Kyle Larson will start fifth in the Indianapolis 500 next weekend following Pole Day on Sunday at the Indianapolis 500 and he was at North Wilkesboro Speedway just over an hour after challenging for the pole in his debut appearance in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Now, he is in North Carolina to challenge for his fourth victory in the All Star Race and second in a row at Wilkesboro.
“I think just a great team, really,” Larson said after his final qualifying run before jumping on a helicopter to return to North Carolina. “They prepared an awesome race car that’s stuck to the race track that also has speed. So, qualifying went a lot better than I ever could have hoped or anticipated. Just proud of everybody at Arrow McLaren, proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports that’s been involved in this.
“Huge thank you to Rick Hendrick, Linda, the Jeffs, you know Jeff Gordon, Jeff Andrews, Cliff Daniels, everybody involved, Chad Knaus, everybody involved to make this whole thing possible. Now switch the mindset over to the heavy stock car and try to go figure out North Wilkesboro. So, excited to get there and chase a million bucks.”
Larson was the overall top performing rookie in time trials and will start the 108th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race for the middle of the second row.
His copter and jet ride to North Carolina was the third most watched flight track on Flight Radar 24. Larson was joined on the flight by wife Katelyn and Hendrick Motorsports luminaries Jeff Gordon and Jeff Andrews.
Larson arrived at 7:18, rendering moot that NASCAR actually worked with FOX Sports, Hendrick Motorsports and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to move the start of the All Star Race back 18 minutes just in case he had won the pole and needed extra time.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.