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After his attempt at running “The Double” was unsuccessful due to rain in 2024, Kyle Larson ran it back the next year.
Larson was aiming to become just the second person to complete both the Indy 500 in Indianapolis and Coke 600 in Charlotte on the same day, joining Ton Stewart in 2001, having already become one of five drivers to even attempt it.
However, Larson crashed on the 92nd lap of the Indy 500, thus ending the dream (rain delayed the start of the Indy500 by 45 minutes, so he probably would not have been able to get to Charlotte in time, anyway).
Due to the crash in Indianapolis, Larson was able to hop on a flight to Charlotte, but he crashed in that race, too. It was the first time since 1997 that a driver failed to finish both races.
It’s just a long day. It’s just a really long day. It starts very early in Indy, your first meetings are at 8:30, 9:00 in the morning or something. When you think about from then to when this Coke 600 is done at the end of the night, it’s 11:15 p.m. at the earliest probably. It’s just a really long day of work,” Larson said to Fox News Digital.
“So to me, it takes more mental stamina than anything, but it’s still really cool to compete in two of the biggest races in the world, the pageantry that goes along with it and all of that.”
Larson’s journey in trying the double will be featured in an Amazon Prime Video documentary, “Kyle Larson vs. The Double,” to be released next week.
“It’s a cool experience, number one, but I think also, just to give the fans an inside perspective of what it takes to prepare for the Indy 500, learning something new, but also what it takes to try and be ready to compete in 1,100 miles of racing in one day with the Indy 500 and Coke 600,” Larson said of the documentary.
“Also to show people my journey of my upbringing and my love for racing and all that, but also to showcase how difficult it was, the stress, the emotions, everything that went along with trying to attempt to complete it and not being able to. I think it captured all the stuff that you need for a good film, the drama and emotion and everything else.”
Admittedly, Larson did not want to go through all those emotions while watching it back, but he’s glad he did.
“It was honestly really cool for me to live back and see where my head was at in all of it. You forgot how stressed I was. So it was just good to relive that…” he said.
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“It was cool just to see my family videos from when I was really young to my kids, because they have filmed me for like three years before,” Larson continued. “So even to see my kids as smaller versions of themselves right now, seeing how their personalities are different even today than they were back then is great. There were some memories that were not the most fun to live through in the moment, but I had no problem going through it again because it was cool.”
“It was a lot of fun and very interesting and a part of putting a deal and a business deal together that was great experience for me and for Hendrick (Motorsports) and for Kyle and to be able to document all that,” added Jeff Gordon, who is featured in the documentary as the co-owner of Larson’s team. “It’s only been done less than a handful of times. This goes to show you why because it is a very difficult thing. You got to have a lot of things really all align. It’s very easy for them not to, as a lot of people will witness through this documentary. But at the same time, I’m so glad we were a part of it and a part of Kyle’s journey and that we documented it.”
So, is the double in the cards for the future? Unlikely.
“Just 30 minutes of rain can just derail it, so that was just tough to live through. You never say never on trying to do the Indy 500 again someday but as long as I’m a full-time NASCAR driver I just won’t be able to (attempt the double),” he said. “And if I never get to run the Indy 500 again, I’m perfectly fine with that as well.”
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But Larson got paid back after going through hell on back-to-back Memorial Day Weekends.
“I got repaid with a Brickyard and championship,” the reighing NASCAR Cup Series winner said.
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