Kyle Larson completed an important test session in an IndyCar on Monday, gaining him more familiarity with the open wheel machine ahead of his Indianapolis 500 debut this May.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion has been preparing for the last few months for his attempt at ‘The Double,’ which will see him race 1,100 miles in a single day at Indianapolis and then at Charlotte Motor Speedway later in the evening.
Larson is about to start a fourth consecutive season with Hendrick Motorsports in NASCAR, and his Indy 500 team is a joint effort between Hendrick and Arrow McLaren.
Only a few drivers have ever attempted the unique test, and the Californian has been doing his best to use the resources of his teams to prepare early for the challenge.
In October, the 31-year-old completed the Rookie Orientation Program at IMS, gaining approval from series officials to take part in future sessions with multiple people on track. This week he took to the much smaller Phoenix Raceway to push the limits of his open wheel car.
“Honestly, yesterday was probably more uncomfortable just because it’s a smaller track,” said Larson about his test day. “Things are happening quicker. You’re having to lift off the throttle a little bit.
“At Indy, once we got through the different stages [of the orientation program], we were wide open pretty easy by yourself. It was a cool day and all that.
“Yesterday was fun to kind of have to work on the timing of the corner and work through some balance things because, yeah, I mean, the balance was definitely not perfect, which was good to feel.
“At Indy, like I said, I’m out there by myself. They have downforce packed into it. I’m comfortable. Didn’t really feel much about the car changing there, so… It was good to feel the car not be quite perfect at times yesterday.”
Larson is no stranger to trying out different forms of racing, and often enters dirt track sprint car races on any weekend that he’s not competing in NASCAR.
He dedicates his life to racing all sorts of different machines, and is quite adept at wheeling each one around a track at speed.
That flexibility has helped him in his IndyCar training, of which he’s only had a few days actually out on track.
Although, Larson’s opinion is that his new ride is not that dissimilar to the NASCAR chassis he’s found many successes with, which could help his chances of finishing high up the order in both races.
“Nothing about yesterday felt way different than what a Cup car, Next Gen car, feels like. That was good for me. I think the characteristics of the IndyCar versus the Cup car, at least at Phoenix, felt very similar. You’re just going a lot faster in an IndyCar.
“The moments happen a lot quicker. The edge of good versus not good feels a lot sharper. Yeah, it didn’t feel way, way different than what I was, I guess, used to. Even with those moments of getting sideways, it didn’t feel way different.
“I thought that was good to feel at 190 or whatever we’re going, 180 maybe in the corner, compared to going 220 at Indy, having the moment, being surprised by something. I think that was a benefit.
“I think just getting more reps of pulling in and out of the box, messing with the weight jacker and bar and all that. I didn’t really mess with any of that during my rookie orientation just ’cause the balance was so good, I didn’t really feel like I needed to do anything.
“Yesterday my balance was kind of transitioning quickly. Kind of had to try to keep up with that a little bit. I’m not used to having cockpit adjustors. That’s what you have to do a lot of in an IndyCar.
“Yeah, it was just good to kind of do all that stuff, log some notes in my brain. Hopefully make the transition, when I get to Indy, smoother and quicker, and we can really just get to working on the important stuff with the car and things like that once we get to the month of May.”
The 108th Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 are both scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 26.
