Mother Nature is either going to make this weekend really easy on Kyle Larson or considerably more difficult.
Currently, the forecast for Sunday in Speedway, Indiana looks like a potential washout for the Indianapolis 500. At the same time, the forecast for Sunday night in Concord, North Carolina is starting to show considerably more rain.
You know what they say about best made plans … so is Larson starting to feel any nerves about his logistics or the viability over running both races?
“I mean, yeah, for sure,” Larson said during a NASCAR media call on Thursday. “I mean, I think you could look at the forecast and get worried now but I don’t know.
“I don’t know anything. I have no answers for you guys as far as decisions and all that. I don’t think anybody really does at this point. It just probably has to come down to game time decisions and planning it by ear and yeah, I don’t know.
“Hopefully, the weather gods work out for us and we can get both races in.”
The wildest scenario could be Indianapolis getting postponed to Monday, the Coca Cola 600 not reach an official race before the rain comes, Larson running the 500 on Monday and then returning to finish the 600 that night.
Of course, this hypothetical would require NASCAR to work around his schedule, which is something the league is willing to do to a degree.
“We’re going to work closely with the folks at Speedway Motorsports, our TV broadcast partners, the folks at (Hendrick Motorsports, to do everything we can to make sure that Kyle can get there — within reason,” NASCAR’s Elton Sawyer told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “We’ve got some minute-by-minute (schedules) and when we do our command and when the green flag (waves), but we’re going to work closely together to make sure our fans get to see one of the best drivers ever in our sport to be able to participate in our Coke 600 Sunday night.”
If Larson misses the Coca-Cola 600, he would need to ask NASCAR for a waiver to remain eligible for the Cup Series playoffs. That would be an unprecedented request even if the expectation is that it would be granted. He’s also the Cup Series championship leader so missing the 600 would mean losing the points lead. The regular season points leader gets 15 bonus points at the start of every playoff round, the equivalent of three wins, which is not inconsequential.
“I believe that we could still win the regular season because there’s still a lot of racing left,” Larson said. “But it would be much harder. I’d look at Darlington and wish I finished that race because then I’d have a 50 point buffer instead of 30 but that didn’t happen.
“We’ve been doing a great job winning stages and getting playoff points and I feel like we’ll have the opportunity to win a lot of races and get playoff points. So I don’t know. I just don’t want to think about it. I just hope everything turns out great or whatever.”
Another complicating factor is that Larson does not have a backup driver for Indianapolis. Tony Kanaan considered starting the race if Larson couldn’t take the green but has now decided to forgo that option. Theoretically, the Arrow McLaren team could start Nolan Sigel, who did not make the race in time trials.
Additionally, if Larson takes the green flag but has to leave in order to make the start of the Cup race, the team can not continue the race with a backup driver per IndyCar Series regulations.
This could put Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick in the position of making the decision for Larson. It’s tough because this is every bit a Hendrick operation as it is a Arrow McLaren one as the program is spearheaded by Brian Campe, who spent time at Team Penske’s IndyCar team before joining Hendrick.
Which would Hendrick choose if it came down to it?
“That’s a tough question because we’ve talked it many times and we know we need to be in Charlotte for the points,” Hendrick said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “We’re just gonna let it play out. It would be very hard; it would be very tough. It would be very disappointing because of all the effort that everyone has put in. … We’ve got a tremendous amount of folks there at Indy, and he’s in such a good position, it would be extremely hard.”
Does Larson have any say so in that?
“I don’t know,” Larson said. “I’m sure, you know, I’m the one behind the wheel so I would think that I have some sort of play in logistics and all that and decisions.
“But, again, I mean, I think it all just comes down to game time decisions and figuring it all out on the spot. So, I think there’s, you have a plan, there’s backup plans for the backup plan and backup plans for that plan.
“So you just don’t really know until it comes down to the moment.”
The best case scenario, beyond the races taking place as scheduled, would be Indianapolis getting rained out to Monday while Charlotte takes places as scheduled but even that would be disappointing to Larson.
“I mean, the first thing is that I would love to get both races in,” Larson said. “I would love to be able to complete both races regardless of whatever day both happens.
“But is it the double if they don’t happen on the same day? I don’t know. In a perfect workd, I would love to have both on the same day. I would be a bit bummed if we got both races in but not on the same day but I still would be happier than not racing one of them.
“We’ll just see how it goes. I hope the weather works out for us.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
