INDIANAPOLIS — As three of his six competitors for Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors turned their first laps on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval Wednesday, Kyle Larson let out a sigh of relief.

Having less than six weeks to digest their initial on-track experience at the Racing Capital of the World from this week’s Open Test before attempting to qualify for this year’s race, where two cars will be sent home, rather than more than seven months?

No thanks.

“I’d feel way overwhelmed if I was doing that right now,” Larson told a small group of reporters Wednesday morning after turning 43 laps during the early veteran-only session, which he was able to take part in by virtue of knocking out his Rookie Orientation Program back in October with three other future 500 rookies.

With that extra time to prepare – including a private test at Phoenix Raceway Feb. 5 where he turned 172 laps – Larson got comfortable enough to turn the second-fastest lap on the timing charts (226.384 mph), trailing only a particularly speedy lap from defending race-winner Josef Newgarden (228.811 mph). Ask nearly every IndyCar veteran how much lap speeds during April’s Open Test matter – particularly ones with a tow – and they’ll tell you various versions of “just about none.”

For someone like Larson, who until Wednesday had logged fewer than 250 laps in an Indy car, any experience – and particularly positive ones – in an Indy car continue to be incredibly meaningful. There remains, though, an element of trepidation with Larson and what he’s learning – a small voice in his head that’s trying to make sure he doesn’t get too high when things feel great, or too low when they feel ‘off.’

Such is the conundrum for the highly-anticipated 500 rookie, who along with his maiden attempt at the 500 May 26 will be embarking on ‘The Double’ in tandem with his day job in the NASCAR Cup series.

Insider: Kyle Larson's run at The Double could be the first of many

“I definitely learned some stuff (today), but when the packs are that small, you don’t know if what you’re learning is reality or not, so I just need to get more laps behind people – as well as in front of people,” Larson said. “I need to get familiar with my mirrors and communication and then tying all that together, seeing runs develop behind me and knowing when I need to lift to tuck in line.

“All that race craft stuff I feel like I still have room to learn, but I did learn quite a bit there today.”

After Larson spoke with the media in the morning, he turned just four more laps in the ensuing four-plus hours before IndyCar leadership ended the day’s testing plans that were supposed to span nine-and-a-half hours. Consistent rain showers kept cars off-track from roughly 2-4 p.m. before the day was officially called. Whether or not teams will get any more time to run during the 10 a.m.-4 p.m. scheduled window Thursday is murky at best.

What little running Larson did get Wednesday – outside of his tow lap that helped place him near the top of the timing charts – took place in largely solo running. One time he did get passed on-track – by Newgarden – Larson’s realization of the car’s balance shift was swift. Whether it comes Thursday or on May 14 during the first day of official Indy 500 practice, pack running and getting comfortable at different levels within it, remains high atop the priorities of the 2021 Cup champion.

“It’s really valuable, because I’m not going to spend the whole race out in the lead,” Larson chuckled. “So for a guy like me, I’m going to spend hopefully, at least, the final lap out in the lead, but besides that, I’ll have probably 99% of my race in traffic, so I want to try and get familiar with that.

“My first little bit of traffic, we were on fresh tires, and the balance didn’t feel that different whether you were in clean air vs. dirty air, but then later on that same set, after making so ins and outs (of the pits), it was starting to get tighter and tighter. And when Newgarden passed me, and I got super tight, I don’t know if that amount of tight is real or not. There’s just still a lot of guessing on my end, but I do still feel like I’m learning.”

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What Larson's Indy 500 qualifying weekend schedule may look like

When it comes to his travel plans off-track – particularly the chaotic week of Indy 500 qualifying that also includes NASCAR’s All-Star race – Larson’s support team is still learning, too. The Hendrick Motorsports driver said Wednesday he still doesn’t have his finalized travel plans in place for his Double attempt, though one can glean a lot from last year’s 500 schedule and North Wilkesboro’s tentative one for this year that's posted on the track website.

Larson’s first of potential puzzle on what to prioritize comes on Fast Friday, when IndyCar typically practices from 12-6 p.m. (as is typical for each practice day that week). According to North Wilkesboro’s schedule (and a preliminary NASCAR one that was posted but then taken down), the Cup series is set to practice form 4-4:50 p.m., followed less than an hour later by qualifying for the next day’s heats, as well as the Pit Crew Challenge, from 5:45-7 p.m.

The well over an hour of travel time required to get from Indianapolis to the track 90 minutes north of Charlotte would mean that, should Larson and his Hendrick team not want to skip practice and qualifying for the weekend, he may only get a couple hours of practice in with the ‘qualifying boost’ that take top trap speeds above 240 mph. There is also the uncertainty at the moment – similar to other possible conflicts we’ll get to in a second – what NASCAR’s penalty might be for a driver who already has a locked-in spot in Sunday’s All-Star race if they were to miss heat race qualifying.

With his Friday NASCAR duties complete, Larson would likely fly back immediately late Friday evening to Indianapolis ahead of Indy 500 qualifying midday Saturday. When he would make his first qualifying attempt will depend on Friday night’s random draw, but without any weather delays, it would fall sometime between 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (assuming 500 qualifying follows a similar schedule to recent years). Once that initial run has been made, Larson and the decision-makers with Hendrick and Arrow McLaren will have to take stock in where the No. 17 Chevy sits on the timing charts and what its potential to be able to climb into the dozen cars eligible for the next day’s run for the pole.

Waiting around until near the end of Saturday’s qualifying window, which typically falls at or just before 6 p.m., would make for a tight but reasonable squeeze for Larson to make it back to North Carolina for one of two evening heat races (tentatively scheduled for 7:20 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.) that will help set the grid for Sunday’s All-Star race.

Lap-by-lap: Here are Kyle Larson's speeds he used to pass his Indy 500 ROP

Similar to Friday, Larson’s team will need to strike up dialogue with NASCAR officials in the coming weeks to understand the penalties for missing his heat race, should the IndyCar crew end up wanting him to run near the end of Saturday qualifying to either lift him out of Sunday’s Last Chance Qualifier (where he’d run the risk of missing the 500 altogether) or make a push for a shot at pole.

Whether Larson would simply have to start at the back in Sunday’s All-Star race, or be cut from the field altogether, if he were to miss those All-Star heat races, is unclear. It’s believed that unlike typical regular season Cup races, Larson technically wouldn’t have to run the All-Star race in order to maintain his playoff eligibility, though Hendrick would be expected to enter his car so as not to run afoul of their obligations as a NASCAR charter holder on that entry.

Should Larson end his day at IMS sitting between 13^th and 30^th on the grid, he’d have no reason to leave his NASCAR bubble until after the checkered flag on the All-Star race late Sunday evening, before boarding a plane back to Indianapolis for a typical Monday 500 practice with the final field. But keeping in mind that last year all four of Arrow McLaren’s entries made the Fast 12 and started in the top-9, Larson and his Hendrick crew could have yet another chaotic travel day ahead on Sunday.

The easiest option: Larson could simply accept a top-12 starting spot, skip the Fast 12 session entirely and start May 26 on the outside of Row 4. Tony Kanaan, who serves as Arrow McLaren’s sporting director but who is also Larson’s stand-by sub if need-be this month, would not be able to finish qualifying the No. 17, should it make the Fast 12. A series official reasoned Wednesday that, should the No. 17 end up in the Last Chance Qualifier, Kanaan could qualify the car Sunday – because all qualifying attempts by the bottom five cars are wiped out. No matter where Kanaan would qualify the car in that scenario (presuming its inside the 33-car field), Larson would then have to start race day in last-place.

Should Larson make the Fast 12 and want to make a run at pole, last year’s qualifying weekend schedule would have him making a single attempt between 2-3 p.m., see if that registers as one of the six-fastest runs, and if so, make one final attempt for pole between 5:15-5:45 p.m. With a quick exit, he should be fine making the tentative 8 p.m. start time for the All-Star race. Whether he’d make the Drivers’ Meeting – which is typically scheduled an hour or so before the green flag – and whether and how NASCAR might penalize him is, again, unclear.

“I sure hope we run into that issue, but the All-Star race pays $1 million to win, so I think that would be hard for anyone to turn down the opportunity to race for, “ Larson said Wednesday. “But if our (Indy 500) car is really fast, at the same time, it’s hard to turn down the opportunity to run for (the Indy 500) pole.

“I think with the schedule the way it was last year, there’s a tight window to do it all, and hopefully NASCAR would work together with us, but I just don’t know. We’ll have to figure that out when the schedule comes out.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Race for $1 million or Indy 500 pole? Kyle Larson prepares for May