Kyle Larson hasn’t spent much time dwelling on his latest failed attempt at becoming only the second driver to complete all 1,100 miles of the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. Instead, he believes that racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway again may have to wait until his NASCAR career concludes.
“That’s not me shutting down the 500 again,” Larson said. “Someday, maybe when I’m done with Cup racing, I would definitely love to do the 500 again, and devote all of my time to it. It’s such an awesome event, like it is the greatest event in the world. So I don’t want to miss out on that too much.”
Larson acknowledged that attempting “The Double” doesn’t make sense logistically, as any small delay, weather issue, or crash can throw off the entire schedule.
Since his latest attempt last weekend, Larson has been dealing with a bit of a “Double” hangover. He also made a quick trip to Mexico to check out the altitude and area for NASCAR’s upcoming race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on June 15. On Friday, he slept for much of the day after falling ill.
In his first attempt at the grueling challenge in 2024, four hours of rain delays at the Indianapolis 500 wrecked his plans and made him late to Charlotte, with the NASCAR race being called before he ever took a lap.
Last week, Larson crashed on Lap 91 of the Indianapolis 500, flew to Charlotte, and then had his NASCAR race end on Lap 246 when he was caught up in a wreck, ending his bid to join Tony Stewart as the only driver to successfully complete “The Double.”
When asked what changes could help make competing in both races and finishing the Double possible, Larson said moving the start time up for the Indy 500 wouldn’t work, as the race already starts at 9:45 a.m. on the West Coast, and people there are unlikely to wake up earlier.
Larson also noted that the Coca-Cola 600 can’t start much later, as even with few cautions, the race still ends after 11 p.m. Eastern.
“I don’t know how those guys did in the past, like that must have been perfect, weather and cautions and all that,” Larson said.
