INDIANAPOLIS - Kyle Larson would likely be the first to admit that his second bid at the #H1100 is hardly a story of just one driver.
It also, of course, involves teams and crews from two sports - NASCAR and IndyCar - preparing drastically different race cars with strategies being developed for two entirely distinct, yet prestigious events - the Coca-Cola 600 and the Indianapolis 500.
On Friday, the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team in its entirety, took a quick day trip up to Indianapolis, to check in on Larson and Indianapolis 500 Carb Day, one of the most celebrated and fun days in all of motorsports.
Around mid-day, Larson participated in final practice for the Indy 500. Afterwards, the No. 5 team and the No. 17 Arrow McLaren team mingled in the garage as the latter made final preparation to the car Larson will drive early Sunday afternoon.
Then, after a group photo of both teams with Larson and the race car in the middle, it was time for the pit stop challenge, with Larson joining the No. 5 team on pit road to observe the event in front of a raucous crowd.
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It was a day of learning. It was a day of fun. But maybe most importantly, it was a day of bonding for a team that's had a few moving parts this season.
"On the road, it's nice to go out, do your deal and then your team rides in a van, you go eat dinner together, you hang out - you spend that good bonding time together that's not work," said Eric Ludwig, jackman on the No. 5 pit crew. "To be able to do something like this with the whole group - the driver, crew chief, car chief, road crew, engineering staff, truck drivers - it really gets you all together and lets you bond more as a team. It's a big deal and to be at a team that's doing this and to be able to go and partake in a little snippet of it, it's a big deal."
For several of those who made the trek on Friday, it was their first time at Carb Day and even the first time ever seeing cars on track during Indianapolis 500 festivities. From a lofty perch above the race track, the sheer speed carried into the corner is eye-catching for any race fan. And that's what most the team had the opportunity to be on Friday.
"We got to go up top and watch them go into turn one in practice and to see that much speed carried into the turn and how smooth the car runs, it's a great experience," said Jacob Claborn, head pit coach who took in Carb Day for the first time. "Really cool to watch this team operate and work on the car. Excited for Kyle."
After practice and in the garage, the No. 5 crew had the opportunity to dig into the nuts and bolts of the No. 17. That included a few tutorials from the No. 17 crew on IndyCar gadgetry as well as explanations of unique features of the car, such as the push-to-pass system.
"For them to allow us to come hang out, it's been awesome," No. 5 fueler, Brandon Harder said. "Just seeing how they go about things as a group and then how we go about things and seeing how things are similar and different. Their cars are a lot different but there's a lot of similarities of how they go about business too."
"Those cars are just completely different," Ludwig added. "Watching it, you never really see the internal workings, so, to be able to see them working on it - the hood's popped off of it, it's all fiberglass - the way the suspension is set up on those cars is wild. They were showing us the push-to-pass system, where it's at, how a sway bar is on that deal, it's not even the same as what you would typically think that stuff is."
The pit stop challenge at Carb Day is quite a bit different than the one the No. 5 team partook in a week ago as part of NASCAR All-Star Race festivities at North Wilkesboro Speedway. In the IndyCar version, teams go head-to-head in a single-elimination format and instead of laps around the race track being involved, cars begin just a few hundred feet away from their pit boxes.
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Carb Day certainly included its share of information sharing between the two groups. No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels and Hendrick Motorsports president and general manager Jeff Andrews both listened in on headphones throughout practice. There were meetings of the minds throughout the garage session as well.
But Larson, who's gone through countless media sessions and interviews while traveling back and forth from Indianapolis, North Wilkesboro, Charlotte and New York City, was able to walk out and share a few moments with his team, cutting it up with the Indianapolis 500 mascot and trading observations from pit road.
It was certainly a welcome reprieve for the driver, a moment of fun; a moment to just be a race fan. And those moments, for a team in the midst of a 38-week race season, all shared together at one of auto racing's most historic facilities and on one of its biggest days, are what will stand out for all who attended.
"To be able to do this today is amazing," Ludwig concluded. "Hopefully he does well and we do well on Sunday as well. This could be a historic weekend for him and he's a driver that could do it too."
"This is huge. I don't know if any of us will be able to experience Carb Day ever again and it's a really cool experience to get all the guys together, travel as a family and see Kyle operate with a different team as well," Claborn concluded. "Just kind of seeing how they interact with each other from their team standpoint. There's always something to be learned. It's just a great experience for our guys to see how they operate too."