Kyle Larson's barnstorming begins this weekend when he undertakes a trying commute between three racetracks in two national motorsports series.
Larson is bidding to become the fifth driver to complete the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. To accomplish the feat, Larson will miss NASCAR All-Star Race preparations Friday and Saturday at North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to focus on Indy 500 practice and qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After attempting to qualify for the field of 33 for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" on Sunday at more than 230 mph in an IndyCar, Larson will hustle to the Indianapolis airport for a flight to tiny North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina, where he will race against the Cup Series’ best for $1 million in the NASCAR All-Star Race.
Larson will return to Indy for Monday practice, spend Tuesday in New York on a media tour and bounce between Indy and Charlotte Motor Speedway three times from Friday to Sunday ahead of the Coca-Cola 600.
It’s a daunting journey, but Larson is ready for the harried itinerary.
The Hendrick Motorsports star has squeezed in several dozen dirt races around his annual NASCAR schedule of 38 Cup Series weekends for the past decade.
“Yeah, I mean honestly it just feels like another week for me,” Larson said. “If anything, it’s a little easier of a week than normal.”
That’s in part because Indy 500 qualifying will end an hour later this year, so Larson will be unable to run for the pole position at North Wilkesboro, even if he were to advance to the final round of six drivers.
He already will be on the way to North Wilkesboro as a favorite, along with defending series champion Joey Logano, who led 199 of 200 laps to win last year’s NASCAR All-Star Race. Larson led 145 laps to win the 2023 All-Star Race debut at North Wilkesboro.
After the runaway wins, NASCAR has spiced up this year’s race by adding 50 laps to the distance and a random caution flag that will bunch up the field.
The format changes don’t faze Larson, who has won three of the past six All-Star Races, nor does the lack of track time. He missed practice and qualifying for last year’s All-Star Race and then drove from last to fourth on the recently repaved track.
“I think you could plug any of us in without practice, and by Lap 10 you’re going to be up to speed,” he said. “Last year was probably more of a disadvantage because I hadn’t made a single lap on that surface, but we were able to move forward right off the bat."
Justin Allgaier will practice and qualify Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet, but the team will skip Saturday’s 75-lap heat races that set the lineup for Sunday’s main event because Larson will start from the rear for using a replacement driver Friday.
Coming off a dominant victory May 11 at Kansas Speedway, Larson leads the points standings with three wins – making him even more confident of handling his jet-setting lifestyle.
What Larson is trying to do is far from normal. He crashed Friday — after wrecking last month in a test at Indy — while trying to get up to speed with the extra horsepower that he will have for Indy 500 qualifying.
“Obviously it’s tricky. I spun,” Larson said after leaving the Indy care center. “I don’t know. Kind of caught off guard a little bit there, but I think we’ll be fine. I tend to get over things pretty quickly. I know I spun but my balance felt pretty close to being good.”
Last year, his attempt at the feat known as “The Double” was scuttled because the Indy 500 was delayed four hours by rain, preventing him from racing in a rain-shortened event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“It’s something that not many people have gotten the opportunity to do and it’s a challenging day of racing,” he said. “I love the challenge. I’ve looked up to a lot of the guys that have done it, and you want to add your name to the record book somehow."
Qualifying, Pit Crew Challenge results
Brad Keselowski rebounded from a dismal season to win his first All-Star Race pole position. The No. 6 Ford driver beat Christopher Bell by nearly a second to earn the top starting spot in Sunday’s main event and in the first of two 75-lap heat races Saturday that will determine the rest of the All-Star Race starting lineup.
“It’s pretty freaking cool, man,” said Keselowski, the 2012 Cup Series champion who is ranked 33rd in the points standings with a best finish of 11th this year. “It’s one of the things I’ve never done in my career. And to do it by so much. But a total team effort."
The driver-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing has three runner-up finishes in the All-Star Race, tying him with Sterling Marlin and Ken Schrader for the most seconds without a win in the event.
Michael McDowell’s team won the Pit Crew Challenge and a $100,00 bonus with a four-tire stop in 12.587 seconds.
Shane van Gisbergen captured the pole position for the All-Star Open, a 100-lap warmup race Sunday. Carson Hocevar qualified second. The top two finishers in the All-Star Open, plus the winner of an online fan vote, will transfer into the 250-lap main event.
Fresh start
Harrison Burton will be making his All-Star Race debut Sunday, even though he last raced the Cup Series in the 2024 season finale. After three years in the No. 21 Ford, Burton lost his ride with Wood Brothers Racing and dropped to the Xfinity Series.
But he was guaranteed a spot in the All-Star Race because of his victory at Daytona International Speedway last August, so Rick Ware Racing hired Burton to drive its No. 51 Ford at North Wilkesboro in a one-off deal.
“You kind of never know if an opportunity will come and having an automatic bid into the All-Star Race is such a big deal to me,” Burton said. “Especially how my story has gone with the ups and downs. This is such a cool moment for me. I really wanted to make this deal work out, and I’m really happy it did.”
Title barometer
The All-Star Race winner has gone on to win the Cup championship in three of the past five years (Chase Elliott in 2020, Larson in ’21, Logano last year), which adds another layer to the race’s prestige. The select field will feature 23 drivers.
“Just being a part of the race against some of the biggest names in the series is big and important,” said Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, who missed last year’s main event. “It’s not a points race but there’s a lot of cash on the line and definitely a cool title to go with it.”
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Nate Ryan, The Associated Press
