Kyle Larson to race Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600
Kyle Larson talks hydration, preparation, and the bodily toll of racing the “Memorial Day Double”
Memorial Day weekend marks the largest three days of motorsports on this planet. Stars of NASCAR, IndyCar and Method 1 shall be motion for a number of the greatest races of their seasons.
The motion on Sunday, Might 25 will begin at 9 a.m. ET with the F1 Monaco Grand Prix. It is the crown jewel of the F1 calendar and a race each driver who grew up dreaming of constructing it within the sport desires to win. It is a difficult circuit that forces drivers to race close to 150 mph simply inches away from the partitions.
As soon as the white-knuckle motion involves an in depth in Europe, the largest occasion in open-wheel racing in America – the Indianapolis 500 – begins at 12:45 p.m. ET. There are many intriguing storylines getting into the race; a rookie begins on pole for the primary time since 1983 and Josef Newgarden’s aiming for a historic three-peat.
The motion wraps up with NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway. The longest race on NASCAR’s schedule begins at 6 p.m. ET and sees the drivers go from racing within the daytime to underneath the lights at night time.
Auto racing followers may have no scarcity of pleasure over the vacation weekend. One driver actually will not, both: Kyle Larson.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Sequence champion is making an attempt “The Double” in 2025 by racing in each the Indy 500 for Arrow McLaren and the Coca-Cola 600 for Hendrick Motorsports. He is ranked thirteenth to win the Indy 500 and the favourite to win the Coca-Cola 600, per BetMGM’s newest odds.
“I get pleasure from challenges and I get pleasure from making an attempt to be taught on the fly,” Larson advised USA TODAY Sports activities forward of his second try of racing each occasions.
Here is what to learn about Larson’s problem on Sunday.
What’s ‘The Double’?
It wasn’t doable to do each races on the identical day till 1993 when Charlotte Motor Speedway officers put in lights on the observe and moved the Coca-Cola 600 to an evening race. Given the Indy 500’s earlier begin time, that created sufficient room for drivers to realistically do each.
Finishing each occasions covers 1,100 miles, roughly the gap from New York Metropolis to Des Moines, Iowa, within the span of 9 hours.
Who was the primary driver to aim ‘The Double’?
In 1994, John Andretti turned the primary driver to aim to race each the Coca-Cola 600 and Indy 500 on the identical day. Andretti was a full-time NASCAR Cup Sequence driver on the time with some earlier expertise in open-wheel racing.
He completed tenth within the Indy 500 and barely made it to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600, arriving through personal jet because the nationwide anthem started. He did not end the Coca-Cola 600 and retired after 220 laps attributable to engine bother.
Drivers who’ve tried ‘The Double’
Andretti was the unique however many have raced in each occasions within the three many years since.
Tony Stewart
1999:Indy 500: 9thCoca-Cola 600: 4th2001Indy 500: 6thCoca-Cola 600: third
Robby Gordon
2002Indy 500: 8thCoca-Cola 600: 16th2003Indy 500: DNF (gearbox)Coca-Cola 600: seventeenth
Kurt Busch
2014Indy 500: 6thCoca-Cola 600: DNF (engine)Larson on challenges of Indy 500, Coca-Cola 600
A rain delay of the Indy 500 stored Larson from beginning the Coca-Cola 600 in 2024. With no rain on the climate experiences for Indianapolis, he is prepared for one more try this yr and assured in each Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports.
“I would not be doing it, clearly, if I did not really feel like I had a shot to win each,” Larson mentioned. “It will be actually, actually powerful. Heck, it is powerful to win any race, not to mention two races in the identical day in two several types of automobiles … I stay up for the problem.”
The physicality that prior drivers struggled with – Stewart mentioned he collapsed after the Coca-Cola 600 in 1999 – is not on Larson’s thoughts an excessive amount of getting into Sunday.
“At the least in comparison with what I sometimes do, I do not suppose it takes something far more,” Larson mentioned. “Simply staying on prime of your hydration all through this week and on race day particularly.”
A nine-hour day behind the wheel is not any straightforward job, particularly at speeds nicely over 200 mph. Larson spent extra time making ready for the Indy 500 trackside however feels comfy in Hendrick Motorsports having all the things prepared for him within the Coca-Cola 600.
“Truthfully, I feel there’s extra similarities than there are variations (between IndyCar and NASCAR) even in the way in which that the automobiles really feel,” Larson mentioned. “Though they give the impression of being manner totally different, (the automobiles) drive fairly comparable. After which I feel probably the most comparable factor is simply the race technique and the way the race feels.”
How you can watch the 2025 Indy 500Date: Sunday, Might 25, 2025Time: 12:45 p.m. ETLocation: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, IndianaTV: FOXStreaming: FoxSports App, Fubo
Watch the Indy 500 with Fubo
How you can watch the 2025 Coca-Cola 600Date: Sunday, Might 25, 2025Time: 6 p.m. ETLocation: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Harmony, North CarolinaTV: N/AStreaming: Prime Video
Watch the Coca-Cola 600 with Prime Video
