Roger Penske expecting to draw big crowd for Kyle Larson's Indy 500 debut

INDIANAPOLIS – It was a few hours before the start of the NASCAR Cup Series race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and Roger Penske was wearing his track owner’s hat instead of a NASCAR team owner's.

Penske, the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500, and the IndyCar Series, watched with pride as Kyle Larson’s rides were unveiled for Memorial Day weekend next year.

On one side was the Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet with racing director Gavin Ward and crew. On the other side was Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy and his NASCAR Cup Series team.

Both cars featured “HendrickCars.com sponsorship” as Larson will compete in both the 108th Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola NASCAR Cup Series race on May 26, 2024. It is being billed at the “Hendrick 1100.”

Larson will be the first driver to attempt the famed Indy 500-Coke 600 “Double” since Kurt Busch in 2014.

It’s undeniable the Indianapolis 500 is experiencing a surge of momentum under Penske’s leadership as owner of the world’s most famous race course. This year’s Indianapolis 500 had a crowd of 330,000 spectators, according to Penske. It was the largest crowd since a sellout of 350,000 attended the 100th Indianapolis 500 in 2016.

Penske wants to continue that upward surge in attendance and TV ratings. He believes a star driver such as Larson adds more interest and prestige to the already huge event.

“I think to have Kyle Larson and Rick Hendrick here is a super advantage for us as a track owner and the series,” Penske told NBC Sports. “To see Kyle, what he has been able to do in every other type of race car will be a real journey for all of the fans here in Indianapolis.”

The Indianapolis 500 has always been a race featuring big names and star drivers from other forms of racing. Larson’s participation defines that as he is a favorite driver from both the grassroots level of dirt racing and the NASCAR Cup Series.

“We’ve had Europeans come here and win this race, but to have Larson, who races every week, he is the fan’s favorite every single weekend,” Penske said. “To have him come here will be an amazing thing.

“For him, personally, it’s a goal he wants to accomplish and get to the top.”

It was 11 a.m. on Race Day at the Brickyard, and Larson was standing in the bright sunshine of a warm Indiana Sunday. He still was basking in the spotlight of winning last Saturday night’s Knoxville Nationals Sprint Car Classic, leading every lap in the race.

Larson returned to Indianapolis from Knoxville, Iowa, and arrived at 4 a.m. A few hours later, he was posing along with NASCAR Cup team owner Rick Hendrick, Ward and Penske.

“It just shows what kind of guy he is,” Penske said of Larson. “This guy is an ‘Ironman’ you could say.”

The addition of Larson could help push ticket sales to next year’s Indianapolis 500 closer to “sellout” stage.

“Well, there is always more room to put people in the infield,” Penske said. “If we have over 300,000 people again, it will be an amazing weekend.

“We want good weather and a safe race.”

Larson has been an IndyCar fan most of his life and spent the formative years of his racing career in and around the Indianapolis area. His father, Mike, is a huge Indianapolis 500 fan.

Larson has established himself as a Parnelli Jones of his generation – able to drive anything as hard and fast as possible anywhere and win.

He proved that in the Knoxville Nationals in a Sprint Car and is one of the NASCAR Cup Series' greatest stars in a stock car.

Next May, he takes on the Indianapolis 500 (after going through a Rookie Orientation Program at the Brickyard in October).

“I'm extremely excited, but at the same time, I'm so busy racing and trying to take care of my family, it hasn't really set in yet that it's truly a reality,” Larson said. “When you have days like today and you unveil the car, all those little steps, it definitely makes it seem more real.

“But I'm sure once things slow down in the offseason and I have a lot of time to sit around and think about the upcoming season is when it's really going to hit. I'm sure that's when all the nervousness will start to creep in but as well as the excitement.

“I look forward to prepping even more. I definitely, look forward to October and getting to do the rookie orientation. I have thought about that a little bit, so I am nervous when I do think about that.

“But I think once I get in the car, a lot of those nerves will hopefully go away after a few laps, and it will feel like home, just like all the other race cars I drive.”

As the racing director at Arrow McLaren, Ward oversees the team’s three-driver effort that includes Pato O’Ward of Mexico, Alexander Rossi of California and Felix Rosenqvist of Sweden. The team has yet to win an IndyCar Series race this season and with three races to go, that remains a focus of the operation.

Ward has already put in some time with Larson helping him prepare for his IndyCar test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October.

“We've got the seat fit completed, and we've done some laps in the simulator,” Ward said. “We're getting ready to do some first real running here in October.

“But our goal is just to build up and get as much prep and seat time as we can, just to hit the ground running and be as prepared as possible come May.”

Larson believes he is prepared for the next step, but admitted he was surprised with how quickly the team was able to create his race seat.

“I thought it would be a full day process, and it was like an hour,” Larson recalled. “It's like, ‘Really? We're done?’

“I know it's going to get way more in-depth as we get more into it.”

Larson believes there was value in attending an Indianapolis 500 practice and then returning to watch the start of the race so he could get a closer look at how the team operates at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“They were obviously so focused on what they had upcoming, getting ready for the Indy 500 with the teams that they were running, and it was nice to get to come here, kind of listen to some radio communication, just to get to see all their hospitality, stuff like that, in May,” Larson said. “Just getting eyes on stuff a year in advance will hopefully make things a little less overwhelming for next year.

“I thought that was really important to also get to come to the race for a little while, just to get reminded of how crazy this place becomes with all the people and the ceremonies and all that.

“I think getting eyes on it all was good, and it will hopefully knock some of the edge off next year.”

Larson, Arrow McLaren, and Hendrick Motorsports also have the advantage of the simulator at the 130,000-square foot General Motors Charlotte Technical Center in Concord, North Carolina.

The $45 million facility (which is just a few hundred feet from the Hendrick Motorsports campus) opened in 2022, and the simulator is used for all of GM’s racing efforts including IndyCar, NASCAR and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

“It's already been an advantage,” Ward said of the simulator. “It’s just walking across the road for Kyle. We're down there all the time working at the Chevrolet Technical Center on our program. It makes it pretty handy when we've got a day or got some time and can get Kyle over there.”

Larson works out at Hendrick Motorsports in the morning before heading to the Charlotte Technical Center for simulator work afterward.

“You work out and walk downstairs and hop in the simulator,” Larson explained. “That facility is state of the art too. It is truly amazing. They did an amazing job with it. And, yeah, it's right next door to HMS as well. It's all right there, everything I need. Yeah, I look forward to spending more time there, just to try to prep as much as possible.”

Larson described some of his most recent sim work in an IndyCar.

“I did Mid-Ohio, and when I first got in it, I thought I would be out of control and go in the grass, all this stuff,” he said. “I was like, 'OK, I feel like I'm doing all right,' like I felt like I got into a rhythm.

“The engineers were staying pretty quiet. They would chime in like, ‘Hey, everything looks good. Just keep working on your braking zones and stuff. Okay, more brake pressure. Go a little deeper. Yep, that's a little better.’ I'm like, ‘Well, how much more do I need?’ They're like, ‘Well, you need about a thousand more pounds of brake pressure.’

“I'm like, ‘What?’ The max brake pressure in an Indy car is like 2,800 pounds. That's insane. I've never pushed anything that hard.”

Larson said the maximum brake pressure is 800 pounds in a stock car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — roughly a ton less than in IndyCar.

“Trying to get your brain wrapped around slamming the pedal that hard and releasing it quickly but also maintaining some was just super difficult for me,” he said. “I couldn't ever figure it out. I felt like I regressed once I got closer to the max brake pressure stuff.”

That is when a current Arrow McLaren IndyCar driver hopped into the simulator.

“Felix Rosenqvist showed up and was way faster than me, so it was starting to get frustrating,” Larson admitted. “It was just eye-opening to see data.

“I've always heard about the downforce cars and braking and all that, but I've never seen the telemetry of what they're doing behind the wheel. So that was definitely interesting. To see how consistent, they can be while pushing that hard was pretty wild, definitely eye-opening.”

Larson believes the more he works with Arrow McLaren, the better the results will be.

“No matter the result from this whole experience, I'm going to come out of it a better race car driver,” Larson predicted. “I already have, just in the short amount of time I spent in the simulator.

“It's definitely having the support that I do from the teammates at Arrow McLaren as well as Chevrolet and drivers who have raced IndyCar stuff before as well as stock cars.

“I'll have a lot of people to lean on to soak up a lot of knowledge. So very, very thankful for that.”

Follow Bruce Martin at @BruceMartin_500