Kyle Larson is arguably one of the most talented race car drivers NASCAR has ever seen. So it was only natural that he hoped to conquer the mighty “Double,” 1,100 miles of racing madness on the same day. The only one who has completed this historic feat is Tony Stewart. Yet after two years of grind and heartbreak, Larson has finally decided to move on from a dream that seems out of reach, at least for now.
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“I think my days of attempting the double are over. But, you know, I wouldn’t—you never say never about at least trying the Indy 500 again. But I don’t know; we will see. It’s tough to say it; it won’t come until after my full-time NASCAR career is over, and I don’t know when that will be,” Larson said while speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. He has his reasons for it, and NASCAR hasn’t made it any easier for the HMS driver to continue pursuing this goal.
In 2024, Mother Nature put Larson in a tough spot. He had to decide if he wanted to run the Indy 500 or miss out on the start of the Coca-Cola 600. He opted to stay at Indy, and it proved to be costly. A late pit-road penalty proved costly for him, and he had to settle for an 18th-place finish. He hustled his way back to Charlotte only to find out NASCAR had cut the race short due to weather.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, NASCAR was hesitant to give Larson the waiver. For a driver to be eligible for the playoffs, they have to run all 26 regular-season races. In Larson’s case, it wasn’t a medical emergency nor a family commitment. Although he got the waiver later, the entire HMS team had unfinished business.
Come 2025, things took a turn for the worse. On lap 92, Larson spun his car and crashed out of the Indy 500. To mitigate this, he returned to Charlotte Motor Speedway, this time, he started the race but found himself on the end of a bitter crash. It was the first time since 1997 that a driver failed to finish both races. Maybe back-to-back failures are what have pushed Larson away from this challenge, or he just wants to focus on Cup racing.
“And at that point, I know there are a lot of drivers who’ve been successful there in their 40s or beyond. But for me, it’s just like, I don’t know. I think that will be a lot to take on. I am thankful for the last few years of being able to attempt it and get to start the race and all of that. But yeah, to do it all over again would be tough to tackle,” Larson added. Even Hendrick Motorsports, who have supported Larson’s non-NASCAR adventures, was not fully committed on the second attempt as they wanted to prioritize NASCAR.
Even though the 2026 attempt looked like a redemption run, in reality, it was a last throw of the dice. “We will be here for the 600 if that means cutting the race short at Indianapolis because of my commitment to NASCAR. We’re in NASCAR, and that’s where we run for the championship. If the weather catches us, Tony [Kanaan] will get in the car,” Rick Hendrick said this even before Larson stepped onto the track. NASCAR wanted its star drivers to run in crown-jewel races, not ditch the event for a rival motorsport series.
And going by a report from Sports Business Journal, HMS spent nearly $3 million to set up this historic run. According to IndyCar, a team has to shell out $1 to $1.5 million for the Indy 500 entry, and HMS had to fly in some 80 people on site for the race, between guests and employees. All the resources that went into this project didn’t yield positive results.
But despite that, the entire organization is teaming up with Amazon Prime Video, which showcases the behind-the-scenes action of Larson’s attempt to level Tony Stewart’s record.
Kyle Larson eagerly awaits the release of his documentary
Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Kyle Larson vs. The Double‘ is set to be featured next week. And it gives Larson a unique sense of pride and nostalgia when he looks back at it.
“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, and 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. It was honestly really cool for me to look 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…”
The documentary is set to release on May 21. This isn’t a winning story, but more about the grind and preparation that goes into a crossover event like the “Double.”
His team has been equally supportive of him in this regard. Jeff Gordon understands the importance of attempting a feat only a handful of NASCAR drivers have ever tried. Thus, even Rick Hendrick did not try to stop him at Hendrick Motorsports when Larson wanted to try to make history.
