The ‘double’ still on Kyle Larson’s mind: ‘I didn’t technically get to do it’

Bob Pockrass

FOX Motorsports Insider

With 1,100 miles in one day of racing in an IndyCar and NASCAR Cup Series car awaiting Kyle Larson in less than three months, he knows he can only do so much when it comes to focus.

So he will focus on his NASCAR schedule over the next several weeks while the IndyCar Series begins, starting this weekend at St. Petersburg.

“I’ll be watching, but a lot of the weekends, … I don’t get to watch start to finish,” Larson said last week at Atlanta.

And there’s a good reason for that for the driver who hopes to do the Indianapolis 500-Coke 600 double on May 25.

“I’ll pay attention [to IndyCar] but if I’m racing when they’re racing — I don’t have a TV in my race car,” he quipped.

If he did have a TV, some would wonder if Larson is talented enough to race and watch at the same time. He’s proven adept at racing many styles of race cars. Larson could have a chance to watch more this weekend as the St. Pete race runs prior to the NASCAR event with the telecasts back-to-back on FOX.

Larson will return to an IndyCar in late April for Indy 500 testing and then be in the car over the two weeks in May leading up to the Indianapolis 500. Last year, he finished 18th in the race after a pit-road speeding penalty foiled any hopes of a top-10 finish.

He’ll once again drive for Arrow McLaren in partnership with the Hendrick Motorsports stock-car team. He hopes everything goes as smoothly as it seemed to do leading up to race day and then that race day ends up a smooth one as well.

Last year, rain delayed the start of the Indianapolis 500 and Larson opted to complete the Indianapolis 500 with Justin Allgaier starting the 600 in Larson’s car. Larson got to Charlotte to get into his stock car — at the same time the same storm system that delayed the 500 reached Charlotte. Larson never got in the Cup car and the race was declared official when the rains didn’t subside.

If the same occurred this year, Larson would return to Charlotte and not race in the 500. While Larson and Rick Hendrick indicated that was their intention, NASCAR pretty much made sure of it by enacting a rule that if a driver doesn’t start a race for a non-medical reason, the driver would lose all playoff points earned throughout the regular season. Playoff points are critical when it comes to advancing through NASCAR’s playoff system.

“Had that new rule been in place or not. I think our priorities probably look different for this coming Indy 500 and double attempt anyways,” Larson said in an interview prior to the 2025 Cup season. “It is what it is.

“I think you’re going to see it come about more outside of myself and the double attempt and it’s going to be more on people … who get suspended for a race. That’s where it’s going to become a bigger deal than me missing the 600 last year.”

Larson needs to pay attention at least a little bit to IndyCar. He’ll have two new teammates at McLaren as only Pato O’Ward is the same among the three drivers. Nolan Siegel joined the team in the summer in what was a rotating driver lineup in the No. 6 car after the David Malukas injury. And Christian Lundgaard has replaced Alexander Rossi.

Both Siegel and Lundgaard said they don’t know Larson.

“I don’t know them very well either,” Larson said. “That’s what I look forward to about running that is meeting new competitors and bonding and seeing how different people work and seeing people who grew up in different backgrounds of not only culture but different race cars and how their mindset might be different than how I might prep or view a race.

“I had a great time with the teammates that I had last year and I look forward to learning from those guys again this year.”

And he looks forward to the month of May.

“It was an awesome experience,” Larson said during the Daytona 500 telecast on FOX. “Obviously, the race was really cool, but to me everything that led into the race was something I will never forget.”

Larson said he felt if things went right, he could win the Indianapolis 500. And he felt if things went as planned, he’d physically have no problem with the two races.

“Last year, I took the training and the health more serious than I had ever taken anything before,” Larson said. “And it was good to live through the 500. I felt fresh afterwards and felt confident. I felt totally fine for 600 miles [if I could run them].”

And he obviously hopes for better weather.

“I really want to do it again because I didn’t technically get to do it,” he said. “I want to do the double, what it would be like to run 1,100 miles.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and IndyCar for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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