How’s it going, race fans? The day is finally here: the greatest day of the year in the world of motorsports–Memorial Day Sunday! And, obviously, the biggest story heading into today’s races was Kyle Larson attempting the Double for the second year in a row. Today, he was looking to do the near impossible–complete all 1,100 miles of racing between the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. Out of the dozen attempts, it was only successfully completed once. Tony Stewart completed the Double back in 2001 when he finished 6th in Indianapolis and 3rd in Charlotte.
Larson, who draws comparisons to Stewart due to his ability to win in any type of vehicle he straps into, was hoping to sketch his name in the history books. Compared to last year, it has been a struggle in Indy for Larson so far. He rolled off in today’s race in the 19th position. How did he fare? Let’s talk about it. This is how Kyle Larson did in America’s oldest motorsport tradition, the Indianapolis 500.
It’s Kyle Larson Day!
Indy 500 – 12:00pm on FOX
Coke 600 – 5:00pm on Prime#IndyCar _ #Indy500 _ #CocaCola600 _ #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/sOpaOINrMi— Kyle Larson Zone (@KLarsonZone) May 25, 2025
Larson knew going into today that it was going to be challenging. He was rolling off in 19th and didn’t display anywhere near the speed during practice or qualifying that he had last year. There was some work to do from the jump. To make matters worse, despite the radar initially being clear, the race was delayed by pop-up showers, hinting that we may be in store for a similar catastrophe to last year’s attempt. As reported by Bob Pockrass, Larson was in a time crunch and would need to leave Indy no later than 4:07 for Charlotte. Fast forward to 4:07, and there were still 27 laps to go in the race.
Once the race started, Larson fell a couple of spots initially. However, he was able to gain a couple prior to pit stops. One thing that was going for him was that he did manage to post the fastest lap time of the race, running a high of 225.759 miles per hour according to Joseph Srigley. With this speed being found, it was interesting to see if Larson could start working his way up through the field. It appeared that he had finally found a rhythm, though he looked fairly uncomfortable at Indy during the entire month of May.
Like last year, it all started to unravel on pit road. After receiving service, Larson stalled his number 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow-McLaren Chevy in his stall. This was something that Larson had been working on all month and it ultimately bit him. These issues dropped Larson back the 31st spot, meaning that he had to restart from square 1 and work his way back through the field.
Following his pot road debacle, Larson started to shred his way back through the field. He managed to work his way back up to the 18th position when the incident that ended his day broke out. Racing under Sato for 17th place when a checkup caused Larson to get loose. He went around and collected driver of the number 8 Kyffin Simpson. Larson backed it into the wall and his day was done. For the second year in a row, completing the Double had eluded him.
A disappointed Kyle Larson spoke with INDYCAR on FOX after being released from the infield care center. Simply put, he was a little too eager and got loose. He said that he hated it for everyone else that was involved and is moving on to Charlotte.
Below is footage of Larson, via helicopter, heading to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 where he’ll start on 2nd.
Another year, another heartbreaking end of the Double for Kyle Larson. What did you think, race fans? Did you think Kyle Larson would complete the Double like Tony Stewart had in 2001? Were you rooting for him or against him? Let us know what you think! What do you think Larson’s odds are tonight in Charlotte? Shout it out! And be sure to stay tuned in here as we gear up for the annual Coca-Cola 600!
