- At the Indianapolis 500, Tyler Monn will share spotting duties for Kyle Larson with veteran IndyCar spotter Travis Gregg, who will be stationed in the third turn area.
- Monn will work near the first turn of the 2.5-mile track.
- As for Charlotte trip for the 600, the 31-year-old Monn will share the airplane, helicopter and street rides that will be part of the adventure.
Dozens of individuals will be involved next month when NASCAR champion Kyle Larson attempts to become the latest driver to run the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, two of motorsports’ landmark races, on the same day.
One man, however, will be closer to the extended action than most. Tyler Monn, who has been Larson’s spotter for the past four seasons in the Cup Series, also will serve as the driver’s spotter at Indy, putting him in Larson’s ear for potentially 1,100 miles of racing May 26.
The Indy-Charlotte double is a grueling exercise that involves a complicated matrix of scheduling to allow Larson to continue his full-schedule run in Cup while also participating in 500 testing, practices and qualifying. Monn, 31, will share the airplane, helicopter and street rides that will be part of the adventure.
“I’ve never been more excited to do something,” said Monn, who will play a key role in his first visit to the 500, one of the world’s most significant and venerated automobile races. “It’s a great opportunity. I’m sure I’ll be worn out after the 600, but it’s a chance to do something not many people have done.”
The Indy 500 is scheduled to start at 12:45 p.m. The 600 start time is 6 p.m. If Larson completes the 500 (and there are no weather delays or long red-flag pauses), he will have a window of about two hours to exit the speedway and fly to Concord, North Carolina to climb into his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the 600.
Monn will be one of the few people riding in Larson’s shadow. He accompanied Larson to Indy last year for a rookie test and is scheduled to be at the track this Wednesday and Thursday to spot for Larson during 500 open tests.
Spotting in the Indy 500 is considerably different from the same task at most Cup races. Monn will share spotting duties for Larson with veteran IndyCar spotter Travis Gregg, who will be stationed in the third turn area. Monn will work near the first turn of the 2.5-mile track.
2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan, left, coaches Kyle Larson during an IndyCar rookie test session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“The turn one guy picks up the car as it leaves turn four and goes down the front straight and through one and two,” Monn said. “Then the turn three guy picks them up out of two and down the back straight and through three. You have the whole track covered.”
Monn said he has spent many nights watching broadcasts of previous 500s to familiarize himself with traffic flow, pit stops and passing techniques of drivers.
“The biggest difference is in the passing,” he said. “Typically in Cup, when a guy pulls out of line to pass it takes a while to complete the pass. In IndyCar, as soon as you see that guy get out of line, you know he’s going to pass immediately.”
Monn’s job will be to keep Larson informed of the activity around him and approaching cars in an environment in which speeds roar past 230 miles per hour.
The communication dynamics also will be different. “The biggest thing we talk about is the names,” Monn said. “If I tell Kyle in the Cup series that the 20 car is behind him, he knows that’s Christopher Bell or the nine car is Chase Elliott. We’ll use names at Indy because he won’t necessarily know all the car numbers, although we’ll be together so much by race day that putting the numbers together with names should be easier.”
Mike Hembree has covered auto racing for numerous media outlets, including USA Today, NASCAR Scene, NBC Sports, The Greenville News and the SPEED Channel. He has been roaming garage areas and pit roads for decades (although the persistent rumor that he covered the first Indianapolis 500 is not true). Winner of numerous motorsports and other media awards, he also has covered virtually every other major sport. He lives near Gaffney, South Carolina and can be convinced to attend Bruce Springsteen concerts if you have tickets.
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