Yahoo Autos Allgaier on standby for Larson at Coke 600 if rain affects Indy 500
Justin Allgaier is on standby to drive Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
With Larson attempting the Memorial Day weekend double starting with the Indianapolis 500 followed by the Coca-Cola 600, any hold ups or mishaps could require help from a relief driver in Charlotte. Allgaier, who competes for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, will drive Larson’s car if needed.
“Their goal is [to not] need me, and North Wilkesboro is a great example of that,” Allgaier said on Friday.
Larson successfully made the trip from Indianapolis to North Wilkesboro Speedway last weekend for the NASCAR All-Star Race with time to spare. However, if he had missed the start of the race, the team would not have competed due to the special nature of the event.
Sunday, however, Allgaier would be allowed to drive the No. 5 car if Larson does not arrive on time. The Indianapolis 500 is scheduled to go green at 12:45pm ET and the Coca-Cola 600 after 6pm If race day goes as scheduled, Larson would leave Indianapolis for a 50-minute to one-hour trip by plane to Concord, N.C.
“How cool it is that Kyle is trying to accomplish [that] this weekend?” Allgaier said. “I know that we have seen it in the past and I have been a huge fan of guys trying to do it…”
Those drivers include John Andretti in 1994 followed by Robby Gordon in 1997, ’00, ’02, ’03, ’04, Tony Stewart in 1999 and ’01 and most recently Kurt Busch in 2014.
Allgaier has been preparing with the No. 5 team ahead of this weekend, sitting in on meetings. He’s already familiar with Hendrick Motorsports, previously testing the Chevrolet wheel force car, which works to his advantage. With the abbreviated on-track schedule, Allgaier will not have time to get in Larson’s car for practice, but fortunately the team will not have to change much if he does have to run the race.
“I fit really well, oddly enough, into Larson’s seat,” Allgaier said. “[The] seatbelts were only a little bit of an issue — I’m a little fluffier than he is.”
The weather will be the biggest variable in Larson’s travel plans. Weather Underground calls for thunderstorms in Indianapolis for much of Sunday, while Concord could also get a scattered thunderstorm on race day.
