“I Would Like to Do it Again” Kyle Larson Reflects on Double Attempt

MADISON, Ill. – With intermittent rain threatening Saturday’s (June 1) track activity at World Wide Technology Raceway, the center of attention was on a driver who just six days earlier saw his plans to run the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 double thwarted by rain.

And while NASCAR has not yet decided on whether or not it would grant Kyle Larson a playoff waiver after weather delayed last Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and also shortened the Coca-Cola 600 before Larson could relieve Justin Allgaier mid-race, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had what appeared to be a motivated resolve to attempt running both races on the same day again.

“I would like to do it again because I can’t imagine the weather would be any worse, or screw up the plans any worse,” Larson told media during his bullpen session. “I think if I could do it again, it’d go smoother.”

In a perfect world, Larson would have done what NASCAR drivers like Kurt Busch, John Andretti, Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart have done in running the Indy 500 at its scheduled time and making it to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 600-miler.

That best-laid plan threw those plans off-base for Larson, however. Adverse weather delayed the Indy 500 to a start of approximately four hours behind schedule, preventing Larson from running the full length of both races. Instead, he ran the full race in Indianapolis, finishing 18th after a pit road penalty dropped him from within range of a top-five finish. 

“All of that was cool, getting to race,” he said. “The restarts were a lot of fun. It’s hard to pass anybody there once you get going. You’re out there trying to block Scott Dixon in your mirror and trying to pass guys who have been doing it a long time. It was pretty neat.”

From there, he was quickly whisked to Charlotte where rain ended the race early before Larson swapped out with substitute driver Allgaier. 

“As the rain got closer, I realized that it was probably not going to happen,” he continued. “You kind of get down, because you know you won’t be able to race both races and I felt like I was going to let my NASCAR team down, not being there in time to start the race. All of that kind of sucked.”

Getting a feel for a totally different racecar can pose a challenge, not to mention race…