Kyle Busch lauds Kyle Larson's Double attempt and voices concerns amid rising safety concerns in Indy 500 qualifying

Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch lauded Kyle Larson for his second attempt at the Indy 500, raising safety concerns amid the recent crashes during the qualifying session. Many drivers, including Colton Herta and Scott McLaughlin, hit the wall at Indianapolis in the past week.

Kyle Larson is prepared for his second attempt at the Double Duty, where he will run the Indianapolis 500 in IndyCar and then fly over to Charlotte for the Cup Series race Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. This is a major challenge for drivers, and many have participated in the same, but it becomes extremely difficult to race both events on the same day. Larson's attempt at the same failed last year because of the extreme weather conditions.

He soon announced that he would be repeating the attempt this year, and as he prepares, there have been many close calls during the recent track sessions. Colton Herta and Marcus Armstrong were two of those who crashed at Indianapolis.

Amid the chaos during the Indy 500 qualifying, the other Kyle on the Cup Series field lauded Larson for his efforts and also voiced concerns regarding the safety and crashes in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

"This year Indycar qualifying… NO THANKS!! All you @KyleLarsonRacin 👏🏻👊🏻 stay safe boys!" Busch wrote.

After the Indy 500 qualifying session, Larson discussed the drivability of McLaren, mentioning that it was a little less comfortable to drive this time around compared to last year.

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Kyle Larson on his Indy 500 qualifying and car's drivability

Larson wasn't among the faster drivers on the track, however, he did manage to qualify for the Indy 500. He placed 21st with a 231.326 mph speed, meanwhile, Alex Palou led the field with a speed of 233.043 mph. This was an interesting session for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, who mentioned that he was "nervous" initially, but managed to pull out in 21st place.

"We’re P21, so we’re in the race. 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," he said via IndyCar.

Further talking about the drivability of the Arrows McLaren, he stated that it was a little less comfortable to drive this time around compared to the 2024 season.

"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. I was happy with that. Obviously, with the balance it comes with a little bit lack of speed, but I didn’t crash and that was a plus,” Larson added.

The Indy 500 - Coca-Cola 600 Double is scheduled for the upcoming Sunday, May 25. This is not a new challenge for Larson anymore, however, he does hope to accomplish it this time around.