Making up for May: Kyle Larson, Hendrick savor Brickyard redemption moment with Indy fans

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — The last time that Kyle Larson had a special orange-white-blue paint scheme on his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, he was suiting up and showing up to Charlotte Motor Speedway, fresh from Indy in his weather-altered bid for a Memorial Day double. Rain delayed his Indianapolis 500 run and his arrival in Charlotte. He never turned a lap in the Coca-Cola 600 when storms halted the 1,100-mile attempt.

That same design for the No. 5 Chevy rode with Larson and his team to complete a redemption arc in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at the historic 2.5-mile oval.

Larson took command in overtime after a spirited charge through the field, adding another high-profile win to Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th-anniversary season ledger. The organization is now the reigning champ of the Daytona 500 with William Byron, the Chicago Street Race with Alex Bowman, and — after Sunday — the Brickyard for a record 11th time, with Larson as the newest winner on the list.

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The Coca-Cola 600 was a crown-jewel bid that went missing for Larson, who absorbed the disappointment — after months of planning, testing and preparation — of adverse weather conditions unraveling his Hendrick 1,100 twin bill in May. The 31-year-old driver noted how Sunday’s win helped close that loop, especially as he carved through the field with dashes of papaya orange and blue.

“I mean, the paint scheme was almost the car that Kyle Larson never raced,” No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels told NASCAR.com. “So to be able to have that paint scheme and to race it, and then to bring home a win at the Brickyard makes it that much more special. I mean, you just never know how things are going to work out. And obviously, the double this year was an amazing opportunity, in my opinion, still just a very special moment for racing globally and for all of us here as a part of NASCAR and a part of IndyCar. So how the dots connect from that experience to this, I don’t really know, but I know that we have a very passionate team about big race events like this, and knowing that it’s a crown-jewel race and you’re back at the oval and we have Kyle Larson behind the wheel, it just makes it that much more special.”

The double attempt may have brought disheartening results, but it earned Larson the embrace of the hometown crowd. His venture into the IndyCar side after years of tearing up the dirt at nearby bullrings across the Midwest only amplified his stature in the Hoosier State. He said he looked into the grandstands during a red-flag period in overtime and could see the fans rooting him on.

Back at his day job in the stock-car world, Larson said he felt just as welcome. Back home again in Indiana, to steal a phrase.

“Indiana fans love their dirt-track racing. I’ve always felt the support here,” said Larson, who enters a two-week break as the Cup Series points leader. “Yeah, obviously, doing the Indy 500, I feel like it exploded for Indiana fans. I felt like when I was here for the 500, there were so many people wearing my T-shirts and my little jersey things that they made, all that. I recognized just as much of that here today.”

Rick Hendrick apparently wanted some of that, too. The 75-year-old team owner may have savored the moment as much as anyone, 30 years after he first celebrated Jeff Gordon’s victory in the Brickyard inaugural. Fans cheered his arrival to the “kiss the bricks” post-race ceremony, and he responded with a bow.

“Rick, a man of the people!” one fan called out as he gave his Victory Lane ballcap to a young fan. He later used a utility box as a step to slip through a catchfence opening, coming closer to sign autographs and pose for pictures. Team members kept supplying him with more hats for giveaways. Larson and Daniels soon made the same trip to the edge of the trackside bleachers.

“I can’t tell you why I went over in the fans other than they were hollering,” Hendrick said. “I was just excited and hung out with them. That might be the first time an owner ever did it, but it was fun. This is a special place. The oval is special. Thirty years ago we celebrated with Jeff. Hard to believe it’s been 30 years. but … this is a special place.”

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Special recognition also preceded the 400-mile day, with Hendrick driving the initial pace laps as the honorary pace car driver. While Larson was able to get through the Brickyard without any run-ins with his on-track rival, Denny Hamlin, Mr. H didn’t have the same fortune.

“Denny gave me a bump. I mean, I wasn’t ready for that, but I thought maybe that was going to happen,” Hendrick said with a laugh. “I’m paying attention to how fast I’m running, and I’m like, We’ve got to run 45 (mph), and I mean, I felt like I was crawling, and all of a sudden — bang — and I looked in the mirror and it was Denny. Anyway, he’s a good guy, a good friend. But I’m glad it didn’t turn me.”

The sun hadn’t settled behind the frontstretch grandstands when questions started emerging about the timing of Larson’s next visit to IMS, and whether it would be in an IndyCar or a stock car. Hendrick said “not yet” when asked if another double attempt had earned his sign-off, and Larson said he “would obviously love to do it” to make a true bid at the full Memorial Day Weekend distance.

Either way, more orange to mix with the No. 5’s primary blue might be in store.

“As much as we’ve all loved the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I think being here for the month of May, those events when we were here in May, just makes you appreciate it that much more,” said Gordon, a five-time Brickyard winner who is now Hendrick Motorsports’ vice chairman. “The fans and everybody that makes this speedway so special. I don’t know. I just feel like today, especially with that car, that paint scheme, the one that was going to run that day, just seemed to bring it all full circle, made it very special.”