NASCAR’s Kyle Larson WILL RACE in the Indy 500 in 2024

Kyle Larson, the once-disgraced NASCAR driver who returned to the sport to win a points title in 2021, will attempt to drive the Indianapolis 500 next year with McLaren Racing in a joint effort with his current team owner, Rick Hendrick.

Thursday’s surprise announcement by McLaren and Hendrick finally gives Larson a path to his dream race. It also means he will become the fifth driver to drive ‘The Double’ on Memorial Day weekend, driving the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the same day. John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch are the other NASCAR drivers who will compete in both races.

Larson, who came under fire in 2020 for using the n-word on a live broadcast, has long said he wants to race the Indianapolis 500. However, he did not have a viable Chevrolet opportunity for the 2023 race of ‘The Greatest Show Racing’ this May.

His McLaren stake will be co-owned by Hendrick and sponsored by HendrickCars.com, the title sponsor of Larson’s NASCAR journey.

Scott Dixon (9) leads a group of cars down the frontstretch during race 106 of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29, 2022

“Competing in the Indianapolis 500 is a dream of mine and something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, ever since I was a kid before I started racing sprint cars,” Larson said.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity and I’m looking forward to it, even though it’s still a year and a half away. I’m looking forward to racing both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 and maybe even get a win or two that day.’

McLaren had no room for Larson, or Kyle Busch, this year, as Arrow McLaren’s line-up for Indianapolis already has four cars. The team expanded this year to add 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi to its roster and signed 2013 Indy winner Tony Kanaan to the 500.

Thursday’s surprise announcement by McLaren and Hendrick finally gives Larson a path to his dream race. It also means he will become the fifth driver to drive ‘The Double’ on Memorial Day weekend, driving the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the same day. John Andretti (pictured), Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch are the other NASCAR drivers who will compete in both races.

To make room for the 2021 NASCAR Cup champion next season, McLaren has partnered with Hendrick, who will contest his first IndyCar race as an owner. Hendrick Motorsports won a record 291 Cup races and posted 10 NASCAR victories at Indy’s 2.5-mile oval.

Larson is entering his third season driving for Hendrick Motorsports and had been actively seeking a ride in the Indy 500. Rick Hendrick relaxed his stance on drivers competing in other series around the time he signed Larson, and his teammate Alex Bowman this week is competing in the Chili Bowl sprint car in Oklahoma.

“Putting Kyle on a high-level team and giving him enough time to prepare for such a tough challenge was important,” Hendrick said. ‘It’s going to be very, very special to enter a Chevrolet in the Indy 500 as a car owner. A collaboration like this was what we needed to make it happen, and luckily the stars aligned.”

Larson, 30, who just welcomed his third child on Dec. 31, has 19 Cup Series victories since his debut in 2014. He won NASCAR’s all-star race in 2019 and 2021, the year he who won 10 races and his only Cup title. The Elk Grove, California native has more than 400 career wins in a variety of racing series and disciplines.

“Adding Kyle Larson with a partnership with HendrickCars.com to the Indy 500 line-up in 2024 is exciting for our Arrow McLaren team, as well as racing fans,” said McLaren boss Zak Brown. “He’s a complete driver, known for running anything on wheels, so I’m looking forward to seeing what Kyle can do.”

Asked what message he was trying to send to Larson in the altercation, Wallace said, “He knows.”

Larson made headlines in October for a trackside altercation with Bubba Wallace at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The incident started when Larson attempted a three-wide pass (Kevin Harvick in the middle got out of the pack) and Larson slid down the track against Wallace. When Wallace didn’t get up to give Larson room, Larson used his Chevrolet to push Wallace’s Toyota into the wall.

Wallace then bounced around the track, followed Larson’s car onto the apron, and appeared to deliberately hook him in retaliation. That sent Larson into the path of Bell, who won last Sunday at Charlotte to earn the automatic berth in the round of eight, and ended Bell’s career.

Wallace got out of his car and walked over to Larson. Wallace was yelling before he even got to Larson and immediately started pushing the smaller driver. Larson tried to get away from him and several times raised his arms to block Wallace’s shoves, but Wallace fired multiple shots before a NASCAR security worker separated the two.

Wallace has since issued an apology, blaming the incident on his competitiveness.

Nearly 11 months after being suspended and fired for saying a racial slur on live television, NASCAR driver Kyle Larson (right) won the 2021 Pennzoil 400 in Las Vegas and was promptly congratulated by the only black driver on the circuit , Bubba Wallace (left).

Larson and Wallace have an interesting past.

Wallace, only the second black driver to win on NASCAR’s main circuit since 1963, rooted for Larson in 2020 when the latter was caught saying the n-word in a live video game race.

Since using the slur on April 12, 2020, Larson, who is half-Japanese, has completed NASCAR sensitivity training, hired an inclusion training coach, volunteered at the Tony Sanneh Foundation, visited Jackie Joyner- Kersee and its St. Louis community center, and the site of the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri that followed a fatal police shooting of a black man.

He has also volunteered at food banks, went with Sanneh to the George Floyd memorial site in Minneapolis, spent a lot of time at the Urban Youth Racing School in Philadelphia, and made many other visits both to learn about issues of racial justice and to talk about their own experiences. .

And when Larson won his first race last season after his 11-month suspension, it was Wallace who was among the first drivers to congratulate him.

“It meant a lot to Bubba to get to victory lane,” Larson said of Wallace, who is currently the only African-American racing full-time on NASCAR’s main circuit. He has always believed in me. That was special.

“Proud and happy for @KyleLarsonRacin,” Wallace later tweeted. I told her how to keep her head through it all! We all knew it was a matter of time.

Wallace, on Twitter, wrote that he was “proud and happy” for Larson after Sunday’s race.