Weather forces Kyle Larson to choose between Indy 500, Coca-Cola 600

Kyle Larson came into the day on Sunday hoping to complete a rare same-day double by competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. However, severe weather rolling through Indianapolis has now forced him to choose between the two races.

Larson will be prioritizing driving in the Indy 500 and it appears he is going to be unable to complete the double.

“It’s not just my decision,” Kyle Larson said. “I think it’s everybody within Hendrick…I think we’re all part of the decision. Jeff Gordon. Jeff Andrews. There’s just been so much time and investment into this to make this Indy 500 happen and it’s been a build up for over a year.”

“So, we need to run it and I want to. I feel like I’ve got a really good shot to have a good run and potentially win. So, I want to be here, but I just wish it would all work out and we could get both races in the full distance. I don’t care if it’s on the same day. I just want to be able to race both races the full distance, but we’ll see.”

The Indy 500 was originally set to start around 12:45 p.m. That would give Larson very little time from the time that race finished to get to Charlotte for the scheduled 6:00 p.m. start of the Coca-Cola 600. The weather had other ideas, though, and the start time for the Indy 500 has been delayed due to storms in the area. Because of this time change, the logistics of Kyle Larson completing a double between the two races became too difficult to manage.

IMS had been tracking potentially inclement weather for some time now and made its decision to delay based on the safety of everyone involved in the Indy 500. Still, for Larson, it has to be a difficult blow, even though he was aware that weather could be an issue earlier in the week.

Once the double was off the table due to the start time of the Coca-Cola 600 compared to the now later Indy 500 end time, Kyle Larson needed to decide to stay put and wait for the weather to blow over, racing in the famed race or head back to Charlotte.

This comes a week after NASCAR made accommodations for Kyle Larson when it pushed back the All-Star Race by 16 minutes to give him time to get there after he qualified for the Indy 500 earlier in the day.

Coming into Sunday, Kyle Larson was looking to join Tony Stewart as one of the only two drivers to complete the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 double in one day. Stewart drove his 1,100 miles back in 2001, finishing sixth at the Indy 500 and third in the Coca-Cola 600.

Justin Allgaier on stand-by in Charlotte to drive Kyle Larson’s No. 5 car

Coming into the weekend, Hendrick Motorsports had a plan for how to handle the Coca-Cola 600 if Kyle Larson was unable to attend the race for one reason or another. They had Justin Allgaier on stand-by to drive Larson’s No. 5 car in his place.

This wasn’t an entirely new setup, with Allgaier being slotted as a backup driver for Larson in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway last week. However, those plans were later nixed.

Allgaier says that he fits into Larson’s seat well and won’t take any laps in practice. He was also there for Saturday’s practice session and was in the debrief meeting.

Notably, it’s also possible for Kyle Larson to run the Indy 500, make it to Charlotte and sub in for Justin Allgaier during the Coca-Cola 600.