INDIANAPOLIS — A Tuesday lunch at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway honored Kyle Larson as the fastest rookie in the Indy 500.
Larson’s qualifying speed of 232.846 mph puts him in the middle of Row 2 in the field of 33 cars. But it's hard to think of this 31-year-old NASCAR Cup champion who has won races in everything he drives as a rookie.
"I definitely feel like one,” Larson said. “I haven't gotten to experience any of this before. And I feel like I'm more of a rookie than any of these guys, just because I don't have any IndyCar open wheel experience."
Larson will try to race the Indy 500 Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis, then return to his regular job for NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte Sunday night. Ten years have passed since the last try, when Kurt Busch finished sixth in the 500, but 40th in the 600.
Larson is now the fifth driver to attempt the double. Only one driver has ever completed all 1,100 miles. That was Tony Stewart back in 2001.
"Biggest racing event in the world, and I just want to be a part of big deals and get to experience what an IndyCar feels like around here,” Larson said. “It'd be pretty awesome to win it."
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Larson certainly has a good chance, starting fifth, driving for Arrow McLaren in a Chevy partnership with his NASCAR team, Hendrick Motorsports.
"I feel like we could go race and I feel comfortable enough that I could execute a decent race,” Larson said. “You can't ever predict a win. But I feel like our car handles well enough, and I feel like we can execute pit stops that we will be good."
Larson is good in anything he drives. He owns a NASCAR Cup championship and leads the points standings this year. But he still races on dirt tracks across the country every chance he gets.
"The competition, the challenge of trying to figure out different cars on different days of the week, learning new cars like an IndyCar,” Larson said. “Then winning is great, but for me, too, I think bringing different types of motorsport fan bases together is important.”
Larson has race fans seeing double this Sunday.