Kyle Larson to Run 2024 Indianapolis 500 with McLaren
Champion driver Kyle Larson will join McLaren Racing for the 2024 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, adding to Arrow McLaren’s star-studded lineup for the “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Larson’s Chevrolet will be co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Rick Hendrick and carry title partnership from HendrickCars.com. Hendrick is the chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group and the owner of 14-time NASCAR Cup Series champions Hendrick Motorsports, for which Larson has driven since 2021, when he won the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Additional details, including car number and livery for the HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, will be announced later.
“I’m super excited,” Larson said. “Competing at the Indianapolis 500 is a dream of mine and something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time – since I was a child before I ever began competing in sprint cars. To do it with Arrow McLaren, and Mr. Hendrick especially, is a dream come true. I’m grateful for the opportunity and am really looking forward to it even though it’s still about a year-and-a-half away. I’m really looking forward to competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 and maybe even get a win or two that day.”
California native Larson, 30, has proven success at the elite NASCAR Cup Series level, as he won the 2021 series title, 19 points-paying races, the 2019 and 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race and the 2014 Sunoco Rookie of the Year award. In his 2021 championship campaign, Larson won 10 points races and led more laps in a single season (2,581) than any driver since 1995.
In partnership with McLaren Racing, the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 will mark the first event as an NTT INDYCAR SERIES owner for Hendrick, whose stock-car teams have won a record 291 points-paying Cup Series races. He is also NASCAR’s winningest owner at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with 10 Cup Series victories on the storied 2.5-mile oval.
“Having the opportunity to support Kyle, partner with an elite team like Arrow McLaren and promote HendrickCars.com in one of the world’s great auto racing events is truly unique,” Hendrick said. “All of us are competitors. Putting Kyle in top-level equipment and allowing ample time for him to prepare for such a difficult challenge was important.
“It’s going to be very, very special to field a Chevrolet in the Indy 500 as a car owner. A collaboration like this was what we needed to make it happen, and fortunately the stars aligned. We’re 100 percent committed to doing it right and look forward to working with Zak (Brown) and his organization.”
Entering his 12th season in the NASCAR Cup Series and third with Hendrick Motorsports in the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Larson has consistently expressed interest to race the Indy 500 with Team Chevy.
Pending additional 2023 entries, Larson would become just the fifth driver to run “The Double” on Memorial Day weekend by racing in the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. His double would be the first since Kurt Busch raced in both events in 2014.
Widely regarded as a world-class talent, Larson has a broad resume of auto racing success with more than 400 career wins in a variety of disciplines and types of vehicles on dirt and pavement. His versatility and experience complements McLaren Racing’s investment, strategy and competition in different racing series.
“Adding Kyle Larson with a HendrickCars.com partnership to the Indy 500 lineup in 2024 is exciting for our Arrow McLaren team as well as for race fans,” McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said. “He’s a complete driver, known for racing anything on wheels, so I’m looking forward to seeing what Kyle can do in an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car. It’s been great working with Rick Hendrick and (Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman) Jeff Gordon to pull this together, so a big thank you to them for what’s to come in May 2024.”
Source: indycar.com
