Inside The Garage: Kyle Larson Has No ‘FOMO’ Over Missing Indy 500 … Yet

Here’s what’s happening this week Inside The Garage: Texas Motor Speedway (Fort Worth, Texas) — Kyle Larson spent the last two months of May not just worrying about his NASCAR Cup Series car but also about his side job as an Indianapolis 500 driver. This year, he has no worries about the Indy 500 as he is not competing in that race. And as is typical for Larson, he has so much going on that a few weeks until race day, he isn’t paying too much attention or having any fear of missing out. “I don’t have FOMO,” the two-time Cup champion Larson told me and other reporters this past weekend at Texas. “I think once the race day comes, I’ll have a little bit of FOMO as every race car driver probably gets that has competed in it before. “I had a great time doing it the couple years I did, and I’ll look forward to watching on TV and being a fan.” No Cup driver is attempting to do both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day — aka The Double — in 2026. Connor Zilisch is the most likely driver who could get the opportunity to attempt the Indy 500. He wouldn’t have FOMO considering he hasn’t done it yet, and the one other full-time Cup driver other than Larson who has competed in the race doesn’t have it. AJ Allmendinger was seventh in the 2013 Indy 500 driving for Team Penske. He has indicated that he doesn’t have the stomach for those speeds in those cars. “There’s 100 percent chance I’m not doing it ever again,” Allmendinger told me. “That’s a different level to go commit to that. Like I always said, I will always cherish that year with Roger and the opportunity and how good we were, and everything that went with that race, the good memories and the bad. “I love watching it. I love waking up Sunday morning and then watching it at home and then heading to the track. But being there? I have no want to be there.” Michael McDowell admits he has a little bit of wishing he was there just because he has never been there and was on the INDYCAR trajectory until Michael Waltrip Racing brought him to stock cars. He competed in a couple of open-wheel races before making the move. “I worked my entire first half of my career trying to get there and get that route,” McDowell told me and other reporters. “I’ve never even been there to see it. “But I’m also thankful I got a Cup ride when I did, and I got in when I got in, and I’ve been able to keep one for a long time. Definitely every time I wake up on Sunday morning [of the 500], I think, man, it’d be so cool.” That’s the way new Cup winner Carson Hocevar thinks. He is hopeful one day he can do it. “I think I could actually do it — as in confidence of running wide open and managing air,” the 6-foot-4 Hocevar said during a news conference at Texas. “I don’t know if I’ll get to do it, literally. “But I just hope if I do get a shot that I can go fit the seat and they don’t tell me I’m too tall for the ride. I, for sure, hope that’s not the case. But I’m just enjoying Sundays right now [in Cup] for sure.” That’s the way it is for Larson. Except he’s just enjoying every day of the week he races, whether it’s on dirt or asphalt. “I haven’t had any feelings about [the 500] one way or the other,” Larson said. “Right now I’m not thinking about running the Indy 500. Down the road, maybe.” Kyle Busch New Crew Chief Two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has a new crew chief in RCR veteran Andy Street taking over for Jim Pohlman, who had re-joined the organization this year after a stint at JR Motorsports where he won an O’Reilly Series title with Justin Allgaier. Sitting at 27th in the standings after 10 races, Busch said he liked Pohlman but RCR thought a change was best considering the results. Busch addressed the shop floor last week after the change was announced. “I thanked Jim for his leadership and for him being there and being a part of our team and what he did for the team,” Busch told me and other reporters Friday night. “And [I said] that I’m full in, I’m all committed. I’ve never probably worked as much in these last four years as I did in 15 at JGR, but that’s due to us needing to get better and us get the things heading in the right direction. “We’ve got to put the train back on the tracks.” From the outside looking in, it appears to be one last gasp to try to get Busch running well enough that both sides would want to keep the two-time Cup champion, who is in a contract year. “I wouldn’t agree with that,” Busch said. “I feel like we’re in this together anyways. I love Richard [Childress], and I feel like we’ve worked really well together. “Austin [Dillon] has been a phenomenal teammate that I’ve been able to work with. I feel he’s probably one of the best that I’ve had, and so it’s been a joyful time of working with him. It’s just the results aren’t there. And we’ve got to line that up and try to be better.” Run The Boot At Watkins Glen? Prior to the season, I asked most of the Cup drivers if the boot section of Watkins Glen (where the Cup Series heads next week) should be included in the course for NASCAR races. It would add a mile to the 2.45-mile course. NASCAR doesn’t use it because there are questions of whether there would be any passing, it would shorten the number of laps of the race and the track can use that area for camping. The drivers seemed evenly split on it. For it … AJ Allmendinger: “I get why we don’t run it. It probably would spread the field out too much, but I would love to run the boot.” Not for it … Bubba Wallace: “Don’t add some new element where I’ve got to go figure it out. I feel like I’m getting my feet ahead of me [on the current course]. Don’t even mention that.” In The News — Dystany Spurlock will make her truck debut this weekend Watkins Glen. She would be the first Black woman to compete in a NASCAR national series race. She is driving for Garage 66. [WHO IS DYSTANY SPURLOCK? Going Fast is Destiny for Black Woman Racer] –INDYCAR confirmed that it will not allow non-chartered cars on the grid except for the Indianapolis 500 starting in 2027. That means the field will be 25 cars for all races except for the Indianapolis 500 in 2027 and then 27 cars in 2028 when Honda and Chevrolet are each awarded one charter. Social Spotlight They Said It “Do the math. After 10 [races], Tyler Reddick had over a 100-point lead. Theoretically, if you repeat those races, he could start 16th and win the championship, right? So I think anything is possible.” — Chase Elliott crew chief Alan Gustafson on whether a driver needs to be in a certain position after the end of the regular season to win the title.