Kyle Larson Crashes During Indianapolis 500 Open Test

Originally posted on Racing America on SI
By Joseph Srigley | Last updated Apr 24, 2025 11:08 AM ET

Screenshot from INDYCAR YouTube Broadcast

Kyle Larson, competing in this week’s two-day Open Test for the Indianapolis 500, has faced the first substantial setback of his career in the NTT IndyCar Series, after testing during the final day of testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Larson, who was turning laps in his No. 17 HendrickCars.com-sponsored Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren, was out on his first run of the afternoon, when he ran wide at the exit of the first corner and pancaked the wall with the right-side of his car.

IN THE WALL @KyleLarsonRacin makes contact with the wall exiting Turn 1 and in Turn 2.

: INDYCAR YouTube pic.twitter.com/5TE5c1BXDs
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) April 24, 2025

“I was just starting my qualifying laps there, and just got really tight, just a bunch of understeer through [Turn 1] and ran out of space off of [Turn 1],” said Larson. “I kind of fought the understeer feeling yesterday and carried over to today.”

From there, the NASCAR Cup Series champion and 31-time race winner appeared to have no steering after the suspension broke on his entry, which brought him back into the outside wall in Turn 2, adding more damage to an already-wounded entry.

“Honestly, though, I’m happy to crash my first INDYCAR and live through it,” Larson said.

The Elk Grove, California-native climbed from his racecar and was checked and released from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway medical center, after being evaluated by the INDYCAR Medial Team.

“We’ll just work on it and try to get the balance more comfortable. Yeah, I just didn’t quite feel like I had the feeling I needed yesterday, and it really carried over to today, and I think when you’re going faster it really spit out, so yeah, bummer, but encouraging that it didn’t feel – I know it wasn’t like a big hit or anything – but it didn’t feel anything different than what I was expecting.”

Larson and Arrow McLaren will spend much of Thursday attempting to repair the No. 17 Chevrolet and get it back on the racetrack so that the NASCAR Cup Series star can get some more laps under his belt before The Month of May begins.