“Kyle [Larson] Put a Lot of Pressure on Me” – Rick Hendrick Reveals the Scenes Behind the Indy500 Run as He Professes His Loyalty Towards Chevrolet

A unique experience waits for Kyle Larson in October. Hendrick Motorsports, the most decorated racing team in the Cup Series, has propelled itself to a position of strength in the upcoming Indy 500 later this year. With HMS partnering up with Arrow McLaren to fulfill their dreams of competing in the racing spectacle, Larson has been chosen as the lucky driver to represent the tie-up.

But as team owner Rick Hendrick revealed in a pre-race presser at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Larson was the one that laid the foundations for the move. The ever-enthusiastic Larson looks to add another star to his impressive resume with an Indy 500 appearance.

Rick Hendrick says the Indy 500 is something he has dreamed about

At the start of the year, there were speculations about HMS tying up with a United Kingdom-based racing team that would see them compete in the 2024 edition of the Indianapolis 500. While NASCAR has seen many stars from different forms of racing join them in different series, the most notable example being Shane van Gisbergen from Supercars, the case of Cup stars racing at other tourneys is comparatively rarer.

Larson has a vision of changing that and being the one to lead that change. After stints in dirt track racing, Sprint Cars, and the Cup Series, Indy could very well be another badge of honor for him next year.

“It’s an exciting time and something all of us have dreamed about.” starts Rick Hendrick.

“Of course, Kyle put a lot of pressure on me but I’m used to that… Sprint cars. It’s all good, we’re real excited. Do it with Chevrolet too, never raced anything but a Chevrolet and so we can do that. Again, we’re real honored to be able to even come participate in this event. So we’re excited.”  said Mr Hendrick reiterating his loyalty to long-time manufacturers Chevrolet, who have helped them in being the most successful organization in Cup Series history.

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The preparations for their debut have already begun with Larson acclimatizing to the obstacles of the race through simulator setups. Arrow McLaren have pledged their fealty to HMS and Larson and will ensure the 2021 Cup champion has world-class facilities at his disposal.

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“Never pushed anything that hard”: Kyle Larson talks about the difficulties of racing in IndyCars

Moving from stock cars to IndyCars can be a massive shift for a driver. For starters, IndyCars are lighter by a great difference than stock cars with a margin of around 1800 lbs. This makes it difficult for a regular NASCAR driver to handle the speed and weight of the vehicle. Revealing his experiences from his time at the simulation setups by Arrow McLaren to IndyStar, Kyle Larson says,

“We were doing Mid-Ohio, and I first got in and thought I’d be out of control and in the grass, but I felt like I was doing alright and got into a rhythm,” Larson said. “The engineers were staying pretty quiet, but they would chime in and say, ‘Hey, everything looks good. Keep working on your braking zones, more pressure, you can go a little deeper,’ So I asked, ‘How much more do I need?’

To Larson’s shock, the pressure needed was around 1000 pounds more. A typical Cup Series car uses about 800 pounds of pressure in braking zones, but IndyCars need about 2,800 pounds at their upper limit. A startled Larson says that it was probably the hardest he had to push a car in his career.

“That’s insane. I’ve never pushed anything that hard. Just trying to get my head wrapped around slamming the pedal that hard and releasing it quickly. Even just maintaining it some was super difficult. I just couldn’t ever quite figure it out, and I felt like I regressed once I got closer to the max.”

Looks like Larson has slowly started to get the hype around the difficulty of the race. But being a man of many talents and with his never-back-down approach, one can be sure that Yung Money will have the situation under control sooner rather than later.

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