Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Kyle Larson answer on future Indy 500, Coke 600 double

Attempting the Indy-Charlotte Double is no easy task. Only one driver — Tony Stewart in 2001 — has run the full 1,100 miles on the Sunday before Memorial Day and Kyle Larson has failed to pull it off two years in a row.

First, there’s finishing the Indianapolis 500 and getting to Charlotte Motor Speedway in time for the Coca-Cola 600. Of course, then, it’s four plus hours strapped inside a race car, hoping to complete 600 miles. But there’s another factor, as Dale Earnhardt Jr. pointed out on Monday.

For the past few weeks, Larson took part in countless media availability, team meetings, etc. ahead of his second Double attempt. There was a lot on Larson’s plate beyond trying to figure out how to run 1,100 miles in a single day. Larson called it a “tough undertaking,” to which Earnhardt responded to.

“Talked about this on the 600 post race [Prime Video],” Earnhardt wrote on X. “What we don’t see are the meet n greets, photo shoots, team meetings, travel, and more photo shoots, media requests… his plate is already full with those things in NASCAR and to add THE Indy 500!! It’s a Herculean undertaking in May times 10. Unreal.”

Mother Nature thwarted last year’s attempt. This Memorial Day weekend, it was a combination of that and Larson’s own mistakes. The 109th Running of the Indy 500, scheduled for a 12:45 p.m. ET start time, did not get underway until 1:35 due to rain. Larson then crashed out on Lap 91, ending his race. He was credited with a 27th-place result.

Even if he hadn’t crashed out of the race, Rick Hendrick would have had to pull him out of the race car. Larson had to leave by roughly 4:00 p.m. ET to make it to Charlotte. There were still 50 laps to go less than 10 minutes away from the top of the hour.

Kyle Larson reveals future Double plans

If Larson didn’t arrive to Charlotte in time to start the Coca-Cola 600, he would have forfeited all of his playoff points for the entire season. That would have ended his chances of competing for a Cup Series Championship. Beyond the logistics of getting from one place to another, the new rule doesn’t help a driver’s chances of completing the Double.

Despite the Indy 500 disappointment, Larson still had a shot to salvage the day at Charlotte. Salvage the day, Larson did not. Larson started second in the Coca-Cola 600 and looked to have a strong car. Leading the race on Lap 42, Larson spun out on his own. He was involved in the Lap 245 caution, ending his race for good. Now, the Hendrick Motorsports driver is unsure if another Double attempt is in his future.

“I don’t know,” Larson said, via Dustin Long of NBC Sports. “It’s so fresh right now I don’t really have a good answer for you. The Double is just a tough undertaking. The window of time is too tight. Even if I didn’t wreck, I don’t think I would have made it here on time and probably would have had to end that race short anyways.

“So, I don’t really think it’s worth it. But I would love to run the Indy 500 again. Just doing the Double I think is just logistically too tough.”