'We're going to run the 600': If weather interferes in 2025, Larson will prioritize NASCAR

‘Unfinished business’ was the undoubted theme of Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports ’ joint press conference Tuesday afternoon – one whose backdrop of Charlotte Motor Speedway hit an all too ironic note. Because if it’s clear that business – Kyle Larson’s second attempt at running 1,100 miles, competing in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 and on May 25, 2025 – can’t be tackled in full that Sunday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend, NASCAR’s ‘Crown Jewel’ race at CMS is undoubtedly where Rick Hendrick’s priorities lie.

Whether NASCAR’s winningest team owner came to that decision independently or NASCAR brass privately promised t hey wouldn’t offer a second playoff waiver for Larson if he were to miss the 600 and put his postseason eligibility at risk, it wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday afternoon.

But should Mother Nature wreak havoc on the 11th attempt at ‘The Double’ in racing history in the same way she did the 10th, Hendrick put the certainty and speculation to bed more than eight months out.

“We’re going to run the 600,” Hendrick said, while flanked on-stage in the CMS media center by Jeff Gordon, Larson, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown and Arrow McLaren sporting director Tony Kanaan. “We’re going to be here for the 600, even if that means having to cut the race short at Indy, we will.

“With my commitment to NASCAR, we’re in NASCAR, and that’s where we run for the championship.”

In a follow-up question, Hendrick was asked if he’d pull Larson so that he could get to Charlotte in time for the 600’s green flag, even if the 2021 Cup champ were to be leading the 500 down the stretch?

In a brief moment of levity, Hendrick asked if NASCAR president Steve Phelps, who was in attendance in the audience, wanted to answer the question instead.

“Yessir,” Hendrick continued. “We’ve made that commitment. He’s going to be here in Charlotte.”

More: Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports returning for 2025 Indy 500 despite rollercoaster debut

May 2025 weather was a popular topic Tuesday. A four-hour rain delay at IMS, followed by the same system ending the 600 just past the halfway point at CMS later that night, marred what had been the highest profile motorsports story of the year on May 26 . Shortly after Larson made the Fast Six in his maiden 500 attempt and eventually qualified 5th, Indy-area forecasts turned grim for race day – even leaving question as to whether the 500 would be the first since 1997 to not have even a single lap turned on the scheduled race day.

Had the rain persisted another hour and called into question the track’s ability to run a full 200 laps, Larson may have been given a reprieve. But with no rain and lightning for the next eight hours or so, Hendrick, Gordon, Larson and company were left with a choice: live out all their childhood dreams and give the 500 a go – potentially risking Larson’s ability to compete for the 2024 Cup title – or err on the safe side, knowing NASCAR brass had not given them a guarantee about the granting of a waiver in such a situation.

They opted for the former, and then NASCAR left them squirming for more than a week, genuinely uncertain of the impending decision. Ultimately, the sanctioning body gave their stamp of approval – acknowledging that Larson and Hendrick made a serious effort to get to Charlotte and try to run as many laps as possible that night. But NASCAR left open the option to change its mind in the future.

“We embrace the double. We think it’s great. We want to see other drivers have that opportunity,” Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition told reporters at the time . “We just have to make sure that we’re looking out, first and foremost, for the fans that buy the ticket that were here in Charlotte.

“One of the reasons (the waiver is) in place is to give our fans some certainty that if they buy a ticket to come and watch our athletes and our stars perform, that they’re going to see them.”

“I appreciate NASCAR’s position and the support they’ve had,” Hendrick said Tuesday. “We talked, and this is good for NASCAR and IndyCar.”

Insider: Kyle Larson chose the Indy 500. But rain, penalty spoil attempts at historic day.

Ironically - or fittingly, whichever your position may be – Larson finished just a single point shy of the regular season title this year, clinched earlier this month by 23XI’s Tyler Reddick. Had Larson merely started the 600, he would’ve taken the title.

Ultimately, no one on stage Tuesday harbors any regrets about the decisions made or the untold planning that went into Larson’s Rookie of the Year 500 campaign , though Larson admits it took him several days to be able to reflect positively on the experience and not dwell on the pang of letting his No. 5 Chevy team members down .

“I think this year went the way that it did, and I couldn’t be in two places at one time, even though I would’ve loved to,” Larson said. “But I owe it to my NASCAR team as well to get here in time and try and win one of the biggest races of the season.

“Right now, I’m okay with it.”

In the eyes of Larson, Hendrick and Gordon, though, that need to prioritize one of NASCAR’s four ‘Crown Jewel’ races over the world’s largest single-day sporting event doesn’t dampen the shine of the latter enough to not want to take on the challenge.

Larson days after 500: 'I hope it’s not the last opportunity I have to try the Double.'

“After all of it, after we sat in the hanger, and it was raining, and we didn’t get to run Charlotte, I thought, ‘That’s it. We’re done.’ But then we thought, ‘Well, we didn’t finish the job.’ And we loved the experience, so let’s go finish the job,” Hendrick said.

Added Gordon: “I don’t think you can stress enough the amount of attention to detail it takes to do this collaboration and team up to do this event and both races. All that was talked about ahead of (the 500). We went through worst-case scenarios, and what made it so challenging this time around is that we didn’t know if we were going to do this again. This could’ve just been a one-time event.

“So this was not just an easy decision, when it’s raining to just get in the place and go to Charlotte. Now, we’ve been there, and we’ve done it, and we really hope it doesn’t happen like it did this time, and we get to run all 1,100 miles. But a decision had to be made, just like a decision had to be made this year as well.”

Kanaan is the contingency plan, still can't start mid-race

So what happens if lightning, quite literally, strikes twice – something that has only happened once in the 108-year of the 500 ?

Hendrick wasted little time making that clear Tuesday.

“If weather catches us, Tony will get in the car,” he said, saying with a chuckle afterwards that “Tony is praying for rain.”

Unlike they did ahead of this year’s 500 , Hendrick Motorsports and Arrow McLaren will have a solid contingency plan in place, should rain make clear early on race day that Larson’s quest at completing all 1,100 miles will be in question. In it, the 2013 500 winner will go through the veteran refresher program required for all participants who haven’t driven in the most recent oval race. By doing so either at the typical test held later this year or at the Open Test next April, Kanaan would be allowed to start the race for Larson, even if he doesn’t qualify the car. Should he do so, he’d start in the back of the field, regardless of where Larson puts the No. 17 during qualifying weekend.

Earlier this year, by the time talks around contingency plans surfaced , it was too late to have Kanaan complete his refresher, and with the field already qualified and set, doing so sometime during race week, by IndyCar’s current version of the rules, would’ve meant Arrow McLaren and Hendrick would’ve had to pull Larson from the car days ahead of the race with the weather still unclear. With this year’s weather issues, had Hendrick opted to shuttle Larson to Charlotte and prioritize the start of the 600, the only driver eligible to start in his place would’ve been rookie Nolan Siegel, then the lone driver to have failed to qualify for the race, and now Arrow McLaren’s most junior full-time driver.

Kanaan cannot, though – despite insinuations otherwise during Tuesday’s presser – step-in for Larson mid-race, if weather changes HMS’s plans to the point that they choose to allow Larson to start the 500, but timing won’t allow him to finish it. Unearthed this year, IndyCar officials altered the rulebook in 2016 to do away with the ability for teams to tap in a ‘relief driver’ mid-race, despite the practice dating back to the race’s roots and being used in Robby Gordon’s ‘Double’ attempt in 2004.

From last May: Arrow McLaren rules out Tony Kanaan as Kyle Larson Indy 500 stand-in

Brown told IndyStar his team has no plans to ask for a rule change.

“We’re just going to do what we need to do,” he said. “I think we’d rather get (Kanaan) seat time and follow the rules than ask for an exception. For this last race, none of us were quite sure what would happen. Now, we need to have a plan, and because we will have a plan now, we’ll go in prepared to do the necessary things. That’s the right way to get Tony prepared, in the unlikely event he needs to hop in.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'We're going to run the 600': If weather interferes in 2025, Larson will prioritize NASCAR