PROBLEMS FOR KYLE LARSON.
He aborts his qualifying run midway through.
? : #Indy500 quals on Peacock pic.twitter.com/eTZK5k5HTu
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 18, 2024
As Kyle Larson attempts to complete ‘The Double’ – running the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 the same day during Memorial Day Weekend — he has faced some adversity at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and it comes at possibly the most inopportune time — on qualifying day.
Just moments after taking the white flag on his first four-lap qualifying run, Larson’s No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet suffered a mechanical issue, with the NASCAR Cup Series champion saying that a warning light was displayed on his wheel before the power was cut on his entry.
After the initial mechanical issue, the 31-year-old was called back to the pit lane, failing to complete a four-lap qualifying run in the early stages of Saturday’s Indianapolis 500 qualifying.
“There was some alarm that popped up on the dash and it just cut a bunch of power,” Larson told NBC Sports. “I haven’t talked to anybody, so I don’t know what happened, but that sucks. I don’t know how our run was looking, but the car felt pretty balanced.”
The good news? Larson’s hopes of making the 108th Indianapolis 500 are nowhere near dashed.
Should Arrow McLaren get this mechanical issue diagnosed and fixed — which race engineer Brian Campe says they should — Larson will have another opportunity to make a qualifying run, as soon as every single entry has a chance to make a single qualifying run.
Commenting on his qualifying run before the issue, Larson said: “I feel like off turn four I got free once coming the white, and then, yeah, we didn’t make it off turn two. Yeah, so I just need to catch up with them and find out what the alarm was, and what that all was, but yeah that sucks.”
To clinch his spot in the 2024 Indianapolis 500, Larson will need to post a four-lap qualifying better than 30th-place at the end of Saturday’s six-plus hour time trial session. Should he place inside the top-12, or outside the top-30,
Should the No. 17 Chevrolet be ranked 31st or worse after Saturday’s session, Larson will have to return to the racetrack on Sunday to defend his position in the ‘Last Row Shootout’.
