There’s nothing left for Kyle Larson to do now other than take the green flag in the Indianapolis 500. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who is competing in his first career Indianapolis 500, was the 13th-fastest driver in Friday’s Carb Day final practice session.
Larson’s fast lap in the session was a 224.761 mph circuit around the iconic 2.5-mile superspeedway in Speedway, Indiana.
RELATED: Kyle Larson Worried With Weather Forecast; Hopes to Complete Hendrick 1100 on Sunday
The 31-year old driver of the No. 17 Arrow McLaren HendrickCars.com machine, who qualified fifth for the 108th Annual Indy 500 last Sunday, spent the session learning as much about his car in in-race conditions as possible. Larson even ran his race car out of fuel with about 13 minutes left in the session.
As Larson slowed down the backstretch, there was immediate concern that there was possibly an issue with the powerplant in the car, but the worry quickly subsided. Larson and his team now know exactly how far the fuel tank will stretch in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.
Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 champion, paced the field in final practice with a 2227.206 mph lap in his No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Helio Castroneves, a four-time Indianapolis 500 champion, was second-fastest with a 226.939 mph average speed around the track. Pato O’Ward, Colton Herta, and rookie Tom Blomqvist rounded out the top-five fastest in the session.
While the big news of the weekend is Larson attempting to be the first driver to run the Memorial Day Indy 500 / Coca-Cola 600 double since Kurt Busch accomplished the feat in 2014, everyone will keep their eye on the weather radar on Sunday as rain is expected to play a factor Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
On Thursday, Larson explained that he and his team have yet to make a final decision on what they will do if weather delays the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. NASCAR has said they will do everything within reason to bend their schedule to accomodate Larson’s attempt at the Double, but we’ll potentially see just how far they are willing to push for it this weekend.
