Denny Hamlin weighs in on Kyle Larson’s Indy 500 prospects amid bleaker start than debut attempt

Denny Hamlin recently shared his views on how Kyle Larson will perform next weekend at the Indianapolis 500. That’s also when NASCAR will host the crown jewel Coca-Cola 600, so for Larson, it’s a chance at making history for the second consecutive year.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver will run a combined total of 1,100 miles on the same day, something only Tony Stewart has been able to accomplish to this day. He missed starting last year’s Coke 600 due to inclement weather. This time around, the Elk Grove native looks forward to changing the narrative.

The way Denny Hamlin sees it, Larson’s experience from last year will help him during his upcoming attempt. Detailing the same on his Actions Detrimental podcast, the Joe Gibbs Racing icon said (2:30 onwards),

“It's compelling from that standpoint. Obviously, we had an upset; new team new driver on ovals win the pole for the Indy 500. Good compelling stories. He's going to have his work cut out for him. He's going to get plenty of experience and he's got stuff to lean on from last year to better his craft.”

Kyle Larson originally qualified 21st for the Indy 500. However, he got propelled to P19 after IndyCar penalized two teams on Monday.

Notably, Larson is going to be the fifth driver to attempt the Memorial Day Weekend Double after John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. Fans can watch the race live on FOX (12:45 pm ET) or stream it on Fubo.

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Kyle Larson reflects on feeling “less comfortable” than last year‘s Indy 500 qualifying

Kyle Larson qualified fifth for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, which was last year. He bagged a P18 last year following a pit road speeding penalty. Notably, he was just a rookie back then.

But now, Larson has a year of experience under his belt, and needless to say, it could help him finish inside the top 15. In his first qualifying run, he went from 27th to 16th with several hours remaining in the session.

“We’re in the race," said Kyle Larson. "After the first run I was a little nervous we’d be one of the guys battling for the final spots. Obviously, we would have loved to have been in the Fast 12 again but overall, a good day, we got two runs in.”

“It was fairly comfortable, just slightly less comfortable than what I felt last year in qualifying. I just got a little bit of a free moment into (Turn) 2 on the last lap but other than that I felt pretty balanced,” he added.

Kyle Larson is currently leading the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings with 469 points to his name. In 12 starts this season, the Chevy star has picked up three wins (his most recent one came at Kansas), eight top-fives, and nine top-10s.