Kyle Larson has said that after this year, it’s unlikely he’ll make another attempt at doing auto racing’s proverbial “The Double” — racing the same day in IndyCar’s Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 in the evening. This begs the question: if Larson doesn’t do it again, who might be next in line?
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Honestly, the field of potential candidates to fill Larson’s firesuit at both Indy and Charlotte is small, at best. And there’s also the question of whether drivers want to do it, given the time, effort and exhaustion that comes with trying to serve two masters during the month of May.
Sure, doing so is a major undertaking for a driver, but it also involves dozens, if not hundreds, of people on both the IndyCar and NASCAR sides.
Larson attempting “The Double” last year and this year likely would not have happened if two of the largest organizations in IndyCar and NASCAR — Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports — weren’t willing to put together what is without question a multi-million dollar proposition.
And then there’s also the need to have big-name, high-dollar sponsorships on both ends of “The Double”, putting their corporate name and brand across the world on both an IndyCar open-wheel racer and a NASCAR Cup stock car.
So who might succeed Larson in the quest for “The Double”? It could be a long wait. After all, Larson was the first driver to attempt it since Kurt Busch did so 11 years ago in 2014.
Here are a few possibilities to be next in line to do “The Double”. But we wouldn’t expect it anytime soon either.
- Kyle Busch has long held the aspiration to do “The Double”. He reportedly had put together an entire package and was ready to do so several years ago while he was still racing for Joe Gibbs. Unfortunately for Busch, Gibbs turned thumbs down, ending Busch’s hopes. That being said, Busch spoke with Arrow McLaren to do “The Double” a couple of years ago, and even had backing from his Cup team owner Richard Childress. However, Arrow McLaren instead partnered with Hendrick Motorsports to put Larson behind the wheel.
- If Busch still isn’t a possibility, Christopher Bell would be our first choice to potentially be the next driver in line to do “The Double”. But he likely won’t be able to do so because of, guess who, Joe Gibbs. Now, of course, if he were to be presented with an absolutely fabulous offer worth several million dollars, and if Toyota exerted pressure on Coach Joe, he might allow Bell to run it. But that’s still an unlikely scenario.
- Tyler Reddick is our next choice to do “The Double”. Whether team co-owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin would give Redick their blessing remains to be seen, but the right partnership and sponsorship could make this a reality. We see the Jordan/Hamlin pairing far more amenable to giving Reddick permission than Gibbs giving Bell a positive nod.
- Next up is Ryan Blaney, who would be a perfect guy to succeed Larson in “The Double” sweepstakes. First, he’d have support from team owner Roger Penske (although two-time 500 winner and Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden might have something to say about that), who just happens to also own IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Second, Blaney has always had a curiosity about IndyCar. This could be the best possible follow-up to Larson. The only question is whether Blaney wants to do it, which is a question that remains unanswered. There also may be one other obstacle in Blaney’s way: teammate Austin Cindric, who is the son of Team Penske’s president and chief IndyCar strategist, Tim Cindric. And if you’re saying to yourself, “What about the other Team Penske Cup driver, Joey Logano?” Well, Logano has already answered that by saying he has zero interest in driving an IndyCar, especially one that approaches 230 mph. Enough said on that one.
- Now, here’s a real dark horse: AJ Allmendinger. He has tons of experience driving an IndyCar and a NASCAR Cup car. But, like Busch, age isn’t exactly on ‘Dinger’s side: he’s 43 years old. Plus, would his Cup team, Kaulig Racing, want to invest seven figures to back an older driver like Allmendinger?
- One final potential candidate in our eyes would be William Byron. He’s become a significant force in NASCAR, but would he want to also drive an IndyCar? It’s very likely that Rick Hendrick would back Byron, like Larson, if he wanted to do “The Double”. But if that were to happen, it may still be a few years away. There’s also the two other HMS drivers, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, but neither has really expressed interest in ever driving an IndyCar, so that may be a non-starter.
