Kyle Larson was being honest Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I don’t like qualifying here,” he said, forcing a smile that spoke of respect for how challenging these runs can be. “(The runs) just get sketchier each time you go out.”

Unfortunate circumstances put the NASCAR Cup Series points leader in the qualifying line one more time than he desired on Day 1 of PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying. The first run on the iconic 2.5-mile oval was straightforward since his Arrow McLaren crew loaded a significant amount of aerodynamic downforce on the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to get Larson back in a rhythm following a spin into the Turn 4 wall a day earlier.

Larson couldn’t describe what chassis changes were made, but he could tell that the car “cut through the wind a little better.”

“It was good to go faster,” he said without much flair in his voice.

As the four-lap average of 230.053 mph ranked 16th of the 17 cars that had completed a run, Larson knew he had to give it another go. The team made adjustments that would help him go quicker, and he did, posting an average of 231.326 mph that elevated him significantly.

As it turned out, both qualifying runs would have been enough to earn a starting spot as the top 30 are now guaranteed a starting position in next week’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. But his efforts were rewarded as the first run would have slotted him 29th. Instead, he will roll off 21st and can bypass Sunday’s qualifying in favor of NASCAR’s All-Star race later in the evening at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.

Larson was conflicted when asked by FOX Sports if he wanted to make a third attempt. He said he was “content” with his situation and didn’t seem eager to go again, a sign of just how difficult it was for he and others Saturday.

Larson is a racer through and through, and last year’s debut as an NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver resulted in a fifth-place “500” starting position and a solid run in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” although he finished 18th, one of 21 cars finishing on the lead lap. For his quick adaptation to this different form of motorsports, Larson was named the event’s Rookie of the Year.

2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson’s return to the “500” has similarities to that of Fernando Alonso. The two-time Formula One champion glided through his rookie May in 2017, qualifying fifth and leading 27 laps in the race. But in Alonso’s second try, in 2019, he was bumped from the field by Kyle Kaiser.

Larson has earned starting positions both years, but it has been far from smooth sailing. In last month’s Open Test at IMS, Larson got his first chance to drive a car using the engine boost that is offered in qualifying. On his first lap, he lost control and slammed the Turn 1 wall, his first such impact in one of these cars. He wasn’t injured, but the incident ended his second day sooner than he wanted. Then this week, as he again tried a hot lap with the boost, he spun in Turn 4, hitting the wall hard enough to necessitate more repairs.

The two accidents meant that Larson effectively went into qualifying without having made a four-lap simulation run, and he wasn’t confident in how to adjust for the additional weight that INDYCAR’s hybrid technology has added year over year.

“It was just a bit hectic in qualifying trim for us,” Larson said. “It was good to maintain some balance and get at least some speed, but it was slow.”

Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan is overseeing Larson’s program this month, and he said the team purposefully kept the car in a conservative setup to help the star driver.

“We wanted to give him something he could work on and not have it surprise him like (when he crashed),” 2013 “500” winner Kanaan said. “Look, it’s amazing that those (incidents) didn’t faze him at all, but the car has to be (predictable), and that’s not easy on a day with this wind and how tricky (the rear of the car is) the (heavy) hybrid.”

On a scale of 1 to 10 based on difficult conditions at IMS, Kanaan rated Saturday as an 8. Even for a driver with Larson’s immense talent, that’s a lot to negotiate for someone with so little INDYCAR experience.

Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon said he couldn’t be more impressed with how Larson has handled this month’s challenges – weather, hybrid and bouncing back from crashes.

“I’ve never seen him rattled about anything,” the NASCAR legend said. “Kanaan was telling me right after what happened in (the Open Test) that Kyle was itching to go again. That’s him.

“Yeah, things have been tough (this year), but you’d never know it by talking to him.”