After Frustrating Day, Larson Hints 2025 Could Be Final Double Attempt

Over the last two years, everything that could go wrong for Kyle Larson in his quest to complete 'The Double' has gone wrong. This past Sunday, Larson was able to get behind the wheel of the No. 17 Arrow McLaren IndyCar to compete in the 109th Indianapolis 500.

However, with the start of the race delayed 42 minutes due to weather, Larson's prospects of finishing the Indianapolis 500 in time to compete in Sunday evening's NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway were looking iffy, to say the least.

As it started to become clear a decision would likely have to be made before the end of the Indianapolis 500, Larson lost control of his race car in Turn 2 on Lap 92 of the 200-lap event. The end result was a race-ending crash for the 2024 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year.

It was a disappointing end to his Indianapolis 500 bid, but after exiting the race early, Larson was off to Concord, NC, where he would attempt to end his evening on a high note in the Coca-Cola 600.

Initially, it looked like Larson was going to have a chance to win the 600-mile event as he led 34 laps early in the event after starting from the second position. Unfortunately, Larson slapped the wall at around Lap 40, which knocked the toe out on his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and a few laps later, he would spin his car off of Turn 4.

While he avoided any catastrophic damage, Larson was never in contention the remainder of the evening, and his race came to a premature end in a multi-car crash on the frontstretch on Lap 246. Larson would be credited with a 37th-place finish, and he would see his 35-point advantage over William Byron for the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship lead heading into the race completely wiped out.

Now, Larson heads into this weekend's event at Nashville Superspeedway 29 points behind Byron.

In what was supposed to be one of the biggest career-defining weekends of Larson's racing career, a day where he was supposed to cement his status as perhaps the greatest driver on the planet, the driver encountered complete disaster.

After his exit from the Coca-Cola 600, Larson indicated that while he'd like to give the Indianapolis 500 another go someday, that he may be done attempting 'The Double' going forward.

"Yeah, I think it would be fun to do. I don't know. It's just a large investment, and to have it go not good two years in a row, I just don't think it's really that worth it at this point," Larson said in a post-care center interview with PRN. "I would love to run the Indy 500 again, someday. I just think 'The Double' is a tough undertaking. So, all the respect to the guys who have done it in the past, Tony [Stewart], especially for completing it. It's much harder than it looks, obviously. Just a bummer I didn't get to complete it."

Obviously, this was a very heat-of-the-moment interview with Larson immediately after his entire day came crashing down around him, but we very well could have seen the final attempt at 'The Double' for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion. If this was the last time for Larson, it's a shame that the driver never got a clean attempt, where weather wasn't a factor, and it's a bigger shame that it ended in early exits from both events due to crashes.

But as they say, that's racin'.

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