Driver to attempt ‘Double'
Nascar Cup Series driver Kyle Larson is set to race in this morning's Indy 500 for team McLaren. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Nascar star Kyle Larson will cross disciplines and attempt "The Double" today, racing in the Indianapolis 500 before heading to North Carolina for the Coke 600, the longest race on the Nascar calendar.
The 32-time Nascar Cup Series winner attempted the 1100-mile (1777km) slog last year but a rain delay in Indianapolis meant he could not make the start of the Coke 600. He finished 18th in last year's Indy 500, his first IndyCar race, after a pit speeding penalty hampered progress.
He qualified 21st for the Indy 500 this year.
The Californian native would join Tony Stewart, John Andretti, Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch as double-duty drivers.
New Zealander Scott Dixon will start on the second row, chasing his second 500 win.
Scott McLaughlin starts on the forth row, and Marcus Armstrong starts near the back.
The 109th Indianapolis 500 was set to start at 4am and the Coke 600 at 10am.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
11 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Lawson narrowly misses points in Spain
A frustrated Liam Lawson has narrowly finished outside the points at Formula One's Spanish Grand Prix, falling to an 11th place finish when the late cards didn't fall his way. World championship leader Oscar Piastri extended his lead with a front-running win, holding off team-mate Lando Norris in a McLaren one-two finish. New Zealand driver Lawson was 10th before his Racing Bulls team chose not to pit ahead of a late safety car stoppage, leaving him vulnerable to be passed by Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso. It was a disheartening outcome for Lawson, who was coming off his first points of the season when placing eighth at last week's Monaco Grand Prix. He had driven solidly throughout the week at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya before earning a 13th-placed start on the grid. "From our side, it was a very strong race," Lawson said. "Despite spending a lot of it in traffic, we had good speed and were overtaking cars, so it was working out. "We ended up in the wrong position and missed the safety car line by half a second because everyone in front of us boxed. "To be that close after all the work we did in the race is really unfortunate. As we look ahead to Canada, we'll take the positives of great race pace. Points are always the goal." Piastri wins again Polesitter Piastri won by 2.471 seconds to go 10 points clear of Norris with his fifth victory in nine races, and McLaren's seventh of the season. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc completed the podium in a race that left the drama to the end with a late safety car deployment. "It's a nice way to bounce back from Monaco. A superb weekend," said Piastri, who finished third last weekend in a race won from pole by Norris. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen was left on the brink of a ban after a clash with Mercedes' George Russell. Verstappen, who made four stops in total and ended up fighting on hard tyres against rivals with faster softs, collided with Leclerc and then twice with Russell after the safety car restart with six laps to go. Stewards handed the four-times world champion a 10-second post-race penalty for the second collision with Russell, which appeared deliberate, dropping Verstappen from fifth on the road to 10th. The Dutch driver was also given three penalty points to take his total tally to 11 for the 12 month period. One more before the end of June would incur a one-race ban. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes 2016 world champion and now a pundit for Sky Sports television, said Verstappen should have been black-flagged for what looked to him like intentional retaliation for the earlier contact. Another investigation into the clash with Leclerc drew no further action. Russell finished fourth while Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg finished a surprising and morale-boosting fifth for the future Audi team after passing Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap. Hamilton ended up sixth, Isack Hadjar seventh for Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly eighth for Renault-owned Alpine to cap a solid weekend for the Frenchman celebrating soccer side Paris St Germain's Champions League win. First points Ferrari moved up to second from fourth in the constructors' standings, now 197 points behind McLaren. Verstappen remained third in the drivers' championship but now 49 points behind Piastri in what is becoming a McLaren battle. Home hero Alonso scored his first points of the season in ninth for Aston Martin, who had only one car on the grid due to Lance Stroll's withdrawal through injury after Saturday's qualifying. Piastri led away at the start with Verstappen seizing second from Norris while Hamilton and Leclerc moved up to fourth and fifth as Russell lost out. Hamilton let Leclerc through on lap 10 of 66 after the two Ferraris had run nose to tail. Norris took back second place from Verstappen on lap 13, the Dutch driver making no attempt to defend against the quicker McLaren and pitting in the next lap for fresh tyres. Verstappen took the lead again on lap 23 after Piastri pitted, with Norris making his first stop on lap 21 and coming out behind the Red Bull, but that lasted only until Verstappen pitted for a second time on lap 30. He came in for a third stop on lap 47 but Norris pitted the lap after to defend second place. A safety car deployment on lap 55, after Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli beached his Mercedes in the gravel, bunched up the field and triggered a rash of stops. The McLarens came in together for fresh tyres, double-stacking, and resumed ahead of Verstappen who had only hards available to him. "That safety car just came at the wrong time," he said. - Reuters/RNZ
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- RNZ News
Liam Lawson 11th at Spanish Grand Prix; Piastri wins again
Liam Lawson at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, 5 April, 2025. Photo: Photosport A frustrated Liam Lawson has narrowly finished outside the points at Formula One's Spanish Grand Prix, falling to an 11th place finish when the late cards didn't fall his way. World championship leader Oscar Piastri extended his lead with a front-running win, holding off team-mate Lando Norris in a McLaren one-two finish. New Zealand driver Lawson was 10th before his Racing Bulls team chose not to pit ahead of a late safety car stoppage, leaving him vulnerable to be passed by Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso. It was a disheartening outcome for Lawson, who was coming off his first points of the season when placing eighth at last week's Monaco Grand Prix. Liam Lawson. Photo: photosport He had driven solidly throughout the week at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya before earning a 13th-placed start on the grid. "From our side, it was a very strong race," Lawson said. "Despite spending a lot of it in traffic, we had good speed and were overtaking cars, so it was working out. "We ended up in the wrong position and missed the safety car line by half a second because everyone in front of us boxed. "To be that close after all the work we did in the race is really unfortunate. As we look ahead to Canada, we'll take the positives of great race pace. Points are always the goal." Australian F1 driver Oscar Piastri celebrating after winning the 2025 Miami Grand Prix. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Polesitter Piastri won by 2.471 seconds to go 10 points clear of Norris with his fifth victory in nine races, and McLaren's seventh of the season. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc completed the podium in a race that left the drama to the end with a late safety car deployment. "It's a nice way to bounce back from Monaco. A superb weekend," said Piastri, who finished third last weekend in a race won from pole by Norris. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen was left on the brink of a ban after a clash with Mercedes' George Russell. Verstappen, who made four stops in total and ended up fighting on hard tyres against rivals with faster softs, collided with Leclerc and then twice with Russell after the safety car restart with six laps to go. Stewards handed the four-times world champion a 10-second post-race penalty for the second collision with Russell, which appeared deliberate, dropping Verstappen from fifth on the road to 10th. The Dutch driver was also given three penalty points to take his total tally to 11 for the 12 month period. One more before the end of June would incur a one-race ban. Dutch F1 driver Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing Photo: PHOTOSPORT Nico Rosberg, Mercedes 2016 world champion and now a pundit for Sky Sports television, said Verstappen should have been black-flagged for what looked to him like intentional retaliation for the earlier contact. Another investigation into the clash with Leclerc drew no further action. Russell finished fourth while Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg finished a surprising and morale-boosting fifth for the future Audi team after passing Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap. Hamilton ended up sixth, Isack Hadjar seventh for Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly eighth for Renault-owned Alpine to cap a solid weekend for the Frenchman celebrating soccer side Paris St Germain's Champions League win. Ferrari moved up to second from fourth in the constructors' standings, now 197 points behind McLaren. Verstappen remained third in the drivers' championship but now 49 points behind Piastri in what is becoming a McLaren battle. Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin F1 Team at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Home hero Alonso scored his first points of the season in ninth for Aston Martin, who had only one car on the grid due to Lance Stroll's withdrawal through injury after Saturday's qualifying. Piastri led away at the start with Verstappen seizing second from Norris while Hamilton and Leclerc moved up to fourth and fifth as Russell lost out. Hamilton let Leclerc through on lap 10 of 66 after the two Ferraris had run nose to tail. Norris took back second place from Verstappen on lap 13, the Dutch driver making no attempt to defend against the quicker McLaren and pitting in the next lap for fresh tyres. Verstappen took the lead again on lap 23 after Piastri pitted, with Norris making his first stop on lap 21 and coming out behind the Red Bull, but that lasted only until Verstappen pitted for a second time on lap 30. He came in for a third stop on lap 47 but Norris pitted the lap after to defend second place. A safety car deployment on lap 55, after Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli beached his Mercedes in the gravel, bunched up the field and triggered a rash of stops. The McLarens came in together for fresh tyres, double-stacking, and resumed ahead of Verstappen who had only hards available to him. "That safety car just came at the wrong time," he said. - Reuters/RNZ
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Oscar Piastri on pole in Spain, Liam Lawson to start 13th
Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls at the Spanish Grand Prix, 2025. Photo: CHARLY LOPEZ / AFP Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri seized pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday with teammate and title rival Lando Norris completing a McLaren front row sweep. New Zealand's Liam Lawson will start 13th for Racing Bulls. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, last year's winner, qualified third fastest in the same time as Mercedes' George Russell, who will start fourth because the reigning champion finished his lap first. Piastri had led the final shootout with a lap of one minute and 11.836 seconds but Norris then made the most of an aerodynamic tow to go quicker by 0.017 as stricter front wing flex tests made no difference to McLaren's speed. Norris, winner in Monaco last Sunday to close the gap at the top to three points, managed to improve his time only to 1:11.755 before Piastri clinched pole with a final effort of 1:11.546 around the Circuit de Catalunya. The pole was the Australian's fourth in nine races so far this season. "It wasn't the perfect lap but I think around here with the tyres going off so much through the lap it's very tough to do that," Piastri said. "I'm very happy with all the work we've put in." After starting the day with some good speed, Lawson was a little disappointed with his final qualifying position. "We were always chasing balance throughout the session, but the speed was strong," Lawson said. "The car felt really good and I thought we had a great final lap in Q2, so we'll be reviewing it as a team ahead of tomorrow, particularly given this was the first time the car lacked speed during the weekend. "There are opportunities for overtaking here, so as always we'll be pushing for points." Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth for Ferrari with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli sixth. Charles Leclerc was seventh for Ferrari, doing only one flying lap, with Alpine's Pierre Gasly eighth and Isack Hadjar ninth for Racing Bulls. Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso completed the top 10 for Aston Martin in front of his home crowd. -RNZ/Reuters
