A joint press conference has been scheduled by Hendrick Motorsports and Arrow McLaren Racing on Tuesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway that will feature Kyle Larson, Rick Hendrick, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown and sporting director Tony Kanaan.
Without outright stating it in the release, these are indicators that Larson’s second attempt at the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 double will be confirmed based on the venue and attendees.
Larson always had a clear interest in a follow-up attempt, even after the rain delay that derailed participating in the NASCAR half of the Memorial Day Weekend doubleheader and the possibility that he would not receive a waiver to participate in the Cup Series Playoffs.
The deal to run the race was always two years with the second attempt an option year.
“I would love to. We’re still working on it,” Larson said during media day for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs last. “It’s progressing, so I like that but obviously things can always change.”
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion started fifth and ran inside the top-10 for most of the race until a late speeding penalty eliminated him from contention. He earned rookie of the year honors and finished 18th, but because the race started almost four hours later than scheduled due to rain, he missed the start of the marathon NASCAR race at Charlotte and didn’t complete it either as rain shortened that event.
Larson and Hendrick faced scrutiny from NASCAR leadership for choosing to remain in Indianapolis after spending millions of dollars on the entry with McLaren under the expectation that they would receive a waiver from the sanctioning body to remain playoff eligible.
NASCAR ultimately ceded one, weeks after being forced into that decision, and now Larson and Hendrick will hope for better weather alongside better results.
Larson wants to join John Andretti, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch as drivers to have contested the same day doubleheader.
“I would love to because I didn’t get to do ‘The Double’ this year. So that’s really why I wanted to do it,” Larson said. “I obviously wanted to compete in the Indianapolis 500, but more than anything, I wanted to do ‘The Double’ and have a chance at winning one of the two, or both, and I felt like I just didn’t get that opportunity.”
Larson went onto win the Brickyard 400, NASCAR’s marquee race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August.