Kyle Larson’s Playful Take on His “Surprising” IndyCar Test Oozes Positive Advancement

Kyle Larson has multiple events lined up for the 2024 season apart from his Cup Series commitments. The biggest of them is going to be the Indy 500 debut with Arrow Mclaren. Larson will be attempting to be just the second driver to complete the double after Tony Stewart ran the Indy500 and Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series races on Memorial Day weekend.

Gearing up for the big day, the former Cup series champion took on a private test at the Phoenix Raceway, piloting the Arrow McLaren Indy car. However, open-wheel and stock-car racing are two opposites of each other, but they do pose different challenges. Kyle Larson was surprised by the similarities between his No. 5 Cup car and IndyCar during his test runs on February 5.

Larson draws a parallel to the Next Gen Stock Car and calls it slower

To get seat time and hands-on experience with his Indy car ahead of the big clash on May 26, Kyle Larson decided to run some practice laps. He ran five sets of ties for about 40 laps each, which equals some 200 laps of the Phoenix Raceway. The 31-year-old described the Indy car as “very similar” to that of his Cup racing stock car. Sharing his experience, he said, “I had a few moments where I was uncomfortable. 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.”

Jotting down the similarities while speaking with Sportsnaut, Kyle Larson said, “Honestly, though, nothing about yesterday felt way different than what a Cup car, the Next Gen car, feels like. That was good for me. I think the characteristics of the Indy car 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.” This was indeed a positive test on his part, which will come in handy when he puts in double duty later in the season.

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Apart from running laps and testing the car on the tricky corners, Kyle Larson also ran pit stop drills, a crucial element of any race-day event.

Kyle Larson was taken back by the quick pit stops in IndyCar racing

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For a NASCAR Cup Series car, an average pit stop time is between 12 and 16 seconds. Compare that to IndyCar; it is close to 7 seconds. There is a big difference between the two racecars, and it takes some adjustment for a novice driver to settle in at IndyCar pitstops. Explaining how more reps will help him get consistent at pitting, Larson said, “That was good because pit stops are lot quicker here than what I’m used to.

“In a stockcar, all you’re worried about is popping it into neutral, coasting in, holding the brake pedal, they drop the car, put it in first gear and you take off. It’s similar to that. With more reps I think I get, that will slow down for me. I’ll get to where I can nail things a little bit better, and more consistently. So yeah, just getting more reps is going to be important.”

It will indeed be a spectacle if Kyle Larson manages to pull off both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same, thus joining the legend Tony Stewart in the history books.

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