Cliff Daniels confident in Kyle Larson’s preparation for Indy 500, Coke 600 Double

This weekend is a busy one for Kyle Larson. Crew chief Cliff Daniels can only control what he can control, but he’s confident. After all, he has the NASCAR points leader in his car, regardless of what happens at Indianapolis in IndyCar.

The goal this season for Kyle Larson in the Double is to complete 1100 miles, simple. Only Tony Stewart has been able to achieve that feat while attempting the Double. Of course, Stewart’s 2001 attempt resulted in a P6 Indy 500 finish and P3 Coke 600 finish.

Cliff Daniels knows that racing is what Larson does. Whether it is midweek dirt races or the Indy 500, it doesn’t matter. Daniels remains confident in his driver and his preparation.

“Any time he’s in a racecar, I feel good about his preparation,” Daniels told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports at Indianapolis. “We’re used to being flexible and going with the ebb and flow of his racing schedule. When he runs more midweek races, typically, it helps us. Obviously, in this case, it’s not a midweek race, but anytime he’s in a race car, he’s always learning, giving feedback, interacting with teams, all that. So, uh, it’s odd to say probably, that him doing other things actually helps us in the Cup car, but it really does.”

So, what has the prep been for Charlotte? Well, not a whole lot. Then again, that’s not much different than what Kyle Larson and Cliff Daniels do during a regular week.

“The last time we talked about the Cup car, I think him and I covered what our approach is going to be, how we wanted to look at practice and qualifying, and even the things we need to do better going into Sunday, than maybe what we’ve done in years past. So, at this point, you know I kind of like to see him stay locked in to the IndyCar stuff and make sure he’s in a good spot here. There’s not a ton to refresh ourselves on with the Cup stuff. Once he walks into the garage tomorrow, I’ll hit him with my one-pager like I always do on a Saturday morning, and we’ll be ready to go.”

Kyle Larson has a big weekend ahead of him. He will have to work his way up through the field in the Indy 500. Larson had a lackluster qualifying effort. No matter what happens at Indy, Larson will be a factor on Sunday at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600.