It was harder for Kyle Larson to go slow than it was once he was permitted to speed up, if that provides any indication about how comfortable he was on Thursday in his first laps in an Indy car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But there is still another 20 mph to go when he returns in May for the Indianapolis 500.
Larson successfully completed his “rookie orientation program,” which is a three-layered sequential speed test that must be completed before he is allowed to participate in practice and qualifying for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Phase 1 was 10 laps at 205-210 mph.
Phase 2 was 15 laps at 210-215 mph.
Phase 3 was 15 laps at 215-plus mph.
Larson had also never driven one of these cars before, on an oval or otherwise, meaning there was a lot to figure out in the three-hour window his Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports No. 17 was provided.
“When I was running more throttle, it was easier to kind of hit your target,” Larson said. “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.”
Learning IMS on the fly
That was also while trying to learn the car — something 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan is coaching Larson through as part of his Arrow McLaren competition director duties. Kanaan also has recent experience catching a Stock Car driver up to speed on the nuances of an Indy car as he served as a similar teacher for NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson during his IndyCar tenure.
“Think about having a wheel with 25 buttons,” Kanaan said. “Then you have the weight jacker, front bar, rear bar. You have telemetry you can analyze. Engineers, they’re just trying to give you all that, which it’s way too much information.”
Kanaan conceded that the engineers probably gave Larson way too much information today. He also said he told Larson it was okay not to remember all it. He just wanted Larson to enjoy this first foray in this car on this track.
“He just raced two nights ago, won the championship in a Sprint Car, then he comes here and it’s just too much overthinking,” Kanaan said. “Why are we going to feed him all that right now, because we’re going to come back here next April. We’re not going to remember that. It’s too long.
“He has a (Cup Series) championship to win. I said to him, ‘don’t worry about it, just enjoy the racetrack.’ I didn’t want him to miss the first moment because I think it’s extremely special. I remember my first time here.”
Also in attendance for ROP on Thursday were Larson’s NASCAR bosses, Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon, taking in the experience with their driver more than anything else.
It’s no secret that Gordon, a four-time Cup Series champion, still feels a bit of a void in never having competed in the Indianapolis 500. As a USAC hot shoe in the late 1980s, Gordon was on the fast track to IndyCar until a lack of funding steered him to NASCAR by the early 90s instead.
“Somewhere deep inside wish I had gotten an opportunity,” Gordon said on Thursday.
Gordon won the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in 1994, a race that rivaled the Greatest Spectacle in Racing for at least a decade, but it still wasn’t the race he dreamed of someday winning. This at least allows Gordon to live vicariously through Larson over the next six months.
“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 Indy car 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.”
Gordon said he got excited about that and it was just a matter of convincing Hendrick. Larson winning the Cup Series championship for them in 2021 and all the success since has made these asks a lot easier.
“This is definitely going to be living out a dream of mine through this experience,” Gordon said. “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.”
Larson says he has driven a car faster than today, hitting 220 back when ARCA cars had more power on a freshly repaved Michigan International Speedway, but the speed sensation between those two experiences were quite different.
“Like, both times it didn’t feel like 220,” Larson said. “220 on paper is like crazy fast. Obviously it is. But when you’re out there by yourself, this track is so smooth, it doesn’t feel like you’re going 220, or it doesn’t feel any different than going 195 at Daytona or something.
“I did look at the wall one time thinking, like, man, that would really hurt if I hit it.”
He said it was a laugh.
“So things are obviously happening quickly.”
“It’s a unique place. It’s definitely, like Kyle said, you put 33 cars around, 20 laps to go, I think the sensation of speed and dynamic of the race changes. That’s something you will experience as well.”
The only issue Larson experience on Thursday was pressing a pit road rev limiter button on pit road that nearly stalled him.
“But he didn’t stall,” Kanaan said, proudly.
Larson said it’s something to remember for May.
“I think those are, like, little things maybe to adjust on the wheel, as well,” Larson said. “I’m glad that I did that today because we’ll probably move that button to the front of the wheel so I don’t make that mistake again.
“I think other than that, it went smooth.”
What next?
Larson, Gordon, Kanaan and Hendrick aren’t sure what comes next. This was just a checkbox that needed to be completed before next year. There will be more simulator time, maybe additional tests at a track like Texas Motor Speedway.
But first comes the task at hand on the NASCAR side over the next month in winning a second Cup Series championship.
“We’re taking it one step at a time, getting Kyle fitted in a car,” Gordon said. “We came up and visited with Arrow McLaren guys, had lunch with them, just walked around their shop, just talked about the opportunity and the ways we can support it.
“It’s a nice collaboration that we’re going to learn from one another from what they do in IndyCar and what we do in NASCAR.
“This was certainly an important step. We mainly were praying for good weather. We got that, perfect weather, as a matter of fact … It’s nice to see that first run, him clip off those laps, getting through phase one as quickly as he did. I think we’re on our way here to a smooth day.”
Most of all, Larson just had fun, clicking off the first experience of a dream he has had since childhood in racing an Indy car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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“It was fun,” Larson said. “I guess mostly what I anticipated in a way (with) the speed. 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 but, overall, it was a great day.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.