McLaren CEO Zak Brown underlines Kyle Larson's "unfortunate" NASCAR outcome and shares "Plan B" for the next Indy 500

Kyle Larson will make his second attempt at running the Indy-Charlotte double in 2025. However, what happens if rain strikes again like it did this year during the Memorial Day weekend? In a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Arrow McLaren CEO, Zak Brown, revealed their 'Plan B', lest that should happen.

Winning his second Cup Series championship is Larson's priority, said Brown. The Hendrick Motorsports driver lost the regular season points battle to 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick by just a one-point deficit. Therefore, winning this year's Cup title might help Larson find solace for his regular season's "unfortunate" ending.

"Coming into this year's 500, it is clear, Kyle's full-time priority is to try and win the Cup championship," Brown said. "As it turns out, unfortunately, he lost the regular season championship by one point. So it ended up coming back to bite him which is unfortunate. I will be respectful of it. Cup is his full-time program and therefore, priority."

Larson ran the rain-delayed Indy 500 this year in May and thus missed starting his engine at the Coca-Cola 600. NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, Justin Allgaier, filled in for Larson in the crown jewel race.

However, if it rains again next year and Larson has to choose between one of the two events, it will be the Coca-Cola 600. Brown said that the No. 17 McLaren team will have Tony Kanaan as their standby driver.

Kanaan, the 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner and 2004 NTT IndyCar Series champion, is currently a special advisor to the Arrow McLaren Indy 500 team. He also served as Larson's mentor for the latter's Indy 500 endeavor earlier this year.

"We'll have Tony Kanaan ready," Brown continued. "We need to give him a little bit of testing as a refresher course because apparently after you have done Indy 24 times, you still need a refresher course. So he will be our Plan B."

What if Kyle Larson wins the Indy 500? Will he have enough time to stay back to celebrate at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before taking the flight to Charlotte? Even Brown is concerned about that.

Kyle Larson reflects on his debut Indy 500 run; says he wouldn't have won

Kyle Larson speaks to the media during the NASCAR Playoffs Media Day at the Charlotte Convention Center (Source: Imagn)

Kyle Larson qualified 5th in "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" this year and ultimately delivered a P18 finish. Come this year, Larson is excited to take on "The Double" again. Per Larson, he would not have won this year's Indy 500 even if it hadn't rained.

"I love to race and I love to compete in big events," Larson said (as reported by Hendrick Motorsports). "Had it gone perfect logistically and all that, I think I would still want to do it for sure because I wouldn’t have won the Indy 500."

"I would like the chance to someday win it. It’s not a different style of race, so I feel very experienced there and I feel like someday I could win, so, just the stars have to align," he added.

Kyle Larson ran inside the top 10 for most of the Indianapolis 500 but got relegated to the back of the field following a pit road speeding penalty. Looking at the NASCAR side of things, the Elk Grove native has a win in the Coca-Cola 600 (2021).

"I think with a year of experience, hopefully, we’ll be even more competitive and I’m super confident in the NASCAR side of things that we can go (to Charlotte) and win. It’s just going to be great to finally have that opportunity again and hopefully, the weather cooperates a little better," Larson hoped.

Will Kyle Larson be able to etch his name beside Tony Stewart as the only driver to complete the combined 1,100 laps of the two coveted races? Only time will tell.