Kyle Larson, another Indy 500/NASCAR ‘Double’ try, and a GOAT legacy in reach

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INDIANAPOLIS — In the most recent NASCAR Cup Series points race, Kyle Larson led 83 percent of the laps, won his third race of the still-young season and took over the series points lead heading into his Memorial Day Weekend “Double” attempt.

Given his frequent success, Larson’s NASCAR rivals would have every reason not to like him. But among his peers, seemingly no one feels that way.

And after winning 26 Cup Series races since the start of 2021, they would also have every reason to cheer against him. But when the NASCAR drivers watch Larson in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, awaiting their turn to race against him in Charlotte’s 600-mile race that night, many will be doing the opposite.

“Yeah, I root for him,” two-time NASCAR champion Kyle Busch said. “I wish him well in that endeavor. You hope one of your fellow guys goes out there and can show the world the NASCAR guys can do it as good as the IndyCar guys.

“I hope he does really well,” Larson’s NASCAR teammate Alex Bowman said. “He’s one of the greatest of our generation, certainly up there as far as the greatest have been.”

It would be easy to fill the rest of this story with similar quotes from Larson’s peers. “Just a badass,” former open-wheel driver and current NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger said. “One of the best to do it,” Bubba Wallace said.

You get the point.

But some of the racing world thinks differently. Europeans scoffed last year when Larson declared he was a better all-around driver than F1 world champion Max Verstappen, who many consider to be the best driver on the planet. Verstappen shrugged off the comment, but F1 fans — who tend to look down on American racers — had a field day with Larson’s remark.

Kyle Larson, during practice Friday at the Indy 500. Last year, in his first attempt at IndyCar’s crown jewel, he finished 18th. (Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)

In the time since, Larson’s words have become the topic of ridicule every time he makes a mistake or crashes — and, in a game of telephone, turned into a belief Larson actually said he was the world’s best driver.

“People act like I’m the one who said I am the greatest race car driver in the world,” Larson told The Athletic. “I never said that. I just said I’m a better all-around driver than Max Verstappen. And they took that as I said, ‘I’m the greatest in the world.’”

Arguably, though, Larson’s claim is correct. Verstappen has dominated F1 and shown otherworldly talent; he is unquestionably one of the great racing drivers of all time. But Larson, at least to this point, has a vastly more diverse and successful racing resume.

He is a NASCAR champion in stock cars, won the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race, has won the world’s biggest dirt sprint car race (Knoxville Nationals), the biggest dirt midget car race (Chili Bowl) and one of the biggest dirt late model races (Prairie Dirt Classic).

One of his teammates in the 24 Hours of Daytona, Tony Kanaan, is now the team principal of the Arrow McLaren outfit that fields Larson’s Indy 500 car. And the speed is obvious to Kanaan, a former Indy 500 winner.

“To me, he’s one of the biggest talents we’ve ever seen around the world,” Kanaan said.

That’s why this Indianapolis 500 attempt and the “Double” (which consists of running both Indy and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on the same day in an 1,100-mile gantlet) is so important to Larson’s legacy. This is his final planned Indy 500, at least for now. If he truly wants to be in the conversation among the all-time greats, Larson could use a special moment Sunday on his resume.

Maybe that consists of simply completing all the laps. Maybe it’s a top-10 finish at Indy and then winning in Charlotte. Maybe, in what would be both highly improbable and one of the great American racing stories in history, it’s winning both.

At the top of the short list of the American racing GOATs is Mario Andretti, the only driver in history to win the Formula One world championship, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. But last year, Andretti said sweeping the Sunday “Double” would put Larson “in a space where he’ll probably be alone” among the greats.

“If he wins this and then goes to Charlotte and maybe even wins that?” Andretti told The Athletic. “Oh my goodness! That would go down in history.”

Larson qualified fifth for last year’s Indy 500 — his only other attempt so far — but finished 18th after he made an error and was caught speeding on pit road. This year hasn’t gone as smoothly; he crashed twice in practice and qualified 21st for Sunday’s race.

It immediately sparked the “told you so” posts on social media from Larson’s detractors.

“I know he got grief for wrecking in practice, but it’s like, ‘How many (IndyCar) regulars are there who have wrecked in practice?’” former NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney said. “It’s just typical people, where when things go poorly, they like to s— on that person. When things go good, they don’t really give it any second thought.”

Five drivers have attempted the Double, which requires completing all 500 miles in Indianapolis and then flying to Charlotte for the start of the 600-mile NASCAR race. (And that’s after flying from Indiana to North Carolina the day before to qualify for the NASCAR race and then returning to Indy. On Saturday, Larson qualified second for the Coke 600.) Only one has completed every mile: Tony Stewart in 2001, when he got top-10s in both races.

Kyle Larson hustles down the grid Saturday during qualifying for NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600. He’ll try Sunday to complete all 1,100 miles of the famed “Double.” (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

Last year, a rain delay at Indianapolis made Larson late for the NASCAR race; he never got a chance to run the second part of the doubleheader, as rain also brought a halt to the Charlotte race before he could get in the car. This year could be his lone chance.

He has flown under the radar much more this time around, which is how he likes it. Not because Larson doesn’t want the attention, he said, but because he hates taking attention away from other drivers.

Though the hype has died down, Larson is now more experienced with an IndyCar — a vehicle that has far more tools inside the cockpit for drivers to use than in NASCAR.

“Last year I was just scared to do anything (with the tools),” he said. “I didn’t know how sensitive everything was going to be. This year, I’ve definitely played around with it a lot more. I’ve gotten way more comfortable with doing those things.”

It’s all part of the challenge of getting up to speed in an unfamiliar car, which is a major reason why Larson’s “all-around” best claim has many believers. Few drivers in the world can jump between vehicles and get up to speed quickly; some refuse to even try.

Will Buxton, who will call the Indianapolis 500 for Fox Sports, was criticized by F1 fans in February when he declared many F1 drivers are “scared” to even attempt the Indy 500. But the “Drive to Survive” commentator and longtime F1 media mainstay insisted that is actually the case, citing conversations he’s had with drivers like Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas — who all told him they didn’t want to race IndyCar because of the dangerous ovals (F1 is all on road courses and street circuits).

It doesn’t help that former F1 world champion Fernando Alonso failed to qualify for the race when he came over from F1 six years ago.

“Deep down, in places they don’t talk about very often, respect for (Indy 500) drivers is probably far higher than they ever publicly state, because they recognize there is risk involved here,” Buxton said of F1 drivers. “They realize these guys are at a very unique level you don’t find anywhere else in open-wheel racing.”

Verstappen himself has said he would never attempt the Indy 500, telling ESPN in 2022: “I don’t need to risk my life there.”

In the meantime, Larson just keeps adding to his resume. The 32-year-old isn’t just sticking to one series or type of race cars; he’s not only driven a variety of vehicles, but has won in every single one of them.

Except IndyCar, at least so far. Could Larson actually win on Sunday, sealing his legacy as one of the all-time greats?

“That race is special, and you want the best in the world to be there,” Allmendinger said. “And he’s definitely one of them.”

(Top illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; top photos: Bob Goshert / For IndyStar / USA Today Network via Imagn Images, Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images)

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