He’s raced in the Daytona 500. He’s raced in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. And in 2024, the mercurial Kyle Larson will make his first IndyCar appearance in the Indianapolis 500 thanks to a new partnership for ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing’ between the Arrow McLaren NTT IndyCar Series team and his Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Cup program.

Larson, the Cup title winner in 2021, follows seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson who made his Indy 500 debut in 2022, and 2004 Cup champion Kurt Busch who shined during his lone outing in 2014, as the latest high-profile stock car star to pursue glory in North America’s biggest motor race.

The crossover should bring a wave of attention to both teams, the event, and IndyCar Series as a whole.

“I’m super excited,” said Larson, whose mastery of ovals should make him an immediate threat to win. “Competing at the Indianapolis 500 is a dream of mine and something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time – since I was a child before I ever began competing in sprint cars. To do it with Arrow McLaren and Mr. Hendrick especially is a dream come true. I’m grateful for the opportunity and am really looking forward to it even though it’s still about a year-and-a-half away. I’m really looking forward to competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 and maybe even get a win or two that day.”

At a time when IndyCar is searching for ways to make national headlines, McLaren CEO Zak Brown has delivered one with the added feature of a year-plus runway to tease and explore Larson’s Indy 500 preparations before he joins the field in May of 2024.

“Adding Kyle Larson with a HendrickCars.com partnership to the Indy 500 lineup in 2024 is exciting for our Arrow McLaren team as well as for race fans,” Brown said. “He’s a complete driver, known for racing anything on wheels, so I’m looking forward to seeing what Kyle can do in an NTT IndyCar Series car. It’s been great working with Rick Hendrick and (Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman) Jeff Gordon to pull this together, so a big thank you to them for what’s to come in May 2024.”

With the Hendrick Motorsports alignment, two of Chevy’s top teams will unite in May of 2024.

“Having the opportunity to support Kyle, partner with an elite team like Arrow McLaren and promote HendrickCars.com in one of the world’s great auto racing events is truly unique,” Hendrick said. “All of us are competitors. Putting Kyle in top-level equipment and allowing ample time for him to prepare for such a difficult challenge was important. It’s going to be very, very special to field a Chevrolet in the Indy 500 as a car owner. A collaboration like this was what we needed to make it happen, and fortunately the stars aligned. We’re 100 percent committed to doing it right and look forward to working with Zak and his organization.”