NASCAR QNA: Kyle Larson to Indy, Martin Truex to Round of 8, and who names their son Aero?
As Round of 8 arrives, Kyle Larson is getting in an Indy-car?
This isn’t your normal sport, where athletes need plenty of reps to stay sharp, and maybe some film study to help learn the upcoming opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.
Not much for a guy like Kyle Larson to do between Sundays, and that’s partly why he’s climbing into an Indy rocket midweek for some hot laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Oh, the other reason he’s doing it: Kyle has signed on to run next May’s Indy 500, and this is rookie-orientation week for him and three other Brickyard newbies eyeballing next year’s Spectacle.
No, this isn’t exactly a carnival carousel Kyle is boarding, but he spends lots of “down” time in sprints and late-models at breakneck speeds. So until someone buys him a fishing pole, this is the hobby.
NASCAR SPEED FREAKS Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace exit playoffs, are you surprised?
Does Martin Truex still belong in the playoffs? He’s been horrible
Based on playoff finishes, Truex should be making offseason vacation plans and basically going through the motions over the coming weekends.
But playoff results aren’t all about, well, "playoff results." Truex brought a whole lot of stage wins and bonus points with him to the playoffs — a result of running well enough to win the regular-season championship.
“I didn’t create the system,” he says.
He still sits second with a bit of bonus cushion, but it could quickly evaporate — he hasn’t finished better than 17th since the playoff bell rang. Yikes.
Is “Aero Allmendinger” now the best name in auto racing?
I reckon there’s a chance AJ Allmendinger’s newborn son grows up to be an aeronautical engineer. Hell, maybe even an astronaut.
It might have taken a bit longer than we expected, but @_TaraLea and I are so thrilled to have our little boy
Aero James Allmendinger finally arrive into our family at 1131am this morning. Momma and baby are doing amazing. Thank you to everyone that was so positive through this.— AJ Allmendinger (@AJDinger) September 7, 2023
But chances are, it’ll be race cars for the lad, and if he progresses, Aero Allmendinger will have a big built-in marketing advantage.
Young William Clyde Elliott Jr. was quickly answering to Chase, which isn’t a bad racing name either, though I still say Billy Clyde would’ve been better. But Aero Allmendinger? Unless some enterprising racing couple name a kid Horsepower, Aero is the leader in the clubhouse.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR: Kyle Larson to Indy; Truex to Round of 8, and a boy named Aero
