The Great Expectations of Kyle Larson’s Double

A year later, Larson said on the NASCAR on NBC podcast that Ganassi “always told me to worry about winning your first Cup race. … I would love to run the Indy 500 at least once.”

In March 2017, both of Larson’s team co-owners — Ganassi and Felix Sabates — expressed concerns about Larson ever attempting The Double.

Which was strange, since Ganassi fielded Tony Stewart in the 500 in 2001 and Sabates was the owner of Robby Gordon‘s Cup car in two of his attempts.

A few months later in a Twitter Q&A with fans, Larson again was asked about The Double.

His answered stayed the same for a while.

I remember attending a media day at Chip Ganassi Racing in either 2018 or 2019.

During Larson’s availability, someone once again asked Larson when he would attempt the Indianapolis 500.

He said he would when he was comfortable with the idea of going through with it.

Larson clearly had the the itch to do it someday.

But I feel like those of us on the outside really wanted him to do it more.

In the 30 years of The Double’s existence and the drivers who’ve given it a shot — John Andretti, Gordon, Stewart and Kurt Busch — no one had the hopes and dreams of completing The Double thrust on them like Larson.

This was a decade of buildup and hype.

For one day and two races.

Then it finally arrived.

Unfortunately, 10 years of expectations can’t predict the rain.

One of my favorite movies is the 2009 film “(500) Days of Summer,” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.

It’s a romantic comedy featuring the relationship and then bad breakup between JGL’s Tom and Deschanel’s Summer.

At one point, Tom gets invited to a party by Summer after their breakup.

A sequence then plays out with Tom’s expectations that he and Summer will…