Next year, Kyle Larson will be taking on and hoping to succeed in what is, one of the biggest feats in the motorsport world, the INDY 500-COKE 600 double, or ‘Double Duty.’ Over the years, very few drivers have tried their hand at this monumental feat, but from Hendrick Motorsports, Larson will be the first one. But given HMS’ history with extremely talented drivers in their organization in the past such as Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, surely there must’ve been other drivers that Rick Hendrick tried to run in the Double Duty?
The answer is yes. The driver was Jeff Gordon, who Rick Hendrick talked to about the idea of running in the INDY 500 and the COKE 600. But of course, as we know, it didn’t come through.
And recently, Mr. H explained why that turned out to be the case.
Mr. H considered Jeff Gordon for running the INDY500 in the past
During the press conference post the paint scheme reveal of Kyle Larson’s double header next year, Rick Hendrick was asked whether he had a plan for one of his drivers to take part in the INDY500 or whether this was the first time. Hendrick replied, “Jeff and I, Jeff Gordon and I talked about it, but he wasn’t really keen.”
“He was so focused on driving the Cup car. But this is the first time that we really got serious with it. So Roger and I have talked about it for years. I actually had a sticker on his car a couple years back. But no, this is the first real effort that we said, ‘Hey, let’s go do it.'”
Considering what Hendrick said about Gordon’s focus on NASCAR being one of the reasons why he didn’t pursue the INDY500, it’s worth looking at what Gordon himself said about the subject a few years ago.
NASCAR fulfilled much of Gordon’s racing goals for him to consider an INDY500 run
In an interview with Sports Illustrated from 2016, Gordon was asked whether the INDY500 was something he was interested in pursuing considering his beginnings in open-wheel racing and his retirement from NASCAR.
“It certainly was at one time. I love that race. My heroes growing up were INDY500 champions like AJ Foyt, Rick Mears, and Johnny Rudford so I thought maybe that was on the rise for me but no, it’s not now,” Gordon replied. “They got fulfilled, so many of my goals through NASCAR racing in Indianapolis, winning the Brickyard 400.”
The 4x Cup champion claimed that he has “too much respect” for the cars and the drivers in INDYCAR and their capabilities and that it would be difficult for him to pursue something like that without having “proper amount of time in the car.”
