Weather or not? Kyle Larson set for Indy 500, Coca-Cola 600 attempt in 2025

NASCAR Cup Series

Updated Sep. 10, 2024 6:20 p.m. ET

Kyle Larson will compete in the 2025 Indianapolis 500 … unless the race is rain delayed.

Larson will once again race a car fielded by Arrow McLaren in partnership with Hendrick Motorsports and hope the 2025 event goes smoother than his rain-delayed IndyCar debut in May.

“My goal will be to complete 1,100 miles … or get to do both,” Larson said Tuesday.

The entire month last May went well for Larson until rain spoiled the entire race day. It delayed the Indianapolis 500 to a start time where Larson had to choose between racing in the Indianapolis 500 or missing the start of the 600-mile NASCAR Cup Series race in Charlotte.

He chose to race Indianapolis, where he was in contention for a top-10 finish until a speeding penalty on pit road put him behind and he rallied to finish 18th. He flew to Charlotte and got there just in time … for the rain delay (from the same storm cell that hit Indianapolis) and the race never resumed, becoming official after 249 laps.

“It’s just sad,” Larson said as he left the track that day. “Everything that could have went wrong today went wrong.”

Kyle Larson poses after qualifying for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.

NASCAR took more than a week to decide on whether to grant the 2021 Cup champion a waiver of the NASCAR rule that a driver must start every Cup race to be eligible for the playoffs. It eventually granted the waiver.

Arrow McLaren driving coach and former Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan will be on standby if Larson isn’t able to compete in Indianapolis.

“We are going to run the 600,” team owner Rick Hendrick said during a news conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We will be here for the 600.

“If that means having to cut the race short in Indy, we will, because my commitment to NASCAR is that we’re in NASCAR, and that’s where we run for the championship. And so, if weather catches us, Tony will get in the car.”

They will take the risk of things going wrong again for several reasons — it’s the Indianapolis 500 (May 10, 2025 on FOX), the challenge to do both races on the same day and the way the motorsports fans embrace it. Larson will just hope his helicopter lands in the infield of the frontstretch prior to the race at Charlotte instead of outside the backstretch while the race is going on.

“It would have been pretty neat to land the helicopter in the infield [at Charlotte] and feel that [fan] support,” Larson said. “I hope that’s the last little bit of the experience I’ll get to experience next year.”

The decision to stay in Indianapolis continues to impact Larson. He came up one point short of having won the NASCAR regular-season title, so if he had earned just one more point in any race — or started the 600, which would have been worth a point — he would have won the NASCAR regular-season crown. That cost him five playoff points — not including the seven potential playoff points he could have earned in the event itself. He sits 15 points above the cutoff with two races left in the opening round.

Considered a generational talent, the 32-year-old Larson has won 27 Cup races in his career and many of the biggest sprint-car events on dirt (as well as a handful of dirt late model events). The experience of doing one Indianapolis 500 should help him now that he has an IndyCar race of experience.

After winning the Cup race in July at Indianapolis, an exuberant Larson told the crowd: “I love you, Indiana fans. I know you guys love me, too. How about we come back next May and try to kiss these bricks in an IndyCar?”

Kyle Larson discusses the Indy 500 and how it impacts his regular season

Larson truly seemed to relish the Indy experience up until race day.

“I felt like a fan favorite being the only guy in the field to do the double that year [and] the amount of laps in years that I’ve spent in Indiana racing, I felt like a hometown guy,” Larson said. “I just felt like the whole racing community, whether it be American auto racing fans or fans from all over the world were cheering for me.

“That event brings in fans from all over the world. So I get to see people from different countries, and have them come up to me and tell me how they are such big fans and are cheering for me and stuff like that. All of that is really cool.”

Both races are signature events for each of the racing series and especially in 2025 as the Indianapolis 500 moves to FOX for the first time and the 600 moves to Prime Video (Amazon) for the first time.

With the race being the first streaming-only race for the NASCAR Cup Series, whether that would make it any more or less easy to delay the start of the Cup race for Larson — NASCAR delayed the start time for the all-star race in May on FS1 about 20 minutes to accommodate Larson coming from Indy 500 qualifying — is still to be determined.

“I’m a positive thinker, and I’m about done thinking about the weather,” Larson said. “So I think we should all stop talking about the weather and talk about how sunny and warm it’s going to be in May of ’25.

“That’s kind of the mindset I have in life. … I just looking forward to get another opportunity to relive the experience.”

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown didn’t want to think about Larson having to navigate what happens if it rains. He wanted to talk about another issue that could impact whether Larson gets to Charlotte on time to race.

“I think everyone’s missing the obvious question, which is my concern and isn’t the weather,” Brown said. “If Kyle wins, how much time does he have to drink the milk, kiss the bricks and get here on time?”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.