Kyle Larson has competed in just one IndyCar race heading into this weekend, that being last year's Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After his Memorial Day Double attempt came up shy last year, when the Coca-Cola 600 was halted due to rain by the time he arrived at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Larson is back again for another try.
And yet with just one IndyCar start to his name, he is technically McLaren's second-longest tenured IndyCar driver.
Last year's McLaren Indy 500 lineup included Pato O'Ward along with fellow full-time driver Alexander Rossi, plus Callum Ilott, who replaced David Malukas after the team cut ties with him due to his preseason injury.
But Ilott was replaced by Theo Pourchaire, and shortly therefore, Pourchaire was replaced by former Dale Coyne Racing drivere Nolan Siegel, who now competes full-time for the team. Additionally, Rossi was replaced by former Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Christian Lundgaard after the 2024 season. Rossi now competes for Ed Carpenter Racing.
O'Ward, meanwhile, is set to make his sixth Indy 500 start behind the wheel of the No. 5 Chevrolet.
And he is technically the only driver on the team who has been a part of the team longer than Larson has.
O'Ward is the highest McLaren qualifier for this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval, having taken a career-high third place to secure his first ever spot on the front row.
Lundgaard qualified in eighth place. Larson qualified in 21st, but he is set to start in 19th after Team Penske teammates Josef Newgarden and Will Power were penalized and sent to the rear of the 33-car field. Likewise, Siegel qualified 26th but was promoted to 24th.
A full starting lineup can be found here.
Larson does not have a deal in place to return to next year's Indy 500. His goal is to run all 500 miles and then fly to Charlotte to compete in Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600. Should he do that, and then run all 400 laps around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Concord, North Carolina oval, he would become the second driver to run all 1,100 miles of the Memorial Day Double in a single day.
Tony Stewart, one of four drivers (other than Larson) to attempt the Memorial Day Double, is the only driver to run all 1,100 miles. He did so in 2001 and finished in sixth place in the Indy 500 and third in the Coca-Cola 600. Kurt Busch made the most recent attempt in 2014, and other attempts were made by Robby Gordon and John Andretti.
No driver has ever won either one of the two races in a Memorial Day Double attempt. Larson is the betting favorite to win the Coca-Cola 600.
Fox is set to provide live coverage of the 109th running of the Indy 500 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET this Sunday, May 25 (start a free trial of FuboTV now!). Amazon Prime Video is set to provide live coverage of the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET.