“It’s very important”: Kyle Larson highlights a key detail ahead of second Indy 500 run

Kyle Larson, the Hendrick Motorsports star, recently highlighted an important detail in an interview before running the Indy 500. He said he would be heading into the race after being the points leader in the Cup Series, which brings more eyeballs to NASCAR.

Larson has delivered one of the most impressive starts to the 2025 campaign. After 12 races in the season, he leads the series with three wins, including a dominant performance at Kansas Speedway, where he led 221 out of 267 laps, along with winning both the stages and accumulating a maximum of 61 points from the race.

The Kansas victory was his third at the track and his 32nd in the Cup Series. He is tied with Dale Jarett for the 29th spot in the all-time list. Along with his three victories, Larson has recorded eight top-five finishes and nine top-ten finishes with an average finish of 9.83 and 469 points.

Larson, while speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, outlined a very important detail before running the Indy 500 later this month. His race at the Indy 500 will be on the same day as he attempts the Memorial Day Double, the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. In the interview, he said it is important for the points leader in the Cup Series to race the Indy 500 as it highlights the series itself as well as the good work he and his team have put in. He said:

"So, yeah, I think it's really good. We were able to be leading the points as well last year, and I thought that was really neat. It was definitely a goal of mine, I feel like, last year to be leading the points in the 500, but this year I wouldn't really say it was a goal, but I do still feel like it's very important for our series that their point leader is running the Indy 500...you know, glad we were able to have enough of a points wing there to get the point lead and, yeah, hopefully we can just have a smooth couple weeks now"

Larson also surpassed 10,000 career laps led at the event, a milestone achieved only by Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch among active drivers.

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Kyle Larson learns from costly Indy 500 mistake

Kyle Larson’s preparations for his second Indianapolis 500 took a hit during April’s open test session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he crashed his No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. The incident occurred as Larson understeered into Turn 1, hitting the wall and ending his session early.

In the aftermath, Larson revealed that the crash was caused by a costly oversight: he forgot to reset the car’s weight jacker, a hydraulic device that adjusts the car’s handling on the fly. Reflecting on the mistake, Larson admitted with a sheepish smile that he would avoid using the weight jacker during qualifying, saying:

"I'm not touching that thing for qualifying, so, yeah," said Larson during day 1 of practice for this year's Indy 500 at a media event.

Despite the setback, Larson was able to take positives from the experience. He emerged uninjured and used the opportunity to learn more about the unique demands of IndyCar racing, particularly the importance of cockpit management and hitting precise marks at high speed.