Not everything can be practiced by a driver before the green flag drops. This is a lesson Kyle Larson learned all too well in the 2024 NASCAR-IndyCar doubleheader. A driver can prepare, plan, and perfect every detail—but one element remains forever out of their control: the weather. Storms were high on the morning of the Indianapolis 500 that year, delaying things on an already tight schedule with another 600-mile race waiting that same evening in Charlotte. Finishing his No. 17 car in 18th place, Kyle was off on two helicopter rides to reach Charlotte for his race #2, only to see the Coca-Cola 600 being called off. 

Thankfully, he will have a second bite at the cherry to go level with Tony Stewart. However, there is one more element that could hamper Larson’s historic Double attempt –  the NASCAR rule book. And, Jamie Little, the veteran broadcaster on FOX, is praying for clean weather at Indy, followed by the race in Charlotte.

Appearing on Nashville’s popular radio show, The Chase & Big Joe Show, Jamie firstly appreciates Kyle’s resilience. “Sometimes I wonder if he has a pulse,” she said with a laugh. “Nothing gets to him. He just gets in and drives the racecar, and all he wants to do is win.” However, she expressed concern about Larson’s double duty and hoped for perfect weather conditions. “This year it’s a little different. NASCAR has already said if you don’t start this race, your chances for the championship are away. So they know—if the weather comes, this is our cut-off. We have to give this a shot.”

The thing is, NASCAR has brought in this Larson rule. Last year, the HMS driver opted to ditch the start of the NASCAR race to be at Indy. Now, the top brass at NASCAR weren’t too pleased with it, and they didn’t want to go through the trouble of handing out a waiver if such a situation popped up in 2025. So, they tweaked the playoff waiver rule – No more suspension, but the driver who misses a regular season race will have to forfeit all playoff points. Basically, NASCAR is taking themselves out of the equation and handing the decision-making process to the drivers. The thing is, Mr. Rick Hendrick has also been clear about his preference, and that could jeopardize the 1100-mile single-day sprint for his star driver.

“We’re going to run the (Coca-Cola) 600. We will be here for the 600. If that means having to cut the race short in Indy, we will, because my commitment to NASCAR is that we’re in NASCAR, and that’s where we run for the championship.” Mr. H said. So there’s a lot of pressure on Kyle Larson for this year’s double, not to forget that this entire journey is being documented by Amazon Prime, and they would like to see a happy ending to this story.

The driver of the No. 5 Chevy is already hard at work and was seen getting his first taste of the open-wheel car during the test sessions. The first day was mired by technical glitches, and the second one saw Larson slamming his car into the wall while running his first few laps.

Is ‘The Double” already a trouble?

While “The Double” is an attempt he will surely make, on Thursday’s Indy 500 open test, Kyle Larson got his first taste of how unforgiving Indianapolis can be. On his first hot lap of the day, with cold tires still warming up, Larson exited Turn 1 too quickly, clipped the wall, and broke his right front suspension. The car skidded across to Turn 2, hit again, and his day was done. This was his first crash in the IndyCar, but the driver was glad to get his out of the way ahead of the big event.

“Hopefully this is the only time I’ll crash in an Indy car, and it’s a bummer. But at the same time, I’m happy to get it out of the way here early into the Indy 500 stuff (this year), and we can hopefully try and work on our balance quite a bit now.” Larson said after the crash. If anything, he wanted to experience what a crash in the open-wheel car would feel like compared to NASCRA. And he felt it was more or less the same.

“Obviously, I know there can be much bigger wrecks than that at Indy, but I’m happy it didn’t feel too bad. It just felt normal, I guess. I’ve never hit the wall before in an Indy car, and as I knew I was going to hit the wall, I was like, ‘OK, here we go, we’ll see if it feels way worse than hitting the wall in a NASCAR.’ But it felt very similar.” He added.

Larson fans will be hoping that their favorite driver had his run-in with bad luck in the open test. They would want to see him pilot the No. 17 Arrow McLaren car and then fly to Charlotte and win the Coca-Cola 600 race. But, if he is within the touching distance of winning the Indy 500 with a slight delay, will he still abandon the race or risk losing the playoff points? That remains to be seen.