this would not be possible. I’m very grateful for that and look forward to preparing.

“I’ve talked about it a lot. I didn’t want to do this if I was not in a great opportunity but had time to prepare. This leaves plenty of time to get ready for it. I have a shot to go there and do well.

“I’m glad we were able to put it together well in advance to give ourselves the best opportunity. I look forward to it for sure.”

In addition to making his Indianapolis 500 debut in 2024, Larson also plans on becoming the first driver to run “The Double” since Kurt Busch in 2014.

“The Double” is racing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 Nascar Cup Series race the same day.

It’s a dream come true for one of the most exciting and successful drivers in racing, who can combine aggressiveness with patience to accumulate an impressive racing resume.

“This has been something I’ve dreamt about since I was a child before I was racing Sprint Cars,” he said. “The Indy 500 has always been the most special race to my dad. I remember as a kid, he would say, ‘Someday, if you get the opportunity, you need to try and run the Indianapolis 500.’”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown, along with Larson and Hendrick made this driver announcement one year early. That allows them to begin the slow and meticulous process of helping Larson adapt to the world of IndyCar.

The Nascar Cup Series driver hopes to test an Indy car later this year. Before that, however, he will spend the next year with Arrow McLaren’s IndyCar team when his schedule permits. He will also spend time at the General MotorsGM
simulator in Huntersville, North Carolina.

“We are going to get him preparation whether that is simulation, driving the car himself, attending some IndyCar races and sitting in debriefs,” Zak Brown explained. “Obviously, Kyle’s primary program is Kyle’s quest for another NASCAR championship, and we want to work around what will be a very busy schedule for him. We want to immerse Kyle and work together with Hendrick to maximize performance both on and off the track. We are now working through how many test days that includes and where we can test. Chevrolet’s new test center is around the corner from Hendrick Motorsports. It will be a benefit.

“One of the reasons for an early announcement and early commitment was for maximum preparation.”

Brown believed this approach was best. He already has four drivers entered in the 107^th Indianapolis 500 on May 28 including NTT IndyCar Series regulars Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist and newcomer Alexander Rossi.

Tony Kanaan, the 2004 IndyCar Series champion and 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner, will drive an extra Arrow McLaren Chevrolet in the 107^th Indianapolis 500 this year.

“Four cars are the right number for the Indianapolis 500,” Brown explained. “We don’t want to have any compromise and put our best foot forward. It’s a big opportunity for Arrow McLaren to partner with Rick Hendrick’s organization and Jeff Gordon and have a driver of Kyle’s caliber. I think five cars is one too many.

“Also, bringing on a new driver this year in Alex Rossi, we wanted to make sure we continue to have a good Indianapolis 500. Another year of four cars will make us that much more prepared for when we bring Kyle on board in 2024.”

Gavin Ward is Arrow McLaren’s Racing Director and looks forward to helping Larson adapt from stock car racing to the much-faster brand of IndyCar racing.

“When learning any new race car, there will be learning the language how to set the car up, what the options are,” Ward explained. “Knowing what we can tweak on an Indy car will be little bit of a technical learning exercise.

“The Indy car will be the fastest car that Kyle Larson has ever driven, but I have no doubt Kyle will adapt to that and car control will not be an issue. We have a good group of people with a lot of experience bringing drivers up to speed at the Indy 500, which is a special task. We have done that before and I don’t think that will be a taxing task with Kyle.”

Larson is probably today’s most versatile driver. He can compete in anything, any time and drive it to victory in the same manner as legends AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones and Tony Stewart.

He realizes it would be difficult to win the Indianapolis 500 in his first attempt but sees 2024 as the first in several attempts at the Indy 500.

Larson believes he is in the prime of his career and must take the opportunities that exist.

“If you look at all the types of stuff that I’ve done and the dirt late model years, when I get involved in something, I don’t want it to a one-and-done thing,” Larson said. “I take it seriously. I want to continue to compete in it and learn the craft. Every different type of race car I drive takes a different driving style and a different driving craft. The Indy car will be another one of those, obviously.

“We only have this one-year deal done, and we’ll see how it goes, but if we all enjoy it and have a good time and we all believe it was successful and want more of it, I would love to do it again. I don’t want to compete in the Indy 500 just to say I competed in the Indy 500. I want to compete to win. I want to win someday down the road.

“I’m still young. I’m only 30 right now. I feel like I’m in the prime of my career and while you are in that prime, you need to take advantage of it and compete in the big events you have a shot at winning. If you win it the first time, that might change things, but I would love to compete in it more than just next year.”

There are many fascinating subplots to Larson finally getting a chance to compete in the Indianapolis 500.

The last time the famed motorsports journalist Robin Miller was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was on August 15, 2021. Miller was in his final days of a lengthy battle with cancer.

IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials allowed Miller to be at the base of the stairs following driver introductions when he had a chance to talk to Larson and Gordon for the final time.

Miller told Larson that he needs to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and told him to pursue his dream.

Miller lost his long battle with cancer 10 days later when he passed away.

“I remember when Robin was pretty sick there at the end,” Larson told me Thursday night. “I had known he wanted to see me race the Indy 500. I know he will be watching down and cheering me on as a dirt guy that he has followed along since the beginning of my career.

“The Indy 500 is special because I didn’t live in Indianapolis for a couple of years at the beginning breakout point of my career that got me to NASCAR. In 2011, 2012 was spent racing a lot of USAC races around the Indianapolis area.

“Indy has always felt like a second home to me. I’ve got a lot of friends there that felt like family. That adds to the prestige for me of being a local dirt track kid. To race in the Indianapolis 500 is a special thing.

“Bryan Clauson got to run in the Indianapolis 500 a few times. I was always jealous of him getting those opportunities. I talked to him a lot about it. For him to run that while running on the dirt tracks was a very throwback thing to do.

“I’m glad I can add my name to another list with him on it and hopefully I can do all the dirt track fans, proud.”

For Larson to realize his life-long dream, he had to win over team owner Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon.

Surprisingly, both gave their approval and support.

“There wasn’t as much convincing go into it as I thought there would be with Rick. I remember us taking about Christmas in 2021. Rick called and I really wanted to do the Indy 500 someday and he said, ‘Well, let’s do it, then.’ That was simpler than I thought it would be.

“I didn’t want to lose any momentum, so I kept bringing it up to Rick and Jeff Gordon here and there,” Larson said. “Jeff and Rick worked side-by-side. I made sure I mentioned it to Jeff a lot to keep a bug in Rick’s ear. Thankfully, he didn’t, and they worked very hard to find me the best opportunity to go out there and compete for a win.

“It took a lot of patience to get to this moment and it will take even more patience to get to 2024. I think we have assembled the best possible scenario for all of us involved to have a good run.”

All it took for Larson was a little patience. But now, he must wait another year and as Tom Petty once said, “The waiting is the hardest part.”