Savage Words: Not a race fan? There’s local intrigue for Indy 500 this Memorial Day

It’s May, and for me growing up, that meant only one thing: the opening of practice for the Indianapolis 500.

Before you roll your eyes and toss this column aside, hear me out on this one.

What’s happening in Indianapolis this May is remarkable, and I’m not talking about Caitlin Clark joining the WNBA’s Fever.

A dude with a sprint car background has a legitimate shot at winning the 500 this year, scheduled for Sunday, May 26. That seemingly hasn’t been an attainable scenario in decades at the 500.

Not only did Kyle Larson grow up wheeling a sprint car in his native California, he’s become one of the sport’s most recognizable and successful names. He raced at Huset’s three times last year and won the opening night of the High Bank Nationals on June 21.

Two months later, he won the Knoxville Nationals – sprint car’s crown event. After winning at Knoxville, he hopped on a plane to Indianapolis where he finished eighth in NASCAR’s race on the road course the very next day. 

If you’re not into motorsports, it’s hard to explain just how difficult that is. Going from a half-mile dirt oval in an open-wheel sprint car to win the biggest sprint car race in the world, and in less than 24 hours, translating those talents to a NASCAR car on a ROAD COURSE and finishing eighth is nearly impossible. It’s like playing basketball with a football – that’s the best way I can explain it to people.

But not only did Larson win in a sprint car and a NASCAR Cup car last season, he also won in just about everything he raced, from USAC midgets, sprint cars, late models, NASCAR Cup cars and more.

When he announced last year that he was entering the Indianapolis 500 for 2024 under the powerful Arrow McLaren team, I had my doubts. It’s been a long time since a sprint car driver won the 500. Al Unser Jr. was probably the last in 1994, but that’s even a stretch. He only spent a couple of seasons in a sprint car as a teenager before his famous last name catapulted him into IndyCars at a young age. There have been a few guys with that same pedigree.

But the last true sprint car driver – or short track racer – to win the 500 was Johnny Rutherford, who won it three times, the last in 1980. 

As a little kid who watched sprint cars growing up, it always excited me when a driver I watched, or at least knew about, made a run at Indianapolis. There were some, but none had a realistic shot.

Since Rutherford’s 1980 win, the following true short track drivers have qualified for the 500: Larry Cannon, Johnny Parsons, Jerry Karl, George Snider, Pancho Carter, Tom Bigelow, Larry Dickson, Sheldon Kinser, Rich Vogler, Stan Fox, Billy Vukovich III, Tony Stewart, Tyce Carlson, Steve Kinser, Billy Boat, Donnie Beechler, Jack Hewitt, Jimmy Kite, J.J. Yeley, Andy Michner, Sarah Fisher, Andy Hillenburg, Jason Leffler, P.J. Jones, P.J. Chesson and Bryan Clauson. The best finish among that bunch was a third-place run by Boat in 1999. The average finish with that group since 1980 is 19.4. Needless to say, it’s been a challenge getting to the front.

A.J. Foyt can be added to that list as well, and he was a master in both a sprint car and IndyCar. He won the 500 a record-tying four times.

But Foyt is a rarity. 

And so is Larson.

For as much as I thought his shot at an Indianapolis 500 victory was a long one at best, things changed on April 10 when during an open test at the famed speedway, Larson had the second quickest lap at 226.384 mph, second only to defending champion Josef Newgarden.

“Is there anybody that knows an oval line and how to drive an oval better than that guy?” asked Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network voice Jake Query. “I’m not a total gearhead, but I’d say in terms of driving on an oval, he’s one of the three most gifted race car drivers in the last 75 years in the U.S.”

When Larson laid down his 226 last month during the open test, it took me by surprise. But as it turns out, I was in the minority.

“Didn’t surprise me at all,” Query said. “Indy is all about putting yourself in position for the last 20 laps. If he’s in that position, he has as good a chance as anybody winning that race, regardless of his level of experience - or inexperience - on that track.”

Larson will also be attempting “The Double” this Memorial Day. It’s only been done four times in history when Stewart, Robby Gordon, John Andretti and Kurt Busch all raced the Indianapolis 500 during the day and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte that evening.

If Larson qualifies for the 500, which most expect is a surety, and he returns to Huset’s this summer for one of the six nights of World of Outlaws races, he’ll become just the third driver in history to race in both the 500 and in Brandon in the same season. Steve Kinser did it in 1997, and Bryan Clauson repeated the feat in 2015 and 2016.

For the little kid in me who still carries that hope for a sprint car guy to win the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’ I’m sure pulling for that kid from California to do what so few have been able to do.