Kyle Larson doesn’t hide opinion on Chase Elliott and William Byron’s personality
Kyle Larson is experiencing a new teammate, Pato O'Ward, at the Indy 500 and has made a claim about his NASCAR team at Hendrick Motorsports.
Kyle Larson admitted him and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates - Chase Elliott, William Byron and Alex Bowman - are “pretty vanilla” as he praised the personality of IndyCar star Pato O’Ward.
Larson has been immersing himself in a new paddock in recent weeks as he attempts ‘The Double’ for the second year in a row. He spoke to Express U.S. Sports this week about racing in both the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600, as well as addressing the threat it could be derailed by Donald Trump.
NASCAR has made a controversial late decision to help his bid after he qualfiied second for their Crown Jewel race, while he will be among those competing for the big prize money on offer at the Indy 500 earlier in the day. His teammate in the Arrows McLaren car is O’Ward, who Larson hailed for his character when asked about his personality while not hiding the fact it is a big contract to his NASCAR teammates.
- Denny Hamlin makes JGR contract admission after Kyle Busch announcement
- Earnhardt Jr and sister 'unwelcome' at father's grave - 'We might get arrested'
Larson admitted: “We’re all pretty vanilla at Hendrick.”
He added: "I feel like most of the IndyCar garage though has got good personalities. We need more guys like Pato in NASCAR.”
O’Ward, meanwhile, is eyeing his first Indy 500 win after some near-misses. And he is in a relaxed mood ahead of the big race.
He told Motorsport.com: “I feel it's been a very smooth month. I mean, just obviously Indy 500 month is never not stressful. Like there's definitely been situations where it has gotten a little intense.
“But it's been a very good month, very nice month, very smooth in terms of, you know, how qualifying went. You know, the car has been behaving good in qualifying trim.
DON'T MISS:
Katherine Legge wrecked by NASCAR driver after she took his seat
Christopher Bell takes matters into own hands after ‘surprise’ JGR replacement
William Byron shows Zilisch what’s coming before first Cup Series oval race
“Now in race trim, we've got some work to do. I'd be lying if I said we're, you know, we're perfect because obviously we're not. I don't think we are where the car needs to be for the race. So we have some work to do there.
“But man, it's such a long race. It's 200 laps. It's 500 miles. You know, as the race goes on, people are like, you know, 'this guy's going to win the race' and we're like lap 140. I was in like 15th place at lap 140 last year.
“So many things change with the restarts and you depend on other people's decisions as well. When the yellows come out and, you know, what strategy are you on? Are you overcutting? Are you undercutting? That all comes into play. So I'm just excited to be a part of that amazing event again and going to try my best to be there at the end.”
