Toyota achieved remarkable feats this year. It came dangerously close to winning a championship – Christopher Bell could have had that bid if not for his ‘wall ride’ penalty. Then Tyler Reddick won the regular season championship and also competed in the Final Four. However, the car manufacturer is yet to achieve something that its OEM rival has done – run the Indianapolis 500.

This year, Kyle Larson became the fifth driver in history to run the 1100-mile Double. John Andretti (1994), Robby Gordon (2000, ’02, ’03 and ’04), Tony Stewart(1999 and 2001), and Kurt Busch (2014) attempted the Double. Notably, none of these drivers fielded a Toyota car. Christopher Bell would love to be the first to do so, despite obstacles from Joe Gibbs.

Christopher Bell is hungry for more 

Despite hailing from Joe Gibbs’ fold, Christopher Bell is more similar to Kyle Larson than it appears. The two drivers have been linked for over a decade due to their legendary battles at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. Their shared dirt-to-Daytona paths also stand out. Soon after Bell made his Cup Series debut in 2020, he brought success – he won on the winding Daytona road course in 2021 and finished third in the standings in 2022. This year, he was a force to reckon with alongside Kyle Larson – while the latter boasted his 6-win cabinet, Bell boasted the maximum top-tens and top-fives.

Now, Bell may also join paths with Larson in their shared Indy 500 ambitions. Toyota is said to have explored IndyCar’s next-generation engine platform, but nothing is certain yet. If the OEM does show interest, Christopher Bell may be the first to raise his hand. “Yeah, for sure. If Toyota was interested in that, I would be raising my hand to do it. They haven’t been (just) a huge part of my career, they have been my career. They have literally taken me from childhood semi-professional or amateur racing all the way to the Cup Series so I would love that. I would love if they would do it, and I’d be the first one to raise my hand to do it.”

However, Joe Gibbs may be presenting an obstacle to Christopher Bell’s aspirations. His former teammate Kyle Busch actively pursued a ride at the Indianapolis 500, but Toyota had several hurdles to clear. And Joe Gibbs was not willing to invest in a massive effort as Rick Hendrick did for Kyle Larson.

Yet Toyota has a history in the open-wheel racing series. The OEM raced in the IRL IndyCar Series from 2003 to 2005 and was in CART prior to that. Those cars and engines are still in the garage and further motivate Bell to pursue his Indy dreams. “Oh, I’m aware,” he said. “I’m well aware.”

However, pursuing a Double venture is laced with challenges, which Hendrick and Larson faced this year.

Bell is in for a tough battle

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Holding the prestige of having attempted the Double is like no other. Christopher Bell is aiming for that – but his predecessors have challenging stories to tell. Tony Stewart was the only one among five drivers to have successfully completed all 1100 miles of both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. But that was only in his second attempt in 2001. In his 1999 attempt, Stewart was at risk of serious dehydration after a hectic day. In 2024, Kyle Larson faced caveats of his own – despite a solid 5th-place qualifier, a speeding penalty landed him in 18th place. Then the 4-hour rain delay axed his hopes to run the Coca-Cola 600, which was postponed due to rain and never resumed after Larson arrived.

Hendrick Motorsports had to debate with NASCAR to grant Larson a race waiver. So after all these challenges, the HMS team is getting well-prepared for their 2025 ‘Double’ re-attempt. “I knew as soon as it was over that I wanted to do it again. I didn’t get a chance to complete ‘The Double’ and that’s important,” Larson said. “But I also want to win the Indy 500 and I want to win the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.” McLaren boss Zak Brown is also pumped to guide Larson to another Indy run. “We have some unfinished business to try to win the Indy 500 and of course the NASCAR race a couple of hours later.”

Evidently, Christopher Bell will need a lot more than just Toyota approval to win a ‘Double’ attempt. But first things first – let us see if Gibbs pays heed to his star driver’s demand.