Kyle Larson makes his feelings known on the ‘gimmicky’ tweaks to all-star race format
Kyle Larson doesn’t mind the revamped All-Star Race format, but considers it somewhat gimmicky. During a recent interview at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Hendrick Motorsports ace shared his views on the twist that NASCAR is set to apply to this year’s running of the event, scheduled for Sunday, May 18.
NASCAR said they could add a competition caution—called a promoter’s caution—anywhere between Laps 101 and 220 of the 250-lap race, with a break after the 100th lap. The officials won’t say when the caution will be thrown or if it will be thrown at all. But if there is a caution after lap 200 and the competition caution has not been thrown, then it will no longer be used.
Noting the same, Kyle Larson said (via Bob Pockrass on X),
“I don't know, it sounded about a normal, you know, gimmicky All-Star Race. It is what it is, like, you kind of come to expect that with the All-Star format. So, I don't mind it.”
Kyle Larson is a three-time winner (2019, 2021, and 2023) of the star-studded event and the $1 million cash prize that comes with the victory. Last year, he finished fourth, while reigning series champion Joey Logano bagged the win. Besides Larson, it was Denny Hamlin, Chris Buescher, and Ryan Blaney who wound up inside the top five.
This year, the All-Star Race will return to the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway, marking its third consecutive year at the 0.625-mile-long, paved oval short track. The race will stream live on FS1 from 8 pm ET onwards, with radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The number of laps in the race is yet to be announced.
For now, Kyle Larson will prepare for this coming weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway. Named Jack Link’s 500, the 188-lap feature will be televised on FOX, 3 pm ET onwards. Larson won the most recent Cup Series race (at Bristol) and so he has the chance to deliver a back-to-back sweep.
Is this going to be the final Indianapolis 500 for Kyle Larson?
Kyle Larson attempted ‘The Double’ (running the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day) last year, but fell short of completing all 1,100 miles of the two races combined because of the delay caused by rain. In 2025, the Elk Grove native will attempt to pull off the feat for the second straight year.
Recently, the question of whether 2025 will be Larson's last year running in the Indianapolis 500 arose. When asked about it after his testing session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday (April 23), the former Cup Series Champion said,
“In my head, yeah, I'm going into this thinking it's at least for the time being, in the near future, the final Indy 500,” Kyle Larson told the reporters (via Forbes). “But I am still young, and I mentioned on Dale (Earnhardt) Jr.'s Download thing (podcast) that maybe someday when I'm not full-time Cup and I can really devote all my mind to Indy, I'd like to do it again.”
2025 marks the 109th running of the Indy 500. Larson mentioned that if he manages to win it this year, he will probably call it quits.