On a tripleheader NASCAR weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the big news is clearly “The Double.”
For the second straight year, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson will attempt to run both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
If the day goes according to plan, Larson will complete 500 miles in the 109th running of the Indy 500, scheduled to start at 12:45 p.m., and commute to Charlotte to start in NASCAR’s longest race (6 p.m. ET Sunday on Amazon Prime, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Larson hopes to join an elite group of drivers who have competed in both races on the same day—the late John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch.
Stewart is the only driver to have completed all 1,100 miles while attempting the Double, a feat he accomplished in 2001 when he finished sixth in the Indy 500 and third in the Coke 600.
Typically, Larson is taking a low-key approach to his potential race results, and he doesn’t appear concerned with the attention that might accrue to successful runs in both races.
“I don’t really think about it a whole lot,” Larson said on Wednesday during a video conference call with reporters. “I love to race, and I try to do the best job that I can. Usually, if you’re doing a good job and you’re prepared and all that, the accolades and the stuff that goes with it will just naturally come.
“The same goes for this weekend. If I can just do a good job, get good finishes and show that we were capable of running up front with these (IndyCar) guys, I think that would do a lot. I think there’s more positives to be made from the results this weekend than negatives.”
Larson won the Coca-Cola 600 from the pole during his NASCAR Cup Series championship season in 2021. He’s one of eight different drivers to triumph in the last eight races.
Three of the last five Coke 600 winners have gone on to win the series championship in the same year they won the race—Chase Elliott (2020), Larson (2021) and Ryan Blaney (2023).
Blaney’s victory in the only NASCAR race that features four stages (100 laps each) rather than three was his first of the 2023 season. This year he comes to Charlotte seeking his first win of 2025. Both his Team Penske teammates—Joey Logano and Austin Cindric—already have won races this year.
“It was cool to win this race a couple years ago,” Blaney said. “I grew up going to this race a lot, watching Dad (Dave Blaney) run it, spending the time with family. Memorial Day weekend’s always really special, being able to see a lot of troops and meet their families around the race track.
“Meeting the families (whose) son or daughter is running with us on our windshield is always a really special moment. But, yeah, it was neat to accomplish a huge feat two years ago. And last year, I thought we had a decent run going, and unfortunately, we didn’t finish it.”
On a day when weather played havoc with both the Indy 500 and Coke 600, Christopher Bell won the 2024 Charlotte race, which was shortened from 400 to 249 laps because of rain.
A downpour at Indianapolis Motor Speedway delayed the start of the 500 and caused Larson to miss the Charlotte race. This year, he has committed to start the 600, even if it means leaving Indianapolis before the completion of the event.
Larson’s three victories, eight top fives, nine top 10s and 817 laps led in 2025 all are career high-water marks for the first 12 races of a season.
Note: Sunday’s race will be the first on the Amazon Prime streaming service under this year’s new broadcast deal.
— NASCAR News Wire —