Inside Kyle Larson's Second Historic Attempt At The Double

Forbes

21-05-2025

It's a beautiful day in Midtown Manhattan. The sun is shining, and Kyle Larson is rocking a slick black shirt with logos of his partners, HendrickCars.com, Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports.
As he stands in front of a hot dog truck – don't worry, he's too healthy to eat that days before the big day – his wife Katelyn is shopping down the block.
Larson is quite calm in everyday life with his native California swagger. But on Tuesday, he was genuinely calm. The pressure of a full-fledged media day in the Big Apple ahead of 'The Double' didn't make him more anxious.
The 32-year-old is a handful of days away from attempting – for the second time – to make history by joining John Andretti, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch as the only drivers to successfully take the green flag in both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. Larson did not make it back to Charlotte in time last year after rain plagued Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with Justin Allgaier replacing him in the No. 5 Nascar Cup Series car. Upon hopping out of the No. 17 McLaren Chevrolet, he jetted to Charlotte Motor Speedway, only for the same weather storm to halt action past the halfway point of NASCAR's longest event.
Larson knows the weather is out of his control. After last year's crazy weather situation he's not looking at the weather as much. And something feels different.
'It's all fun stuff,' Larson said on Tuesday. 'My goal is to complete all of the laps.'
If Larson can complete all 1,100 miles on Sunday, he will join Stewart as becoming the only two drivers to do so (2001).
'Tony Stewart finished sixth in the Indy 500 and third in the Cup race at Charlotte,' Larson recalled of the driver that he considers to be among the best to ever compete. 'I want to do better than that. Ultimately, you want to win one or both of them. I also understand how difficult that is.'
If Larson can win the Indianapolis 500, he said it would be 'crazy.'
'To add your name to the winner's list would be unbelievable,' he said. 'We'll try to do our best job and hopefully, we'll have a shot at the end of it.
'For race trim, we're better than we were in qualifying trim.'
HendrickCars.com and Amazon Prime Video will sponsor Larson in both events. The car number he'll use for the Indianapolis 500 – the No. 17 – paying homage to team owner Rick Hendrick's late son, Ricky Hendrick, who raced with the number during his Nascar career.
The logistics of such a feat are quite difficult. The green flag for the Indianapolis 500 is set for 12:45 p.m. ET and the Coca-Cola 600 will begin shortly after 6 p.m. It will take Larson around 55-60 minutes (plus or minus a few minutes) to fly from Indianapolis to Charlotte on a private jet and fly into the private Concord airport. Then, he'll helicopter over to CMS. He will need to depart Indianapolis no later than 4:15 p.m. to get ready for 600 miles in a stock car.
Larson has been diligent in his preparation for The Double this year. He is visibly bulk compared to the past, and he is ready to actually complete all 1,100 miles.
'I try to live a healthy lifestyle all the time, but especially with a couple of weeks at Indy,' Larson said. 'Obviously, staying hydrated and all of that. Relaxing is also so important. But there hasn't been a whole lot of relaxing over the last few days. On the flights, you're not able to do much so it's a good time to get reenergized and get ready for the long race weekend.'
The No. 17 car for Arrow McLaren IndyCar will start 19th for the Indianapolis 500. His car is sporting a similar paint scheme to his Cup car, with the blue and white colors of HendrickCars.com and Amazon Prime Video, mixed in with McLaren's traditional papaya scheme.
Alongside for The Double is Jeff Gordon, four-time Cup Series champion and vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. In nearly every photo of Larson at Indianapolis, Gordon is by his side living vicariously through his driver. He never had the chance to pull off The Double, despite growing up in Indiana, dreaming of racing in the Indy 500.The closest he came to competing in an open-wheel car was swapping seats in 2003 with then-Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya at the Indianapolis road course.
'He's somebody that I've looked up to a ton,' Larson said of Gordon. 'He's somebody who, back in his day, could've done it. I think he's living through my eyes a little bit. That's really neat.'
But the challenge of IMS is something Larson understands quite well. He won the Cup Series' return to the Indianapolis oval in 2024.
'Last year, everything went smooth,' Larson said. 'This year, I crashed on Fast Friday. I had yet to make a complete qualifying run. Our first run was pretty slow, so I was a bit nervous. But we got some speed in and qualified for the race. It was a relief to not have to worry about Bump Day. I was thankful for that, because with the crash on Fast Friday and during the open test, if you crash again, you might not make it.'
Larson's future of attempting The Double is uncertain. He inked a two-year deal with McLaren for the Indianapolis 500 prior to his bid in 2024, and this is the second of those attempts.
'I love to race and I love that event,' Larson said. "I feel like I'd have FOMO at this point. It takes a big financial undertaking for Rick to do this. I'm just happy he has the trust in me to do it.
'I'm just focused on this weekend. I'm trying to do a great job. We'll see where it goes from there.'
Two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch revealed on Denny Hamlin's 'Actions Detrimental Podcast,' last week that he was in position to secure the same Arrow McLaren entry for the Indianapolis 500 prior to Larson. But he lost out on the opportunity due to Larson's deal being multiple years.
'[Busch] would do an amazing job at it, so I'd love to see him do it,' Larson said. 'I remember at the time, hearing we were going for the same ride. Thankfully, we were able to get our deal done. Unfortunately, they weren't able to have it go exactly how they needed it to. I hope some day, we'll see him do it. It's a really cool event. He would have no problem transitioning."
Though Busch had talks to do The Double, Larson said Busch nor any other driver has discussed attempting it with him.
'I haven't had anybody come up to me and say they want to do it,' Larson explained. 'I have drivers who are curious about what it feels like, what are their differences and similarities, how's my week going, stuff like that.'
To top off the hoopla, Prime Video is following Larson around for a feature-length documentary, set to debut in 2026. It has video from his first attempt, too.
'It's huge having Amazon Prime follow us around and document this whole thing,' Larson said. 'They've been following me for two and a half years at this point. They have a ton of footage to sift through. I'm excited to see how this turns out and excited for fans, my family and friends, and everybody who may have been involved or not involved and live through my eyes. You'll see what it's like to do The Double outside of just the races itself.'
Best of all, Katelyn and their kids, Owen, Audrey and Cooper will be with him for both races.