Kyle Larson's head was swimming with all the new things he learned while running in the draft and running through a variety of chassis setup changes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday.
Strapped into the No. 17 Arrow McLaren-Hendrick Motorsports Chevy in preparation for his Indy 500 debut in May, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion finished second on the speed chart with a best lap of 226.384 mph with the help of aerodynamic drag.
The only driver left behind on the short, rainy day was defending race winner and two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden, considered among the greatest oval drivers of his generation. For Larson fans, the Indy Open test was confirmation of what is possible with his only attempt to win the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR races on the same day May 26.
“Getting into some traffic and feeling the dirty air — the turbulent air — and all that; “The first time I got into traffic, I think my tires still had good grip, so I was surprised it wasn't any different in traffic,” Larson said on the Peacock broadcast.
“I was really building the tire-less steering and Newgarden passed me and I was really quite tight (able to steer) behind him, so I'm just trying to learn all that and process all that and see what I can do in the car to try to help.” Dealing with that… just trying to figure out any part of the sport of racing today, which I know is difficult. I try to get an idea of things and take notes in my head and feel comfortable.
The pole position for the last Brickyard 400 NASCAR race on the 2.5-mile IMS oval was set at 185 mph in 2019, a far cry from where Larson played on Wednesday. However, he eventually adjusted to the speed and made an interesting comment about his open-wheel IndyCar car versus his Chevrolet.
“Well, when I came out of the gate, I was like, 'Man, I made a mistake here, going too fast…'” he said of the 40-plus mph increase. “It's weird. My brain wasn't ready to work that fast in the morning and so I said, 'This is crazy.' This is wild. But then your brain adjusts and slows things down. I got closer to people. Speed judged in the distance, they're far away, and they look really fast, but “When you're approaching, you're going as fast as they are, so it didn't feel as fast when I was going around people. Obviously the overall feel of the car is different, but I feel like the next generation of NASCAR is a lot closer to what IndyCar cars look like, so it's not too different honestly.”
Larson believes the change in speeds and seeing how the IndyCar team operates has been beneficial to his overall outlook on racing.
“This opens my eyes to different ways of looking at things and how to deal with them so that things are good,” he said. “But there's still a lot to learn, and we probably haven't even hit the surface yet, so it's been fun.”
Weather permitting, IndyCar teams will spend Thursday on the oval for the final day of pre-Indy 500 testing before moving on to the Acura Grand Prix at Long Beach next week.
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