Why NASCAR star Kyle Larson may have best chance to complete Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600

In an hour on Sunday, Kyle Larson will fly to Charlotte Motor Speedway from the Indianapolis 500.

Currently atop the standings of stock car racing’s highest circuit and a winner all over motorsports, Larson hopes to become the second driver to finish on the lead lap of the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. The recent NASCAR champion looks to succeed Tony Stewart, who finished sixth at Indy and third at Charlotte in 2001.

“If Tony can do it, I can do it,” Larson told reporters with a laugh on a video call from Indianapolis. “I am taking it all — my health, fitness, sleep and all that — definitely a little more seriously than I typically do. Just to be prepared and ready for this, because I could imagine this is going to be more difficult than a normal Sunday for me.

“I feel like I’m pretty healthy and fit. You know, I’ve never worn out or anything after a race. I think I should be fine.”

Larson is already a champion across disciplines of motorsports

Known as the “wheel man,” the 31-year-old has already won the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the most prestigious sports car race. A World of Outlaws sprint car racer, he’s a multi-time winner at Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals. He’s also a champion racing dirt midgets at the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Okla., several times.

Larson, who won the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship, owns 25 victories over his 12 years in the highest circuit of stock car racing.

And when he starts the Indy 500 from the second row at noon Sunday, that will mark his first career start in the IndyCar Series.

“What I love about Kyle’s approach so far — and in the limited time that I’ve spent with him on pit lane — is that there is absolutely no side show,” said Townsend Bell, a retired IndyCar driver who calls races for NBC. “It is 100% a performance-based project, which I think is totally keeping in line with his career today: It’s about the result, and their single-minded focus on what it takes to deliver the result.

“There’s not a bunch of PR around the sponsor. It’s Rick Hendrick who’s making this happen. There’s not appearances left, right and center. It’s Kyle focused totally on preparation, knowledge, technique, execution, refinement, and I think that pure direction is what makes him so compelling.”

Stock cars to IndyCars: Like learning violin compared to guitar

Last week, Larson flew into his NASCAR race on a helicopter right after successfully qualifying for the Indy 500.

Following his top-five finish in Sunday’s All-Star Race, Larson spoke to reporters on pit road at North Wilkesboro about how there’s significantly different grip on both race tracks — but that both his NASCAR and IndyCar teams had him prepared.

Bell, the NBC IndyCar analyst, offered a musical comparison regarding differences competing in the two major American racing series.

“If you just think about how lightweight and high-performance an IndyCar is relative to a stock car, I would think this is learning to play the violin as opposed to the guitar a little bit,” Bell explained. “Every little movement is just that much more rewarded in terms of precision.

“Those finite adjustments and sensitivity of the car — and then the speeds. You’re talking about speeds that are 60, 80 miles an hour faster than what he’s used to. He’s built a tolerance to that really quickly, and it never seems like he’s been overwhelmed by the speed, which is also remarkable.”

All eyes are on Larson, but the ‘wheel man’ remains calm

Larson is piloting a No. 17 orange-and-blue Hendrick Cars Chevrolet — representing the colors of both his Arrow McLaren IndyCar team and Hendrick Motorsports — and will start the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” from the second row.

Driving an IndyCar for the first time during last week’s practice and qualifying sessions, Larson turned heads. He topped 242 mph and earned the fifth position on the starting grid, behind standout Team Penske drivers Scott McLaughlin, Will Power and Josef Newgarden.

“It just doesn’t seem frenzied,” Bell said. “It doesn’t seem chaotic. Even the way he casually did a few interviews after qualifying on Sunday, and jumped on the golf cart, got in the helicopter, went to his NASCAR race, finished in the top five. This is a guy that is used to racing other things all the time.

“Despite the tension, and all eyes being on Kyle, and everybody watching his every move, he’s at peace with it. He’s used to it. And he’s good at it.”

A multiyear partnership?

Once Kyle Larson had initially made it clear he wanted to run the prestigious race in Speedway, Ind., Hendrick got a phone call from Zak Brown.

Brown, the CEO of Arrow McLaren, made a diligent effort to work with Hendrick Motorsports and get Larson into a McLaren-built IndyCar. Hendrick, along with team vice chairman Jeff Gordon, were intrigued.

The partnership has been a success — and Larson has already indicated that there’s a chance he attempts the Indy 500 again in 2025.

“Haven’t had enough time to talk about ‘25 yet, but I know Zak and I have talked about it before, so we’ll see how this goes,” Hendrick said last week. “And then I’ve got to see if Zak wants to do it again.”

Brown added: “I already know the answer to that. ... When we got started, the intent was let’s see where this partnership can grow, because I think we all like to be at the racetrack as many weekends as possible. I think it’s super cool to have some papaya on the NASCAR, so certainly we’ve got to focus right now on Sunday and then turn our attention to the future.

“But we’ve known each other a long time and would certainly love to continue working together.”

Tony Stewart completed both races in 2001. Who else has?

The Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 have always been near each other on the calendar.

While Stewart is the only driver who has successfully run all 1,100 miles in one day, he’s far from the only one who’s tried to pull off the feat.

NASCAR legend and South Carolina native Cale Yarborough, who died at 84 in late December, was the first driver to attempt both races — on separate days — back in 1967. Donnie Allison, who completed the double in both 1970 and 1971, won the World 600 and finished fourth at Indy six days later in his first attempt.

Six drivers ran both races on different days between 1967 and 1971, but the Indy 500 was permanently moved to Sunday after Memorial Day became a national holiday in 1974. It was Charlotte Motor Speedway’s installment of lights in 1992 that brought back the chance for drivers to attempt both — and try to pull it off in one day.

In 1994, John Andretti became the first driver to run both races on the same day, but he finished the Indy 500 four laps down and wrecked out of the Coke 600. Robby Gordon tried the double a record five times, and Kurt Busch’s 2014 attempt is the most recent.

Stewart, who also attempted the double two years before his 2001 triumph, remains the only driver to complete both races on the same day.

Larson may have the best shot to become the second.

“I’ve been on him for so long,” Stewart said this week. “There’s so much that’s different. There are so many tools in the car that we just didn’t have. He’ll be fine. He’s with a great group there helping him. He’s gonna be in good shape.”