CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Larson said all the right things after completing 43 laps around Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of his preparation for his debut next month in “The Greatest Spectacle of Racing.”

He was glad he completed the rookie orientation last October and didn’t have to deal with that last week during the open test for the Indianapolis 500. Instead, the NASCAR star got to run with the big boys and ended the rain-shortened day behind only defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden on the speed chart.

“I think had I had to do the (orientation) I would have been stressed out and really nervous and just not able to focus,” he said as he explained that every opportunity with Arrow McLaren has been about working through a checklist as he learns how to drive an Indy car.

At orientation, it was about the “”little stuff, what the steering wheel felt like, visually, what all that felt like.” At a test in Phoenix, he wanted “to feel the car and it slipping and moving and work on ins and outs of pit stalls and things like that.”