INDIANAPOLIS — Rain was not Kyle Larson’s good friend Sunday.
Larson was decided to finish the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, often known as “The Double,” however did not get an opportunity to run a single lap within the NASCAR race.
Storms swept via Indianapolis Motor Speedway and delayed the beginning of the race, ruining Larson’s probability at ending all 1,100 miles in a single day. However after driving his No. 17 automotive to an 18th-place end in his debut in “The Best Spectacle in Racing” — regardless of a pair of rookie errors — the NASCAR star nonetheless headed to Charlotte.
After two helicopter rides and about an hourlong flight, Larson arrived for the 400-lap race that Justin Allgaier had began in his place. Simply as he arrived, climate introduced the race to a halt with 151 laps left, giving Larson time to climb into the No. 5 automotive.
However he by no means bought to show a lap at Charlotte because the race was known as after a two-hour rain delay, with Christopher Bell getting the victory.
“I’d positively like to be again subsequent yr,” Larson stated of the Indy 500. “Really feel like I realized lots. Made a few errors early there with the restart — unsure what I did there. Really feel like I did a extremely good job after that and was in a position to be taught lots.”
Larson began fifth and spent a lot of the Indy 500 — received for the second time in a row by Josef Newgarden — hanging with the leaders. However he made a minor mistake going via the gears on an early restart and misplaced about 10 spots, then made a serious one later within the race, when Larson locked up the tires getting into pit street and was caught rushing.
Larson was sixth on the time however needed to drive via pit street once more to serve the penalty, shuffling him outdoors the highest 20. He managed to choose up a few spots over the past 70 laps however by no means bought a warning that would have given him an opportunity.
“It killed our alternative,” Larson stated of the pit-road mistake. “May have executed higher.”
Arrow McLaren fielded the automotive for Larson in a partnership with Hendrick Motorsports. With rain within the forecast all week, the massive query getting into Sunday was whether or not NASCAR workforce proprietor Rick Hendrick would pull the plug on the hassle and ship Larson to Charlotte early in order that he may race for stage factors and assist his possibilities within the Cup Collection playoffs.
However when the rain ended, a spokesman for Hendrick Motorsports confirmed that the Indy 500 can be the precedence.
“I believe it might be improbable to have him again,” stated Larson’s teammate, Pato O’Ward, who completed second after Newgarden made a last-lap move for the win. “I believe he did an outstanding job. I did not see fairly the place he completed, however once I was taking part in round with him on the market, taking part in in visitors, I believe he did an outstanding job.”
Hendrick was available in Indianapolis to look at the race, together with Jeff Gordon, the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports who largely grew up in Indiana and as soon as dreamed of operating the Indy 500. They have been joined by lots of of different followers who gathered across the No. 17 automotive when it was pushed to the grid about an hour earlier than the drop of the inexperienced flag.
The storm that swept via Sunday wasn’t the primary to disrupt Larson’s plans. He had a number of days of follow washed out — partially or totally — earlier within the month, limiting the period of time he was in a position to spend within the automotive.
Larson’s try at “The Double” captivated these inside the racing world. Most of his Hendrick Motorsports workforce flew to Indianapolis on Friday to look at the ultimate follow on Carb Day, and drivers again in Charlotte have been watching the beginning of the rain-delayed Indy 500 earlier than heading to their very own automobiles and preparing for the beginning of the Cup Collection race.
“I am excited from the NASCAR facet, however I am extra excited from the dash automotive facet, to see one other dash automotive man go to the Indianapolis 500,” NASCAR driver Chase Briscoe stated. “It is form of the origins of Indy. You had these dash automotive guys who would go and run — you had A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Jack Hewitt, Bryan Clauson not too long ago — and that was at all times the factor. In case you have been the perfect dash automotive man, you wished to run the Indy 500. That was the dream. So it is cool from that standpoint.”