Blog

**NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. —**

Kyle Larson’s Sunday showcase of speed wasn’t confined to his impressive qualifying performance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After securing a second-row start for the upcoming Indianapolis 500, Larson navigated a tight schedule to participate in the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway that same evening.

 Indy 500 Qualifying Success

Larson was among the fastest six drivers advancing to the final round of Indy 500 qualifying on Sunday afternoon, securing the fifth starting spot for next Sunday’s race with his last attempt at 5:30 p.m. ET. With his place in the Indianapolis 500 field confirmed, Larson headed to Wilkes County for his full-time NASCAR commitment, with the May 26 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the horizon.

All-Star Race Performance

Having missed the All-Star Race preliminaries, former Cup champion Kevin Harvick stepped out of retirement to drive the No. 5 Chevy during Friday’s practice and Saturday’s qualifying. Larson, starting from the rear due to the driver change, quickly moved up the field during the main event.

Larson surged to third place in the final 50-lap segment on a fresh set of softer “option” tires, but their effectiveness waned towards the end. “Yeah, I thought we were in a great position there,” Larson said post-race. “Got to fourth pretty quickly; got to third pretty quickly. I thought I could just be patient. I built loose for a little while, and then they started kind of inching away from me. I moved up and I was kind of hanging on from there. I was surprised that the guys that didn’t pit were as strong as they were. I thought we were going to be in the best position there to win.”

@ Contingency Plans and Logistics

Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports’ Vice President of Competition, revealed that if Larson hadn’t arrived on time, the No. 5 team would have withdrawn from the All-Star Race. The only eligible driver not already entered was Shane van Gisbergen, last year’s winner of the inaugural Chicago Street Race.

Knaus mentioned that they considered a plan with NASCAR officials to potentially place Xfinity Series regular Justin Allgaier in as a substitute, but this plan was abandoned due to logistical complexities. “It’s going to sit there and look pretty. We’ll save it for another event,” Knaus said. “The way things are working out, all of our cards are in getting Kyle here, and that’s the plan. To put Justin in and have him run the Open, we went down that road, we thought about it, we spoke with NASCAR, and we came to a collective decision, that’s not the best route for all of us. It gets pretty messy pretty quickly.”

### Historic Return to North Wilkesboro

Larson dominated last year’s All-Star Race, leading 145 of the 200 laps as NASCAR’s premier division returned to North Wilkesboro for the first time since 1996. Knaus, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, served as the grand marshal for this year’s second All-Star edition at the 0.625-mile track.