Last year, as the rains drenched Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson made the decision to stay at the "Racing Capital of the World" and compete in IndyCar's Indy 500, even though it meant he would not get to start NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as a part of his Memorial Day Double attempt.
Larson was able to arrive at Charlotte after his 18th place finish in the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" with plenty of time to spare; Justin Allgaier had started the race behind the wheel of Larson's No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. However, rain at Charlotte prevented that from happening, and the race was called early, preventing Larson from competing in it at all.
As a result, he needed to go through the process of applying for – and after more than a week, being approved for – a playoff waiver. Even though he had already locked himself into the playoffs with two wins, he needed to have this waiver approved to retain championship eligibility, since Cup Series drivers technically must compete in all 26 regular season races.
This whole saga prompted an offseason NASCAR rule change, and now drivers who are approved for a playoff waiver for anything other than a medical reason, they must begin the playoffs with zero playoff points if they manage to qualify. This means they surrender all previously earned playoff points and cannot earn more playoff points throughout the remainder of the regular season.
Kyle Larson Indy 500 backup, potential replacement confirmed
As one might expect, Larson, a full-time Cup Series driver for Hendrick Motorsports, is set to prioritize the Coca-Cola 600 over the Indy 500 this year to avoid what happened last year.
So if rain once again causes the Indy 500 start to be delayed, Larson probably isn't going to wait it out. If he does start the race, he is not allowed to be replaced under any circumstances.
Last year, there really wasn't a surefire backup plan for Arrow McLaren at Indy if Larson opted to fly to Charlotte during the Indy 500 rain delay.
Though special advisor Tony Kanaan, the 2013 Indy 500 champion, was said to be on standby, he was not allowed to compete without proper testing; he had not completed a veteran refresher test.
The only driver eligible would have been Nolan Siegel, the only driver who had attempted but failed to qualify for the race. Siegel, who ironically now competes full-time for Arrow McLaren, had attempted to qualify with Dale Coyne Racing.
But this year, Kanaan, who has since been promoted to Arrow McLaren team principal, has been confirmed as Larson's backup in the McLaren-Hendrick entry.
The 50-year-old Brazilian did not take part in testing at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval in October, so he plans to do so in next week's open test at the track. His status for official Indy 500 practice week in May is TBD.
The Indy 500 open test is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, April 23 and Thursday, April 24, though it was shortened to one day due to rain in both 2023 and 2024. Josef Newgarden topped the speed charts in both years, and he went on to win the race both times.
The 109th running of the Indy 500 is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 25, and qualifying is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18.