“Superstar status confirmed”: Fans react as Kyle Larson beats IndyCar drivers in merch sale

Fans reacted to Kyle Larson leading in merchandise sales at the Indy 500. With the launch of an array of collectibles ranging from hats to autographed tee-shirts exclusively on IndyCar's online shop, Larson's products have been quite successful.

The 31-year-old qualified 5th for his IndyCar debut at the Indy 500 on Sunday, May 26. The Hendrick Motorsports driver will drive the #17 Dallara-Chevrolet as a joint venture between Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports. Last week, he came out of the IndyCar qualifiers and recorded a top-5 finish at the North Wilkesboro Speedway.

It was recently revealed that the 31-year-old was ahead of everyone in driver merchandise sales at the Indy 500.

Several fans reacted to this, with one calling Larson a "superstar"

"Superstar status confirmed," the fan said.

Another called the 31-year-old the greatest of all time

"GOAT," the fan said.

Here are a few other reactions from fans regarding Larson leading merchandise sales at the Indy 500.

"If anyone had any sense, the sponsors and players in racing would be moving heaven and earth to get Kyle to F1," said a fan.

"The face of American Motorsports 🗿," the fan wrote.

"Should not be a surprise. He’s gonna be more popular than every IndyCar driver and is," another fan wrote.

"This is why NBC/Peacock keeps talking about Kyle. He is a draw and he brings 👀 to IndyCar's product," a fan commented.

Kyle Larson will make his debut IndyCar start at the Indy 500 on Sunday and will then fly to Concord, North Carolina for this year's Coca-Cola 600.

Kyle Larson completes Carb Day Practice despite initial troubles

Kyle Larson in Indianapolis

Practice day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway wasn't a smooth ride for Kyle Larson. His car ran out of fuel with barely 15 minutes remaining in the two-hour practice session, thus bringing out the yellow flag. However, the 31-year-old managed to bounce back with a speed of 224.761 mph, which placed him 13th in the 33-car field.

“I thought my car handling was good,” Larson recalled. “I didn’t suck up as good as Monday. The pit stop stuff just was getting familiar with that. It’s different from a NASCAR pit stop, and I felt comfortable with all that. We checked a lot of boxes off. I’m sure there are more things I can do to generate runs, and I’ll talk to my teammates about what I can do.”

Larson's crew chief, Cliff Daniels, was impressed with Larson's run at the IndyCar practice sessions.

"Hats off to this team. They’ve done an amazing job with a little bit of a slow start to (last) week and getting behind. They rebounded and had an amazing qualifying effort. And just to see Kyle be so natural in this environment," he exclaimed.

The 2004 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan has been mentoring Larson as the latter transitions to wheeling an IndyCar, which is significantly different from driving a stock car. If Larson completes both races on Sunday, he will be the only second driver to complete the Memorial Day Double after Tony Stewart.