INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Kyle Larson eyeballed his assigned teammates and plotted a strategy to try to score his first win of Indianapolis 500 week.
He was at Wheeler Elementary School early Wednesday in Speedway for annual 鈥淐ommunity Day鈥� and alongside Scott Dixon, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power, Larson was there to entertain the students ahead of 鈥淭he Greatest Spectacle in Racing.鈥�
He grinned and cheered through the series of games played with selected students 鈥� many of whom were taller than the 5-foot-6 NASCAR star. And if it hadn鈥檛 been his first ever time participating in the event with local students, Larson might have won a few rounds racing scooters around cones, the relay race to collect messages in a bottle or any of the other games.
But the other IndyCar drivers present are 鈥淐ommunity Day鈥� veterans and already knew all the hacks on how to win. Larson didn鈥檛 mind and after heading back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he and wife, Katelyn, enjoyed a photo shoot in the midway using
His only complaint eight days into Indy 500 prep is the forecast for Sunday, which is calling for rain. Larson is trying to become the fifth driver to run the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, and he doesn鈥檛 want weather spoiling a year鈥檚 worth of preparation.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 going to rain here Sunday, then I just want it to rain all day and the (Indy 500) to be on Monday,鈥� Larson said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 even want to think about what could happen if we鈥檙e sitting in the rain Sunday.鈥�
That鈥檚 because his real job is in NASCAR and he鈥檚 not supposed to miss the race Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. So Larson grew a bit excited Wednesday when he learned of NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick鈥檚 indecisiveness a day earlier over how to handle the weather forecast.
Larson is scheduled to start fifth in the Indy 500 in a joint entry between Arrow McLaren Racing and Hendrick Motorsports.
鈥淲e鈥檝e talked about it many times, and we know we need to be at Charlotte for the points,鈥� Hendrick said Tuesday. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just going to let it play out ... we鈥檒l make that decision Sunday.鈥�
Hendrick acknowledged he didn鈥檛 want to pull Larson out of the Indy 500 just to get him to Charlotte on time.
鈥淚t would be very hard. It would be very tough,鈥� Hendrick said. 鈥淲ould be very disappointing because of all the effort that everyone has put in. We鈥檝e got a tremendous amount of folks there at Indy, and he鈥檚 in such a good position, it would be extremely hard.鈥�
The decision will fall to Hendrick come Sunday. Until then, Larson is just crossing his fingers and hoping to see plenty of sunshine.
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AP auto racing:
Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
