2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson is back at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for testing ahead of the 2025 Indianapolis 500 - the 109th running of the legendary race. As one of NASCAR's most versatile talents, with the driver even offering four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen a fight on-track, Larson is testing his nerve at the Indy 500 for the second time, but admits that if his Cup Series career came to an end, he'd commit himself to this new challenge.
Larson shared his thoughts on the racing series following today's testing in a press conference at the speedway.
"I don't know, I haven't really had a sit-down discussion with anybody about that, so I don't know," he said on his future in the series, per Forbes. "I can't really fully answer that."
Despite this, Larson admits that if his future wasn't taken by the Cup Series, the Indy 500 would take his focus.
"In my head, yeah, I'm going into this thinking it's at last for the time being, in the near future, the final Indy 500. But I am still young, and I mentioned on Dale [Earnhardt] Jr.'s Download thing (podcast) that maybe someday, when I'm not full-time Cup and I can really devote all my mind to Indy, I'd like to do it again.
"But we'll see. If I happen to win the Indy 500, I'd probably just ride off into the sunset, too."
His attraction to the iconic race is something he admits may be impossible to fight again.
Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images
"I don't know, it's such a cool event. I think once you run it enough, I think, and you don't, you probably have a lot of FOMO [fear of missing out] and want to come back. It's hard to fully answer that right now."
The magnetic pull of the world's largest day of motorsports is hard to say no to for the Californian.
Returning to the sport nearly a year after his first attempt, Larson is excited to get behind the wheel once again.
"It was good to get back behind the wheel," Larson said. "It doesn't seem like that long ago and figured it would feel normal when I got back in, but it took some getting accustomed to."
As you'd imagine, there is a huge difference between NASCAR and Indy, with even the steering wheel controls - something we take for granted - being a challenge, not to mention its cars' hybrid powertrains.
"It was good to go through ROP [Rookie Orientation Program] because it would be hard to commit to wide-open any ways for the first couple of laps. It feels a little different handling wise because of the Hybrid and the weight of that. It feels different. Not the same balance I felt last year.
"I felt comfortable but was a little rusty on things – hitting buttons and getting the dash set up to where it processes quick on the dash and my brain. It was good to work on that today."
Larson raced for the first time at Indianapolis last year, and it was nothing short of impressive. He earned the rookie of the year award, finished 18th after starting from fifth. There's plenty of skill within Larson, but can he translate that to a more successful finish this year?
Photos from Indy 500 open test
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