Kyle Larson prepares for Indy 500 ROP as Blomqvist, Lundqvist, Armstrong complete initiation
INDIANAPOLIS – There is little time for 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson to take a break.
That’s just the way the Hendrick Motorsports driver likes it.
Consider that this past Sunday, he had to survive and advance to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs when he had to sweat out a finish to stave off elimination at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
“It was a stressful weekend,” Larson said Sunday after he climbed out of his No. 5 Chevrolet. “I’m just happy to survive.
“I knew where I was at, I was OK, but if the 8 (Kyle Busch) won, it was going to get really tight. I’m a big AJ Allmendinger fan today.
“I was able to get by and survive so I’m happy.”
Then it was off to Putnamville, Indiana to compete in the High Limit Sprint Car Series, where he finished third to winner Rico Abreu and Tyler Courtney, but it was enough for Larson to clinch his second consecutive High Limit Championship by seven points.
On Wednesday, it was over to the Arrow McLaren IndyCar shop on the northwest side of Indianapolis as he completed final details with the team on his Indianapolis 500 ride for 2024.
On Thursday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Larson will climb into the Indy car and take part in the Rookie Orientation Program for the 108th Indianapolis 500 next year. IndyCar has set aside three hours in the schedule for Larson to complete his ROP.
There will be a two-hour test of IndyCar’s new hybrid engine from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Eastern Time. Larson’s ROP follows and once that is completed, the hybrid test will continue from 2-6 p.m. ET.
The hybrid will be tested by Colton Herta of Andretti Global, Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing, Will Power of Team Penske and Alexander Rossi of Arrow McLaren.
Rossi will test only Thursday because he is getting married this weekend. He will turn the car over to David Malukas, who will take part in the hybrid test Friday along with Palou, Herta and Power.
It wasn’t until after Tuesday night’s High Limit Championship was sealed that Larson finally could think about his Indy 500 ROP on Thursday.
“I take things day by day,” Larson told NBC Sports after his stressful race Sunday. “I wasn’t thinking about it at all until you just said.”
Larson likes to keep things simple, but he is a master of piling on his schedule. From the NASCAR Cup Series to High Limit Sprint Cars to the Indianapolis 500 ROP and then off to Las Vegas for Sunday’s South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series race, the kid from Elk Grove, California is a “Racer’s Racer.”
“Kyle Larson pushes hard, he’s aggressive and he wins races,” Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon told NBC Sports. “He is a really good guy, works hard and never wants to let anybody down. He doesn’t hide it. I like that about Kyle."
Larson will attempt to become the fifth driver to complete "The Double" of running the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 consecutively on the Memorial Day weekend Sunday, joining John Andretti, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, and Kurt Busch (the 2004 Cup Series champion was the most recent in 2014).
Stewart produced the most successful Double in 2001 when he finished sixth at Indianapolis and third at Charlotte.
Larson’s time at the Indianapolis 500 ROP comes on Thursday. On Wednesday, however, three drivers easily raced through the three phases of ROP.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist and Chip Ganassi Racing's Linus Lundqvist of Sweden and Marcus Armstrong of New Zealand all are cleared to compete in open practice next May for the Indy 500.
The three drivers ran a combined 285 laps around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The only blip of the day came early in the session when Lundqvist had to be towed in after having a tire issue.
Despite that, Lundqvist was the first to pass all three phases at 11:48 a.m. Blomqvist was next at 11:52 a.m. and Armstrong passed his third and final phase at noon.
Afterward, the drivers were able to run laps around the track to use up their allotment of three sets of Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 tires.
Blomqvist ran a total of 90 laps with a top speed of 220.176 mph in the No. 60 Honda for Meyer-Shank Racing.
“It was such a special day,” said Blomqvist, who left early to head to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for Petit Le Mans (the season finale of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will take place Saturday). “It was a pretty cool experience, I must admit. Getting those first laps a few hours ago, it was so eye-opening. The first lap, I was soaking it all in. Then you have to get down to business to make sure you can get through this Rookie Orientation test as they call it.
“As the runs went on, damn, that was so much fun. The last run, I was flat out all the way around for 15 laps. That was really, really cool.
“Damn, I’m really excited to come back here in May to kick the big thing off. It’s going to be my first Indianapolis 500 and the first one I’m coming to is the one I’m competing in so that is going to be pretty wild.
“All baby steps. There is a long road ahead of us. I got my first-ever oval experience a few weeks ago at Texas. That helped the process coming here because in all honesty, this track is a little more straightforward, more natural.
“It’s such an exciting and fun morning. I’m really grateful.”
Blomqvist made his IndyCar debut at Toronto in July, then completed the final two races of the season at Portland and Laguna Seca in September.
Lundqvist was second at 219.504 mph in the No. 8 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing and ran a session-high 102 laps.
“It's something so special being at this place, driving around this track,” said Lundqvist, the 2022 INDY NXT champion. “So many years I've been on the sideline hoping to be one of the guys driving around it. So now to finally do it, and then to make my debut for Chip Ganassi Racing as well, at least in an unofficial session, it's very, very cool.
“It's been a good day, a positive day. Managed to get through the program, which was obviously a good thing, but also managed to feel quite comfortable around this place.
“I'm excited for May. That's for sure.”
Armstrong, who drove the street and road course races for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023, was third at 219.252 mph. He completed 93 laps.
“Not a lot of nerves, to be honest, but it was good to get this Rookie Orientation out of the way so we can sort of crack on when it all kicks off next year,” Armstrong said afterward. “But it met my expectations, with honors, so it was a lot of fun. I must say it was perfect conditions. No wind, cold, and obviously our car was pretty rock solid today. So, it wasn't difficult circumstances. But yeah, I loved it.
“Without a lot of oval experience, coming here, it's not easy. It's very high speeds, a lot of nuances to this track, a lot of details. If I'm honest, I wasn't nervous about doing it. It was more so just about trying to get the first run out of the way, so we know what to do better next time.
“To drive on this circuit at proper speeds after Phase 3, I would say still it's a long way off qualification speed, but it was incredible. I have watched this place since I was a kid. So, to drive around here in anger at flat-out is pretty crazy. It's pretty special. But I don't really want to think about that when I'm driving because that's never a good thing.
“I can reflect on it now, but when I was in the moment, it was quite smooth sailing, to be honest.”
