Kyle Larson crashes again at Coca-Cola 600 ending disappointing day in bid to run ‘The Double’

Kyle Larson’s day went from bad to worse Sunday night at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, leaving the talented young driver unsure if he will attempt to run “The Double” again.

Larson was caught up in a wreck on Lap 246 of the Coca-Cola 600, ending a disappointing day in which he also crashed out at the Indianapolis 500 on Lap 91. Larson was bidding to become the second driver to finish both races and run the combined 1,100 miles.

It didn’t go well.

“I hate the way the day went,” Larson said. “I wish I could hit the reset button. I feel terrible for everybody, especially for (car owner) Rick Hendrick.”

Larson tried to run The Double last year, but weather issues intervened.

This year this issue was wrecks.

“I guess it just wasn’t meant to be, I guess,” Larson said.

After getting checked out at the medical center at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Larson said he hadn’t determined if he will try to run The Double again next year, saying it’s too fresh.

“The double is a tough undertaking,” Larson said. “The window of time is just too tight.”

Larson started well Sunday night after beginning on the front row. He led early in the race but hit the wall on lap 38 and his car was never the same. He spun out a few laps later, sending him across the front stretch and forcing him into the pits multiple times for adjustments.

He wound up near the back of the field, hoping for a top-10 finish.

Then came the wreck involving Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suarez as they ran three wide ahead of Larson off turn four. They got tangled up. Suarez spun across the track and clipped the right rear of Larson. Larson drove the wrecked No. 5 Chevrolet to the garage, ending his day.

He finished 37th.

Larson arrived at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in plenty of the time for the race — unlike a year ago when he didn’t reach the track until 249 laps had been completed due to rain in Indianapolis that delayed the start of the Indy 500. Larson never turned a lap at last year’s Coca-Cola 600 as the race was called.

Rain again delayed the start of the Indy 500 on Sunday, but Larson crashed out near the midway point Sunday, ending the NASCAR superstar’s second shot at finishing both “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte in the same day.

In Indy, Larson had been mired deep in traffic throughout the first half of the race, which was delayed about 35 minutes because of a rain shower that passed over the speedway. He was going through Turns 1 and 2 when his car wiggled on a downshift, sending him into a spin and into the outside wall, ending his race after 91 laps.

“Just a bit crazy there on the restart,” he said. “I got like, tight behind Takuma (Sato). I was really close in. I got loose and kind of got all over the place, and yeah, so it spun. Just hate that I got a little too eager on the restarter. Hate it for everybody else.”

Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb also were caught up in the crash.

“When Kyle started losing it and checking up, I tried to go around the outside and there was just no grip out there,” Robb said.

If he had made it to the finish in Indianapolis, he would have faced a tight window to make the 550-mile trip because of the rain delay, which soaked up most of the 45-minute buffer that his NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports and IndyCar team Arrow McLaren projected for him.

It was a rough day for Larson even before the crash. He also stalled the car on pit lane, costing him valuable track positions.

Larson took his first shot on one of the toughest challenges in motorsports last season, when even more rain wreaked havoc with his finely laid plans. That Indy 500 was delayed by 4 hours because of heavy rain that saturated Indianapolis Motor Speedway and caused him to be late to Charlotte, where the Cup Series race was underway by the time he landed.

Then, more rain there caused the NASCAR race to be called complete before Larson ever took a lap in his car.

John Andretti was the first driver to try the Indy 500-Coca-Cola 600 double in 1994, and Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch also have given it a shot. Stewart is the only one to complete all 1,100 laps, finishing sixth in the 2001 Indy 500 before the helicopter-jet-helicopter jaunt to Charlotte, where he finished third in the Cup Series race.

“Just bummed out,” Larson said. “Try to get over this quickly and get on to Charlotte. Try to forget about it and win tonight.”

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Skretta reported from Indianapolis.

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