What Larson can learn from past Indy 500-Coke 600 Doubles

The Memorial Day Double. Double Duty. The Indy-Charlotte Double. The 500/600 Double.

What Kyle Larson will attempt to do this weekend — contest the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar’s biggest race, and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR‘s longest race, on the same day — has so many nicknames that reading the list will leave you with double vision. That’s fitting. Because Larson’s goal will be not only to complete the Double, perhaps even win one or both ends of it, but also do what he can to ensure he and the two teams depending on him are not placed in double jeopardy.

To understand the difficulty of driving two races on two very different racetracks in two race cars that might as well be from two different galaxies, let’s look back at the two-lane road that was paved for Larson by his NASCAR/IndyCar double duty forefathers. A five-pack of drivers who have attempted — or will attempt — to wrap their two hands around the steering wheels of two dissimilar machines and depending on a fleet of other varied vehicles to get from one event to the other, all while staring at the weather radar, gloved fingers crossed.

The Early Years: 1911-93

The Indianapolis 500 took its first green flag on May 30, 1911, on what was then known as Decoration Day. The 500, like Decoration Day, was always on the 30th, no matter what day of the week that fell upon, and quickly became recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events. In 1960, NASCAR ran its first World 600, also scheduled around Decoration Day, but instead of the 30th it was held on the closest Sunday to the holiday.

The separate dates allowed for a handful of crossover moves. NASCAR stars such as Junior Johnson, Curtis Turner, Neil Bonnett attempted to qualify at Indy but came up short. Drivers such as Bobby Johns and “Chargin'” Charlie Glotzbach also chose to skip Charlotte to concentrate on Indy efforts. NASCAR legend Bobby Allison made a pair of Indy starts. In 1965, Ford flew in NASCAR’s famed Wood Brothers crew to pit the cars of Johns and Jim Clark. Clark won the race, which was a huge boost toward his second Formula One…