I hope this isnt his last try

I hope he does, but, in the meantime; there are plenty of Indycar oval AND even IndyNXT races on the schedule, that could fit around his Cup schedule...Tony said it 24 years ago, you have to run them cars more than one time a year...

Otherwise, with these Hybrids adding the extra 120lbs in the back (Kyle never wrecked a regular powered Indycar...) perhaps some more time in the Silver Crowns, with a full fuel load is in order? Could be a better training ground than it was in sometime...

But ya, how good was the actual Mclaren team tho too? This version of it, has never won the 500. Pato keeps finishing in the top 5, but he is very talented in those circumstance. Lungard was 7th and Sigel scored 13th, but piled his car up too...

I envision, maybe once Dixon retires, Cheap Chip has a sponsor deal and extends an olive branch to Kyle (after firing him for saying that rap lyric) and offers Kyle a seat on the 500-winning team. Now, I do not think Kyle would ever do a Jimmie Johnson and run the full season (we all have to remember Larson didn't grow up wanting to run Indycars...the door was closed by the time he was old enough to start thinking about racing for a living), but perhaps he could run on an Indy winning team at the 500 and maybe some other races thru the seasons, maybe if/when he starts backing away from NASCAR...

In the meantime, at 500 time, I'm afraid we "SC&M fans"; are gona have to be reserved with remembering what Special Ed DID do in OWs (&, at 44years old, how much longer does he have anyway), and much more enjoy the runs Foyt driver Santino (perennially a top finisher at Indy) has at Tulsa.

At 1st I kinda thought, ya that's it, Kyle could walk away and be happy he got to run the cars before the stupid Hybrid; but I just don't see him walking away from a challenge. Normally racing does not appear to be much of a challenge for him, but it has to be decided if this is one he wants to pursue. In even the era of when the doors were mostly closed, but guys like Fox and Vogler found their ways into rides; they were running rear-engine cars in the lower divisions too / not just jumping in them in May. The difference is how much just being in the 500 (basically racing for a top 10) meant to guys like that. I think Kyle is only in it to win it; and it just appears it will take more effort than is allowed; he can't just go to test session after test session.

You kinda hate to think how good he made Kurt Busch look actually...(in 2014, Kurt did wreck once in practice, but he finished 6th in the race...with many cars on the lead lap, big names behind him like Sebas, RHR, Sato, JV...etc). Speeds were about the same then; no aero screen or Hybrid, but how much more difficult are the cars to drive nowdays? I think they ARE somewhat.

This era Indycar certainly is harder than it was when Tony was the best at the double in 01; but again, the biggest thing was Tony had run Indycars for a full seasons before this.

It has to really weigh on a guy's mind; that you have to leave at a certain time in order to keep racing for the Cup championship too. Too bad they can't completely waiver that deal. I think Kyle could win the Cup champ even missing a race; but that's a bad look for NASCAR, so I get it.

It's all kinda sad to think if this is way it ends for the BEST SC&M guy of this era. I'd have to sadly assume there will be no more (from the dirt tracks) and/or even NASCAR double guys. Kyle doesn't seem to be a big ego guy, but time will tell if this bothers (or if he wants to win it enough) him enough to motivate another attempt...

Could Fox / Tom Brady (rumored team owner) maybe throw enough money out to make it worth it? There needs to be a Saturday night oval race on the Indycar calendar before Indy.

Every novelty eventually wears off.
NASCAR has the right to protect the brand any way it sees fit.
Running dirt [where he started] midweek is radically different than trying to compete with full time Indycar guys.
Perhaps it all comes down to whether Mr. Hendrick believes he is getting anything positive for the HendrickCars brand for all the money it takes to put his brand on an Indycar and fly Kyle out to Indy and back numerous times.

I think this entire thing has wore on his mentally and physically. Hopefully he will come back one day.

By Larson's own admission, his mechanical skills are not as good as his driving skills. Where some drivers will give the condition and suggest a change, Larson just gives the condition and lets the crew decide on the change. With all of the tools inside of an Indy car, there has to be a large learning curve on how each adjustment impacts the car. I think if he had more experience driving the car, he would be better with the adjustments.

For as much as I admire his driving ability he should probably just focus on NASCAR and his other short track shows. He struggled this year at Indy and in interviews it didn’t seem he enjoyed his experience this year (just from watching his body language). As others have said, hard to compete with the best drivers on a one off deal.

I definitely think you are on to something here. Thinking back to his Chili Bowl glory, he said he doesn’t have shock adjusters in the car. All of his competitors are looking for 5th shocks, in cockpit weight adjusters, ladder adjusters, and every other “device” they can think of to dial in the car. He just drives what the car, track, and traffic will allow him. Not to say his cars aren’t set up properly before they roll onto the track, because certainly they are. I think to a certain extent, he’s Cole Trickle. “They told me to get in a car and drive. And I could drive.”

I think you are describing Dave Darland