A few months ago, Hendrick Motorsports and Arrow McLaren announced that Kyle Larson will be competing for ‘Double Duty’ next season, that is the Coca-Cola 600 and the INDY500. But while Larson’s herculean event is slated for May 2024, his journey has already begun. On 12th October, the 2021 Cup champion will have his Rookie Orientation Program.
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But the prospect of having someone as accomplished and as popular as Kyle Larson running in the INDY500 has left many big names excited and anticipating what’s to come next season. One of those names is Roger Penske, who owns teams in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, and FIA World Endurance Championship and owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Roger Penske thrilled with the prospect of Kyle Larson running the INDY500 next year
Speaking about Larson’s and Hendrick Motorsports’ participation in INDY500 next season, the $4.1 billionaire-worth team and track owner Roger Penske shared his excitement. “I think to have Kyle Larson and Rick Hendrick here is a super advantage for us as a track owner and the series,” Penske said as per NBC Sports.
“To see Kyle, what he has been able to do in every other type of race car will be a real journey for all of the fans here in Indianapolis.”
Penske added, “We’ve had Europeans come here and win this race, but to have Larson, who races every week, he is the fan’s favorite every single weekend. To have him come here will be an amazing thing.”
But even though what Kyle Larson is attempting to do next year might come across as unthinkable for some, he is surely not the first who is attempting this feat. Before Larson, there have been four drivers who have run the Coke 600-INDY 500 double. Two of those four are past NASCAR champions.
Larson will become the fifth driver attempting to do what no one has ever done before
The four drivers are Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, John Andretti, and Robby Gordon. In fact, Gordon has attempted the ‘Double Duty’ five times. But of all these four, it was only Stewart who was able to compete in and complete both races or in other words, finish the 1,100 miles of racing. Jeff Gordon too can be put forward as someone who took part in both the races.
However, for the 4x Cup champion, it wasn’t entirely from a competition perspective considering he drove the pace car in Indiana before flying to Charlotte for the Coke 600 in his final NASCAR season in 2015.
So clearly, Kyle Larson has a lot of big names to look up to for inspiration and advice. And with figures like Roger Penske and Rick Hendrick backing him up to succeed, there’s a big chance that Yung Money might just end up doing what no one has done before him.
