The Indianapolis 500 dream for Kyle Larson could well be over before it even begins.
Larson, a NASCAR superstar, is looking to become the first person since Kurt Busch in 2014, to run both the Indy 500 and Coke 600 in the same day.
But the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion suffered an engine issue in Indy 500 qualifying that could cause him to miss the race altogether.
PROBLEMS FOR KYLE LARSON.
He aborts his qualifying run midway through.
: #Indy500 quals on Peacock pic.twitter.com/eTZK5k5HTu
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 18, 2024
Kyle Larson In Danger Of Missing Indy 500 After Qualifying Engine Issue
Only 33 cars qualify for next Sunday’s race, and 34 cars are on the entry list. That means that one driver is going to leave the weekend having missed the race altogether.
Larson showed plenty of speed during Friday’s final practice session before qualifying, but had to abort his four-lap qualifying run mid-way through do to engine troubles.
He is still allowed to make multiple attempts to qualify before Saturday’s 5:50 p.m. deadline. If he can produce a four-lap run that puts him into the top 30, he will be locked into the race.
However, if he cannot do so, he’ll have to participate in Sunday’s last chance qualifying.
Should that be the case, he and three other drivers will have one hour to try to lock themselves into the race. The slowest driver in last chance qualifying will miss the race altogether.
Saturday’s issues were a stunning setback for Larson.
The Hendrick Motorsports superstar had routinely been inside the top 10 in practice. Many fans even believed he was likely to make Sunday’s top-12 qualifying in order to compete for the pole position.
Instead, he’ll have to shift his focus to just making the race.
Busch qualified in 12th position in his first and only 500. He went on to finish sixth. Larson believes he can better that result and even potentially compete for the win.
“Ultimately, I’ve never entered a race that I didn’t feel like I wanted to win or at least could win,” Larson told BroBible in an exclusive interview.
That thought might change a bit now that he’s on the outside looking in on qualifying day.
The post Kyle Larson At Risk Of Missing Indianapolis 500 After Engine Issue In Qualifying appeared first on BroBible.
Kyle Larson At Risk Of Missing Indianapolis 500 After Engine Issue In Qualifying
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