INDIANAPOLIS – The start of Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard was still 3-1/2 hours away, but some of the most powerful names in racing were gathering in the Brickyard Plaza at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
From Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske to his son, Greg, the Chairman of the Penske Corporation, to IMS President Doug Boles and the winningest team owner in NASCAR history, Rick Hendrick and Charlotte Motor Speedway President and General Manager Greg Walter, they all turned out to see racing’s most versatile driver, Kyle Larson.
Less than 12 hours after he won the Knoxville Nationals Sprint Car race in Knoxville, Iowa by leading every lap in the race, a fresh-faced Larson was standing with team leaders from Arrow McLaren’s IndyCar team and his Hendrick Motorsports crew that prepares his No. 5 Charlotte Camaro in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The occasion was the unveiling of his No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet that he will drive in the 108th Indianapolis 500 in 2024 and the No. 5 Chevrolet that he will drive later that night in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Larson will attempt to become the first driver since Kurt Busch in 2014 to run both Memorial Day Sunday races on the same day.
His effort is being billed as the “Hendrick 1100.”
“I’ll give Arrow McLaren the credit because they had a plan and we looked at it,” Rick Hendrick said Sunday before the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard. “We’re starting to execute. Today was one of those days.
“Kyle has been in the simulator some, and hopefully we’ll be here in October for the rookie deal, and so the sponsor was no problem (Hendrickcars.com). We’re just real excited to think we can partner with a world class team that has tremendous speed and reputation. I feel very, very fortunate.
This will be Hendrick Motorsports first attempt at having a car in the famed Indianapolis 500.
Papaya is about to turn 1100 miles. 🧡 pic.twitter.com/yNdRlP3yQU
— Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team (@ArrowMcLaren) August 13, 2023
“No. 1, I wanted to own the car, but I had to have a partner to make it work,” Hendrick said. “So, Gavin Ward (Arrow McLaren Racing Director) and his team, everybody there, Zak Brown (McLaren Racing CEO), have been so helpful. We feel like we’ve been together longer than six months, but it’s an exciting time and something all of us have dreamed about.
“Of course, Kyle put a lot of pressure on me, and I’m used to that with cars, but it’s all good. We’re real excited. Do it with Chevrolet too. Never raced anything but a Chevrolet, so we can do that. Again, we’re real honored to be able to even come participate in this event.
“We’re excited.”
After winning Saturday night’s Knoxville Nationals, Larson arrived in Indianapolis at 4 a.m. He would go on to finish eighth in Sunday’s Verizon Indy 200.
“I’m extremely excited, but at the same time, I’m so busy racing and trying to take care of my family that I haven’t — like it hasn’t really set in yet that it’s truly a reality,” Larson said. “When you have days like today and you unveil the car, all those little steps, it definitely makes it seem more real.
“But I’m sure once things slow down in the off-season and I have a lot of time to sit around and think about the upcoming season is when it’s really going to hit. I’m sure that’s when all the nervousness will start to creep in, but as well as the excitement.
“I look forward to prepping even more. I definitely, obviously, look forward to October and getting to do the rookie orientation. I am — I have thought about that a little bit, so I am nervous when I do think about that. But I think once I get in the car, a lot of those nerves will hopefully go away after a few laps, and it will feel like home, just like all the other race cars I drive.”
Ward is leading the Arrow McLaren IndyCar effort as they help one of racing’s most versatile talents get up to speed for next year’s Indianapolis 500.
“Our goal is just to build up and get as much prep and seat time as we can, just to hit the ground running and be as prepared as possible come May,” Ward said.
It helps that the General Motors Charlotte Technical Center is based in Concord, North Carolina – near the Hendrick Motorsports campus. The facility includes the simulator that is used for NASCAR, IndyCar and IMSA Sports Car Racing.
“It’s already been an advantage,” Ward said. “That’s a great question. Just walking across the road for Kyle. We’re down there all the time working at the GM Performance Center on our program. Yeah, it makes it pretty handy when we’ve got a day or got some time and can get Kyle over there.”
Larson explained the value of running laps in an Indy car on the simulator.
“When I’m in town, I work out there in the morning and I spend a lot of time at the Chevy Center, may just be in the gym, but it’s nice,” Larson said. “You work out and walk downstairs and hop in the simulator.
“That facility is state of the art too. It is truly amazing. They did an amazing job with it. And, yeah, it’s right next door to HMS as well. It’s all right there, everything I need. Yeah, I look forward to spending more time there, just to try to prep as much as possible.”
Prior to Larson announcing his plan to compete in the Indianapolis 500, Hendrick acknowledged that he once considered allowing Jeff Gordon to take a run at the Indy 500, but the plan never advanced to reality.
Early in Hendrick Motorsports career, one of his drivers was 1980 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Tim Richmond.
“Tim Richmond told me a lot of tales,” Hendrick said with a laugh. “Tim just said it was cool. His talent was a lot like Kyle. He could race anything, drive anything. But, no, he never spent much time telling me about this race.
“Jeff Gordon and I talked about it, but he wasn’t really keen. He was so focused on driving the Cup car. But this is the first time that we really got serious with it.
“Roger Penske and I have talked about it for years. I actually had a sticker on his car a couple years back. But no, this is the first real effort that we said, “Hey, let’s go do it.’”
Hendrick has always been a “stock car guy” from the time he grew up on Kerr Lake in southern Virginia to when he created “All-Star Racing” in 1984 with Geoff Bodine as his first driver.
All-Star Racing could become Hendrick Motorsports, the most successful racing team in NASCAR history.
But Hendrick is also a “car guy” and has always understood the importance of the Indianapolis 500.
“I think Daytona and the Indy 500, and I got to do the 24 Hours of Le Mans, so I’m kind of getting my bucketful here. I never dreamed I’d go to Daytona in a stock car, so we’re coming up on 40 years next year,” Hendrick explained. “This is such an unbelievable place, that, and Charlotte, doing the 600 and this race. It’s going to be unbelievable.
“We all talked about it. Kyle wanted to do it. We’re just very fortunate that Arrow McLaren was able to put it together for us.
“I can’t wait to have that car in the museum.”