The Race asked McLaren team boss Gavin Ward: “What can you say about the chances of Kyle Larson returning to the Indy 500 next year?”
“We’d love to have him, so I think there’s a good chance,” Ward responded – and Larson himself added “I’d definitely love to be back next year” in his TV interview post-race.
“I would definitely love to come back next year.”
Kyle Larson reflects on his performance in his first INDYCAR race. #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/hESHuxMIrl
– INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 27, 2024
But it is not that simple.
Will NASCAR be as receptive the next time Larson misses part of his race at Charlotte due to bad weather?
This effort took a lot of work from Hendrick and Chevrolet, and so they can – or do they to want – match this level of effort and intensity again?
Can everyone involved keep up with the media interest and all the effort that goes into simply fulfilling Indy 500 obligations outside of the car?
And, given that the end result was pretty much a worst-case scenario – with Larson writing that “seeing it come true is a horrible feeling” after finishing 18th – will all parties involved be able to put this to rest? side and give it away? There is another ?
The ball in Hendrick’s court
There have been few smiles as bright as that of legendary NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick this month.
Hendrick (pictured above with Roger Penske) is perhaps most famous for his NASCAR team, and at one point his team wouldn’t let its drivers race in other series to protect them – understandably , when we think about the damage caused by Chase Elliott’s snowboarding accident. to the team’s season last year.
But by allowing his drivers like Larson to race on dirt, and even committing to running the Garage 56 program with a modified NASCAR at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rick Hendrick continues to show his true racing colors – and for him, Doing the Indy 500 with McLaren was one of the greatest honors of his career.
He had to decide whether to risk Larson’s NASCAR Cup Playoff hopes at the end of the year – you have to do every championship race to be eligible for the championship-deciding playoffs, unless you don’t get a waiver from NASCAR.
And when the weather forced a choice between sticking with the Indy 500 or letting Larson start at Charlotte, Hendrick chose the former. It didn’t work out the way he would have dreamed – but the decision itself lets you know how much he wanted it. Knowing this, it’s hard to think he wouldn’t want to try again.
Hendrick can’t let this eat away at Larson
Larson left the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after making simple, common mistakes that would be easily forgiven by other teams, but the problem here is that Larson didn’t want to forgive himself. As his emotional post on social media after the race showed, he felt responsible.
What I thought would be one of the best days of my life quickly turned into one of the most disappointing days I have ever experienced. I hate it for Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, HAG, Hendrick Motorsports, everyone on team 5, everyone on the 17 indycar for speeding, my…
– Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) May 27, 2024
“It kills me that everything ended like this,” he wrote. “I feel like I’ve let so many people down.”
The last thing Hendrick wants is for this race to eat away at Larson, to the point where it’s a constant source of regret. The best thing for Larson would be to get back on the horse, learn from these simple mistakes, and come back as a contender for victory next year. It certainly would be if McLaren offered a car that was just as competitive.
Larson is a pro at getting in and out of other cars and having a short memory. But even that would be tested given the scale and importance of the Indy 500.
What could make Hendrick think twice?
The NASCAR element of the equation is key. As long as he gives his blessing and sees the bigger picture of the attention this brings to his Cup series as well as the Indy 500, things are easy. But the minute NASCAR decides to respond, that’s when it will get really difficult.
NASCAR is where Hendrick and Larson make their money. He was lucky to win a race that, if a waiver is granted, should guarantee him a playoff spot later this year – but there are other years when he could enter the Indy 500 without a win , then without the decision to give up a victory. The race at Charlotte that he previously won to stay at Indy would be much tougher.
Fortunately, Larson is very good at winning races before May.
Weather is of course the other issue, although rain delays at the Indy 500 are rare. But because attempts like Larson’s to do “the double” require a lot of effort, planning is very difficult and the schedule is very compact. An organization of Hendrick’s quality and size cannot benefit from this level of uncertainty.
What happened in his race?
Larson started fifth but fell back on the first restart after pressing the paddle twice to change gears by accident and he was swamped.
But he didn’t complain on the radio – he stayed quiet and started making his way forward. He nailed every other restart, even making a wild pass on the outside of Turn 1 on the restart following the one where he made the shift error.
He had worked his way up to fourth place among those following his strategy by the time he got stuck in the pit lane and received a speeding penalty that put him behind bars. ‘back, then McLaren gained huge momentum trying to go to the end without another pit stop. , which required a warning which never came.
During the last stint, he was stuck in 18th place. It’s hard to get that far back in the pack and everyone around him had new tires and no need to save fuel, so it was status quo.
I wish the TV coverage had shown more of Larson’s race because he made so many passes, experimented with the lines and gained an advantage over his rivals, and learned from his mistakes. I’m sure if he had the car next year, or even if there were 200 more laps left at the end of Sunday’s race, he would be in contention for the win.
Yes, mistakes are hard to take, but his performances prove why he is consistently considered one of the best drivers in the world.
“I feel like I learned a lot throughout the race,” Larson told NBC.
“I made a few mistakes early on with the restart – and then I feel like I did a really good job on the restarts, I was able to learn a lot, I feel really good knowing what I ‘would need differently with the balance to help me short, then obviously I smoked a left front on the green flag stop and killed our opportunity.
“So I’m proud to finish, but pretty upset with myself. If I could have had a better race, you never know what could happen. I’m disappointed in myself.
What happened in NASCAR
Justin Allgaier – a highly accomplished veteran of NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series – started Larson’s car at Charlotte because Larson had arrived late due to the Indy 500’s weather delay.
Larson arrived at the track just after the halfway point, but a wait for lights forced NASCAR to call the race early, so Larson drove all the way from Indy to Charlotte to avoid getting into his stock car No. 5.
Maybe it’s another vote for Larson starting again next year. He and his Hendrick team had set out to make “The Double,” but they didn’t get around to it.
Missing the NASCAR race is a staple of The Double, so surely they need to come back and finish what they started in 2025.