“We had it, but not enough”: IndyCar legend crowns Kyle Larson as the ‘best ever’ in adapting to different racecars

Tony Kanaan, the team principal of Arrow McLaren, has called Kyle Larson the best driver he has ever seen when it comes to adapting to different kinds of racecars. The former IndyCar champion made the comments while discussing Larson’s preparations for the 2025 Indy 500 on the Never Settle podcast.

Larson is again attempting "The Double" on May 25, racing in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. After last year’s weather delays ruined his plans, Larson said he’ll put the NASCAR race first this time if weather becomes an issue again.

He doesn’t want to miss the Coca-Cola 600 because skipping it could cost him all 23 of his playoff points and hurt his NASCAR championship chances. In practice sessions for the 2025 Indianapolis 500 earlier this week, Larson made quick progress. On Tuesday, during first practice, he ranked 24th with a best lap time of 40.6858 seconds.

By the end of the second practice on Wednesday, May 14, he improved to 13th overall, cutting down half a second to run a 40.1813-second lap at 223.985 mph.

"I think he is the best," Kanaan said (via X) when asked about Larson's ability to adapt to IndyCar on the Never Settle podcast. "But I tell you why, I am not gonna sit here and put (compare) talent, right? Are we gonna talk about Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon? Are we gonna talk about (Alex) Palou now? The guy finished second as his worst result. We're all very talented."

"But to the point that we're talking now, that Jimmie made the transition, I tried to make the like... Let's face it, we had it, but not enough, otherwise, we would have picked up quicker, right? He (Kyle Larson) doesn't have that, he just picks up the first time, I would say at talent to adapt, he's the best I've ever seen," he added.

Last year, Kyle Larson stayed at the Indy 500 when weather caused a four-hour delay. He finished 18th after a speeding penalty on pit road. But by the time he got to Charlotte, rain had stopped the NASCAR race, and it was eventually called off, meaning he never got to race the Coca-Cola 600.

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Kanaan will replace Kyle Larson in the Indy 500 if needed

With the NASCAR Cup Series playoff points and championship at stake, Kyle Larson has rightly decided to give priority to the Coca-Cola 600. In the unfortunate circumstance that he would have to miss out on the Indy 500, Arrow McLaren’s team principal, Tony Kanaan, will hop into the #17 car to compete in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Speaking to The Race about the possibility of competing in the Indy 500 in place of Kyle Larson, Kanaan made it clear that if he gets into the car, he will aim for a victory. Kanaan won the iconic race back in 2013 and says that the other McLaren drivers will be in trouble if he finds himself in contention for victory.

“If we're fighting, they [the other McLaren drivers] are losing,” Kanaan told The Race. “If I'm in that car, I'm Tony Kanaan, the race car driver, there's nothing to do with the team, that's the way it needs to be.”

“I know that because we talked about it actually, jokingly [Christian] Lundgaard asked me: 'So, boss, last lap, we're fighting for the win and I'm leading and you're second…' I said, ‘You better watch it, because I’m going for it,’” he added.

However, Kanaan also mentioned that he wants to be very clean and doesn’t want to put his drivers into the wall if they end up battling for the win.