Larson miscue ends in crash at Indy 500 practice

INDIANAPOLIS -- Kyle Larson experienced his first crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, the second day that Indianapolis 500 drivers participated in open testing on the 2.5-mile oval.

The 2021 NASCAR champion and defending Brickyard 400 winner spun his No. 17 Chevrolet coming out of the first turn, hit the wall and bounced down to the warmup lane before tapping the wall a second time and eventually rolling to a stop.

Larson blamed himself, saying he forgot to hit the weight jacker going into the turn. But he also tried to find some positives from the incident.

"I'm happy to crash my first Indy car and live through it," Larson said.

Larson was checked at the infield hospital before being cleared and released.

He is attempting to complete "the double" by racing in both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 on May 25. His first attempt was thwarted by a rain delay in the 2024 Indy 500 that saw him arrive to the NASCAR race just as that race was called off for weather.

This time, he's driving the Arrow McLaren car with a hybrid system that carries more weight, which is making its Indy debut. Scott McLaughlin had the fastest lap of the day, topping 236.6 mph with the higher boost. Points leader Álex Palou posted the fastest lap of the day at 223.993 mph when the power was turned down. Felix Rosenqvist was next at 223.366.

Larson acknowledged he needed the track's refresher course to helped him but noted this car felt different. Yet he managed to post the 11th-fastest lap Wednesday, 223.430 mph.

"It feels a little different kind of handling wise this year," Larson said. "I don't know if it's the hybrid stuff and the weight of that or what I'm feeling, but it feels a little different -- not quite the same balance I had last year. So just got to think that through."

The full-time Cup driver hedged when asked Wednesday about his 2026 plans, then clarified Thursday why he may not come back for a while.

"Even before doing this, we only ever had plans to do two years of it, so we've kind of known all along that I had two opportunities to compete in the 500, which is plenty," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said. "So we'll just enjoy it, try to make the most of it and do a good job. Not off to the best start.

"... I don't ever like to think about like winning. Obviously, it would be an amazing feat [to hold the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 titles at the same time]. Nobody else has done it, I don't believe. So, yeah, it would be neat to stand on your own on something. But there's a long way to go for that. I've got to get way better."

Larson wasn't the only familiar name to crash Thursday. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato crashed shortly after Larson, losing the back end of his car in the first turn and smacking the wall hard in the short chute before rolling to a stop.

"Lost it," said Sato, who was also checked at the infield hospital and released. "I simply lost it."

Graham Rahal also tapped the wall late in Wednesday's practice.

This week's biggest scare came Thursday when Rinus VeeKay's car ran out of fuel in traffic, sending several drivers, including four-time 500 champ Helio Castroneves, scrambling to narrowly averting a multicar collision.

Qualifying for the 500 is set for May 17-18.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.