NASCAR: Kyle Larson to run 2024 Indianapolis 500
Kyle Larson will attempt the 2024 Indianapolis 500.
Larson will become the latest NASCAR driver to try and run both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same day when he competes in the famous IndyCar Race for Arrow McLaren Racing.
The 2021 Cup Series champion will drive a car co-owned by McLaren and his NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick.
“I’m super excited,” Larson said in a statement. “Competing at the Indianapolis 500 is a dream of mine and something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time since I was a child before I ever began competing in sprint cars,” Larson said.
Larson will be the first NASCAR driver to attempt both races in the same day since Kurt Busch did it in 2014. Busch finished sixth in the Indy 500 and 40th in the 600 after he had an engine issue in the latter race.
Busch was the first driver to run both races since Robby Gordon in 2004. Gordon did the double three consecutive years and four years out of five from 2000-05. Gordon has done double duty five times while Tony Stewart did it twice.
Stewart has been the most successful double-duty driver. He was ninth in the 500 and fourth in the 600 in 1999 and then sixth in the 500 and third in the 600 in 2001. No other driver has scored top-10 finishes in both races when attempting double duty.
Larson’s attempt will come two seasons after Jimmie Johnson raced in the Indy 500 for the first time. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion raced full-time in the IndyCar Series in 2022 after retiring from racing full-time in NASCAR in 2020. Johnson is racing part-time in NASCAR in 2023 and is weighing another Indy 500 appearance later this year.
Kyle Busch has also mentioned his desire to run in the Indy 500 but a deal hasn’t materialized yet. Busch said in 2017 that he had a ride lined up for the Indy 500 and had been in talks with McLaren to run in 2023. But those talks didn’t result in a race seat.
