Kyle Larson Rejects Rick Hendrick and NASCAR’s Historic International Project with a Surprising Revelation

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson is not your average NASCAR Cup Series driver. Wearing multiple hats and seeing himself competing in different disciplines of racing apart from NASCAR, Larson is now aiming at completing “The Double,” running 500 miles at the Indianapolis 500 and then 600 miles in the Cup Series race at Charlotte Motors Speedway.

So it’s fair to say that the HMS star is just starting to spread his wings in terms of getting a taste of different racing events. However, his ambitions don’t just end with a successful run after the IndyCar Series; he also eyes a run at the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans. Well, it would make sense for him to go that route considering HMS has fielded their own Garage 56 project and ran it during the 2023 event. But, surprisingly, Larson isn’t looking to go down that road, competing at Le Mans under the HMS banner.

Kyle Larson prioritizes wins and competitiveness in his future racing endeavors

NASCAR owner Jim France had brokered a deal to get Hendrick Motorsports to race at Le Mans as a part of the “Innovative Car” class. The No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro wasn’t in contention for the win but rather completed the full 24 hours of racing. So it’s fair to say it’s just a concept race car trying to represent NASCAR in the most historic endurance racing event.

One reporter asked the HMS star about his next racing adventure being at Le Mans. To which he responded, “Yeah, I mean someday for sure. I would like to do that as I’m a full-time NASCAR racer that’s pretty impossible to do but you know if whenever my career’s done, yeah I’d give it a go.”  Larson said via David Land’s YouTube channel.

The reporter was confident that he would run that event under HMS’s new entry with the Garage 56 project.“I bet Rick would take the garage 56 back?” However, Larson’s reply took the reporter by surprise, as he wanted to compete in the true class category. “Well, I would like to do that in a true race car. You know, racing against other competitors and stuff. I think the Garage 56 stuff was really awesome, but they’re not really competing against you know other people in the same category of cars. I would like to do that.”

It’s fair to say that Kyle Larson is a competitive race car driver and doesn’t like to race just for the sake of it. This is very much visible in his frustration during the preparation of his feature for the Indy 500 race. The weather seemed to have caused a major roadblock for him and his Arrow McLaren team to get a practice run.

Indy 500 practice is not going according to Larson’s plan

Kyle Larson is evidently trying to become only the fifth NASCAR driver trying to complete “The Double”. The only driver who has successfully managed to achieve this feat is Tony Stewart. The California native driver has the pedigree to become just the second NASCAR driver to complete the historic run. However, the weather just isn’t helping his cause ahead of the big weekend.

Larson had three days to figure out his plans and adapt to the change in running the open-wheel race car in traffic. On Tuesday, there was no action on the racetrack because of the rain, and he was only able to get two laps. Wednesday saw a similar trend unfold as Larson could only get half of the prep running 47 laps.

Thursday was a sunny day, and Larson wanted to make the most of the good weather, but his team decided to make an early engine change. Thus adding more frustration for the driver, who could manage only 11 laps on the racetrack. “I thought the weather would be good and I’d get to turn a lot of laps, but everybody has turned laps but me. It’s been a bit boring and frustrating.” Larson was quoted via AP.

Hopefully, Larson and the Arrow McLaren team will sort out these issues and prepare well for the main event, which is scheduled for May 26.