CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Larson has arrived at Charlotte Motor Speedway and is looking to refocus ahead of the Coca-Cola 600 after his bid to complete “the Double” ended when he crashed at the Indianapolis 500.
“Frustrated and sad, and all of the emotions,” Larson said in brief interview with Amazon Prime after boarding an airplane headed to Concord, North Carolina. “Just try to mentally get reset and try to forget about it.”
Larson arrived at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in plenty of the time for the race — unlike a year ago when he didn’t reach the track until 249 laps had been completed due to rain in Indianapolis that delayed the start of the Indy 500. Larson never turned a lap at last year’s Coca-Cola 600 as the race was called.
Rain again delayed the start of the Indy 500 on Sunday, but the early exit gave Larson plenty of time to arrive and even relax a little before the green flag.
Larson will start on the front row alongside pole sitter Chase Briscoe, looking for his fourth win of the season on the Cup Series circuit.
Larson crashed out of the Indianapolis 500 near the midway point Sunday, ending the NASCAR superstar's second shot at finishing both “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte in the same day.
Larson had been mired deep in traffic throughout the first half of the race, which was delayed about 35 minutes because of a rain shower that passed over the speedway. He was going through Turns 1 and 2 when his car wiggled on a downshift, sending him into a spin and into the outside wall, ending his race after 91 laps.
“Just a bit crazy there on the restart,” he said. “I got like, tight behind Takuma (Sato). I was really close in. I got loose and kind of got all over the place, and yeah, so it spun. Just hate that I got a little too eager on the restarter. Hate it for everybody else.”
Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb also were caught up in the crash.
“When Kyle started losing it and checking up, I tried to go around the outside and there was just no grip out there,” Robb said.
If he had made it to the finish in Indianapolis, he would have faced a tight window to make the 550-mile trip because of the rain delay, which soaked up most of the 45-minute buffer that his NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports and IndyCar team Arrow McLaren projected for him.
It was a rough day for Larson even before the crash. He also stalled the car on pit lane, costing him valuable track positions.
Larson took his first shot on one of the toughest challenges in motorsports last season, when even more rain wreaked havoc with his finely laid plans. That Indy 500 was delayed by 4 hours because of heavy rains that saturated Indianapolis Motor Speedway and caused him to be late to Charlotte, where the Cup Series race was underway by the time he landed.
Then, more rain there caused the NASCAR race to be called complete before Larson ever took a lap in his car.
John Andretti was the first driver to try the Indy 500-Coca-Cola 600 double in 1994, and Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch also have given it a shot. Stewart is the only one to complete all 1,100 laps, finishing sixth in the 2001 Indy 500 before the helicopter-jet-helicopter jaunt to Charlotte, where he finished third in the Cup Series race.
“Just bummed out,” Larson said. “Try to get over this quickly and get on to Charlotte. Try to forget about it and win tonight.”
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Reed reported from Charlotte, North Carolina.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Steve Reed And Dave Skretta, The Associated Press
