INDIANAPOLIS – Kyle Larson has often been called a modern-day Parnelli Jones as a driver who can drive any type of racing machine and win.
From the short tracks of sprint car racing to the dirt tracks of America, from late models to NASCAR Cup Series championship, from the Chili Bowl to the Daytona 500, the 31-year-old from Elk Grove, California is a racing hero to the type of racing fans that used to cheer on A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and Parnelli Jones, winners in anything they raced.
Thursday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Larson took the next step in that quest of racing versatility at the most famous race course in the world.
It was Larson’s Rookie Orientation Program (ROP) for the 108thIndianapolis 500 on May 26, 2023.
It was the most anticipated ROP since two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso in 2017, without the worldwide streaming audience that watched six years ago.
But there was a film crew that documented nearly every moment as the beginning of the “Hendrick 1100” as the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion attempts to become the next driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the same day.
Leading the way was Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon, winner of the Inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 and the only five-time winner of the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Gordon was a USAC racing star as a teenager from Pittsboro, Indiana – about 25 miles West of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As a youngster, his hero was Rick Mears, and his prized possession was a T-shirt he got Mears to autograph one day near the entrance to Gasoline Alley in the old Tower Terrace.
Gordon would have made a perfect IndyCar driver at that time, but the CART team owners weren’t interested in a USAC midget, sprint and Silver Crown driver at that time.
Gordon’s career took him to NASCAR, instead, where he became one of the greatest drivers in history and a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.
To this day, however, Gordon continues to have a deep love and appreciation of the Indianapolis 500 and gets to live vicariously through Larson’s quest.
“When Kyle Larson came to us and I took this position at Hendrick Motorsports, I asked him, ‘What are some of the things we can do to help you?’ ” Gordon told NBC Sports. “‘I want to run the Indianapolis 500.’
“I told him, ‘I’m putting it on the list.’
“The important thing about this is Kyle is doing it while he is at the top of his game and not late in his career. That is important because we believe this is the perfect time in his career to have a competitive run at the Indy 500.
“Kyle is at the top of his game, in the prime of his career. This is the time to do it, not when it is late in his career.”
It was also a special day for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as it welcomed the most successful team owner in NASCAR history, Rick Hendrick, to the track owned by the most successful man in racing, Roger Penske.
Hendrick has been coming to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since the very first NASCAR Cup Series test in 1992 and to the race at the Brickyard since the first one in 1994.
But this is the first time Hendrick will be part of the Indianapolis 500.
To highlight the occasion, at Roger Penske’s request, the large scoring pylon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway had a special welcome message for both Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports.
“I really want to thank Roger for the name on the pylon out there,” Hendrick said. “I thought that was quite an honor. I was surprised to see that. He told me today the track was mine.
“This is like home for Jeff. This track has got so much history. I never thought we would do this. But to be here today and watch it unfold is pretty special.”
Designed to help first-time drivers safely acclimate to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, ROP has historically been a laborious process.
But Larson made it look easy on Thursday.
Drivers must start ROP with 10 laps between 205-210 mph, following with 15 laps at 210-215 and finishing with 15 laps faster than 215 mph.
In a rookie test that began at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, Larson completed Phase 1 at 11:43 a.m. ET and Phase 2 at 12:25 p.m. ET.
At 1:18 p.m. ET, Larson completed the third and final phase and was able to spend the rest of his time on the track running laps at speed around the world’s most famous race course.
His top lap was 217.898 in the Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet fielded by Arrow McLaren in a joint effort with Hendrick Motorsports, Larson’s NASCAR team and 10-time winners of the Brickyard 400 at IMS. Larson turned 72 laps, with his fastest coming on his 65th trip.
Larson was so good, and so smooth on Phase 2 of ROP that he went 15 for 15 on hitting the mandated lap speeds to pass the phase. It showed the comfort zone Larson was in.
could really get used to this 🥰
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) October 12, 2023
#INDYCAR // @KyleLarsonRacin pic.twitter.com/hJHTkQ02Dj
Thursday’s activity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway also included testing for the Hybrid Assist unit with Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport, two-time IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou testing for Honda and Team Penske’s Will Power and Alexander Rossi of Arrow McLaren testing for Chevrolet.
Those drivers were on track from 9-11 a.m. Eastern Time and from 2-6 p.m. ET.
Larson’s ROP was a three-hour block from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Drivers such as Power watched Larson’s ROP with interest as Power recorded a video on his iPhone. Even a two-time IndyCar Series champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner was a bit starstruck to see a driver of Larson’s caliber attempt to run out of his comfort zone.
Driving an Indy car is intense, but Larson was able to quickly adapt and made it look natural.
“It was fun,” Larson continued. “I guess mostly what I anticipated in a way, the speed and the grip didn’t feel thankfully scarier than what I thought it might. But just like how much the car wants to pull left, you have to fight it back to the right on the straightaways. All that was something I didn’t expect.
“The way the wheel was lighter, a lot lighter than the simulator, but still a little heavier than what I expected. Other than that, I thought it went really smooth.
“I think more of the pit road side of things is where I’ll have to work more on. Just the steering is so slow, you have to turn so far getting in and out. If you’re coming in around someone, leaving out around someone. Getting used to the steering at the slower speeds will be something to get used to.
“Then maximizing the apron, braking for pit road, stuff like that, is stuff I’ll have to really focus on and work on, maximizing potential.
“Overall, it was a great day. Felt like everybody at McLaren did a really good job prepping me to make things easier to get up to speed. Thanks to everybody there.
“I’m glad to be through today and look forward to the open test in April.”
Larson grew up an Indy 500 fan, just as Gordon when he was a kid in Indiana. Both are originally from California, but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has an aura unlike any place on Earth.
Although Larson has driven a stock car around the IMS oval and the IMS road course, and a USAC Midget on the IMS dirt track, driving an Indy car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is what made this place iconic.
“Getting to turn laps around here in an Indy car, getting to feel what that feels like, it makes it even more special,” Larson said afterwards. “I’ve gotten the chance to race here on the dirt track, I ran the road course, the oval. We get to thankfully come back on the oval in the Cup car.
“This place is just awesome. The golf course is amazing, too. I love playing golf here. It doesn’t get much better than this place.”
Larson admitted he didn’t quite know what to expect out of today and did not encounter any surprises.
He also experienced the unique thing about ROP – the Indy car actually handles much worse at slower speed than when it is wide open because it isn’t getting the proper downforce at a slow speed.
“When you’re running more throttle, it’s easier to kind of hit your target,” Larson explained. “So, the slower the speed, it was just kind of hard for me to, like, figure out my timing. I would roll out on the straightaway, then I’d run wide open through one or two. I’d look at my dash. Okay, I think I’m okay for three and four, run some draw. I come off of four, I’m too fast, have to slow down a lot. Vice versa, I’m having to play catch-up on other laps, barely getting by.
“Once you went faster, you’re running more throttle, it’s easier to stay within that window.”
Not bad to have @TonyKanaan as your coach 😏⁰⁰Hear from @KyleLarsonRacin after completing his #Indy500 Rookie Orientation Program.⁰⁰#INDYCAR // @ArrowMcLaren pic.twitter.com/3erCIOU0Af
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) October 12, 2023
Larson had plenty of advice, not only from Arrow McLaren, and its Sporting Director Tony Kanaan, the 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner, but from former NASCAR Cup Series drivers who have also competed in the Indianapolis 500 and in IndyCar in their careers.
“A lot of people have said the same thing, like trusting your instinct,” Larson recalled. “If something doesn’t feel right, at least during practice and testing, the couple weeks leading in, you’ve got plenty of time. If something doesn’t feel right, just pit.
“I think me even just feeling the car today, like, it feels so stuck, I can tell where your confidence could get too high, then you’re back into the wall the next corner.
“So, I think if you feel something, just pit. Tony Kanaan told me that. Danica Patrick was texting me last night, same thing. Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson. They’ve all said the same thing.
“I’ve got a lot of people I can talk to. I’m sure I’m going to be able to soak in more and more information now that I got to drive the car once.”
Larson’s Indianapolis 500 attempt is making a lot of people’s dreams come true. It begins with his father, Mike, who helped foster the love of the Indianapolis 500 to his young son growing up. Unfortunately, Mike Larson wasn’t able to attend Kyle’s ROP because he had to fly back to California to pick up the family dog from Kyle’s aunt, because she was leaving for a trip to Hawaii.
Larson is also living his own dream.
But he is making a dream come true for Jeff Gordon, who could have become an IndyCar star, but ended up becoming a NASCAR legend.
“I think for me, my dreams came true in the inaugural Brickyard 400, racing here in a stock car,” Gordon said. “Of course, I wanted to race here in an IndyCar early on, but the opportunity just was really never there.
“When Kyle came onboard, he made it clear that this is something he’d like to do, and he’d like to do it before he feels like he’s outside of his prime, I guess, is the best way to put it.
“I got excited about that. I didn’t know how Mr. Hendrick was going to feel about that. I think between Kyle, myself, just the history of this place, it eventually kind of came together.
“Yeah, this is definitely going to be living out a dream of mine through this experience. I’m equally excited to be a part of it in the capacity that I am, see it and hear about it through Kyle’s eyes and experience.
“We want to come here and make a mark. We also know this is one of the most competitive forms of motorsports and racing in the world, and it’s not going to be easy.”
In many ways, Gordon often wishes it had been him. Instead, he is going to live out his Indy 500 dream through Larson.
“It’s hard not to really get excited for this opportunity for Kyle,” Gordon said. “Somewhere deep inside wish I had gotten an opportunity.
“But I’m absolutely having a blast watching Kyle go through this process, seeing Rick here in Indianapolis, a part of an Indy car going around, being an owner and sponsor in this event. It will be his first time witnessing this event at the same time.
“I’m so excited to see it through that lens.
“To go out there and see what Arrow McLaren did, as well, to just get Kyle up to speed and through the test was great.
“On the other hand, Kyle, watching him in his craft, his element. I could tell he was a little bit nervous. My palms were sweating before he got out on track, as well. Immediately you just see it click when he made those first few laps and went into Kyle Larson mode of how I get up to speed, go fast.
“He doesn’t want to just come here and compete; he wants to come here and compete competitively.”
