NASCAR star Kyle Larson drops a blunt take on “not super exciting” Formula 1 despite global appeal

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson was recently featured in an interview with Pat McAfee ahead of his second 'double' attempt. During the interaction, the host and Larson focused on the difference between NASCAR, IndyCar Series, and Formula One racing.

The former NASCAR Cup Series champion also attempted the 'double' in the 2024 season, but things went south for the latter. A heavy rainfall delayed the Indy 500 start, which resulted in Larson missing his Coca-Cola 600 start. Additionally, putting his playoff contention at risk.

During the podcast, Kyle Larson compared the NASCAR and Formula One series and claimed that Formula One lacks the on-track excitement. He explained:

"The racing, the racing, is not what we are accustomed to in America. Like, I think you're there. It's crazy how big it is because, yeah, you're right. Like, it's not super exciting, but I think it's the stuff outside of it, the celebrities that are there, the engineering, the money, just everything about that, you know, the big brands, you know, on the cars and stuff." [01:18 onwards]

"But, you know, I feel like NASCAR and IndyCar here in America, like, you can't find much more exciting racing what we have here, so I'm fortunate to get to run both of them, but I would definitely never turn down the opportunity to go," Larson added.

Kyle Larson leads the Cup Series points table with 469 points to his credit this season. He has secured three wins, nine top-ten finishes, and eight top-five finishes with a pole position in 12 starts.

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“Just slightly less comfortable than what I felt last year”: Kyle Larson got candid about his 2025 Indy 500 qualifying session

Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson began the 2024 Indy 500 from a solid P5. However, this year, Larson had an underwhelming run during the session and felt uncomfortable driving the #17 Arrow McLaren Chevy. He revealed that his car had a balancing issue, which affected his speed throughout the session.

Reflecting on the same, the HMS ace told motorsports reporter Holly Cain:

“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.”

Despite securing a place outside of the top ten drivers, Kyle Larson spoke about the positives of his run and pointed out he finished the session without crashing his car.

“But I didn’t crash, and that was a plus,” he added.

Kyle Larson will start the Indy 500 from P19, while Robert Shwartzman took the pole position. Followed by Takuma Sato in second and Pato O'Ward in third.