Back in 2001, Tony Stewart became the only NASCAR driver to complete the historic ‘Double’ by racing in both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. He finished sixth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and bagged a P3 finish in the Cup Series race. This is indeed a historical milestone very few have attempted in NASCAR, and Kyle Larson from Hendrick Motorsports became the fifth to have a go at it.

Larson piloted the No. 17 Hendricks.com Arrow McLaren Chevy for the historic open-wheel race, but he didn’t have the storied finish he was looking for. Larson was running in sixth position alongside the leaders, but he made a mistake by speeding on the pit road. All he could do was salvage an 18th-place finish, and while the entire week was a memorable one, that one error has been a thorn in his side.

Kyle Larson wants to script a comeback with his return to the Indy 500

Larson’s Indy 500 debut started on a disappointing note. With the weather turning foul in Indy, the HMS star was forced to choose between his debut at the historic open-wheel race or the marquee NASCAR event. Surprisingly, he chose the Indy 500 and ditched the start of the Coca-Cola 600. Now we all know his debut ended on a bitter note, and just when he thought he could salvage his day in Charlotte, weather once again foiled his hopes.

As soon as he entered his No. 5 Chevy, the officials called the race official as they felt the track conditions weren’t suitable for racing. So a lot of things did go south for Kyle Larson. Reflecting on his Indy 500 race while speaking on MRN’s NASCAR live podcast, he said, “Obviously I wish the race day would’ve went differently; that makes the race day less memorable for me, but we’ll get a shot at it this year, and hopefully the weather cooperates and we can get the races in.”

Well, the drama didn’t end there, as Hendrick Motorsports needed to apply for a waiver request for Larson to be eligible for the playoffs. The rulebook clearly stated that all NASCAR participants have to start all 36 races to be playoff eligible. Only NASCAR’s waiver would grant them an exception in case they missed a race due to a medical or family emergency. In Larson’s case, he decided to ditch the NASCAR event, and this certainly landed him and his team in trouble.

Usually, NASCAR grants a waiver within a day or two of the request. But seeing their star drivers opting to compete in a different series didn’t put NASCAR in a good light. And this saga dragged on until a week later, and Larson finally got his waiver. If you look at his double attempt now, it was more chaos and drama over racing. And this is something the HMS star would want to overturn with his second attempt to complete the 1100 miles of racing on the same day.

Although Larson is eager to script a redemption story with a win at the Indy 500, the new NASCAR rule change might act as a major obstacle.

NASCAR has rolled out a new playoff waiver rule

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The waiver initially had to be used only for medical and emergency purposes. But, with constant wrecks, Larson’s situation and other incidents, it became clear the rule was being exploited by the drivers. So NASCAR dropped the hammer and restricted the rule on medical emergencies now. While drivers are free to race in different series, missing a race would see them lose out on all the bonus playoff points they collected during the regular season. They would start the playoffs with 2000 points, thus being at a disadvantage against their rivals in the hunt for the trophy.

Well, veteran owner Rick Hendrick has made it clear that his driver will prioritize the NASCAR race over the Indy 500 if the weather goes bad again. “We’re going to run the 600. We’re going to be here for the 600; even if that means having to cut the race short at Indy, we will. With my commitment to NASCAR, we’re in NASCAR, and that’s where we run for the championship.” Mr. H said this in an interview.

So the odds are certainly stacked up against Kyle Larson if things do go south on his Indy 500 dream. Hopefully, this time around he gets to run both the events on the same day; after all, these are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, even for a driver like Larson.