“Just bummed out…Try to forget about it and win tonight.” Kyle Larson said these words midway through his 2025 Double attempt. They reflected his victory story a few weeks ago – despite an IndyCar practice crash and a sprint car wreck, Larson won in Kansas. Similarly, the first part of his 1100-mile Double venture darkened, throwing up a possibility that Larson may go all the way in the second part. However, not only did that story remain a dream, but Larson’s conviction also dropped.

Twin disasters get to Kyle Larson 

Since April, Kyle Larson’s IndyCar fortunes had been bad. He slammed the wall in an Open Test for the Indy 500, and the same happened in a practice session a few weeks ago. Larson’s confidence finally came undone during the actual race on Sunday. From stalling the car on the pit lane to getting mired deep in traffic, Larson fumbled in the Indy 500. Then his car wiggled on lap 91, spinning into the outside wall.

That was when Larson suited up and flew to Charlotte on time for the Coca-Cola 600, determined to compensate. Larson was smooth at first, but problems soon plagued him. He was leading the race when he slammed the wall on Turn 4 and spun out. However, the race is a marathon, not a sprint, and Larson was just recovering when, on lap 245 when he got caught in a ‘Big One.’ This was the final nail in the coffin.

Not only did Kyle Larson‘s efforts go down the drain, but his confidence also took a hit. As the media rushed to get a word out of him at the care center at Turn 4, it was so loud that no one could hear a thing. That’s when journalist Dustin Long had the brilliant idea of writing down his question on a piece of paper! The note read, “Does today fuel your desire to do the double again, or are you done with it?” After practice crashes at Indy, spinning out during both races, and not completing either of them, Larson was distraught.

Dustin Long reported on X that Larson said, “I don’t know. It’s so fresh right now, I don’t really have a good answer for you. The double is just a tough undertaking. The window of time is too tight. Even if I didn’t wreck, I don’t think I would have made it here on time and probably would have had to end that race short anyway. So I don’t really think it’s worth it. But I would love to run the Indy 500 again. Just doing the double, I think, is just logistically too tough.”

The 109th iteration of the Indy 500 witnessed rain again. Hence, Kyle Larson’s lap 91 crash allowed him to reach Charlotte in time. However, the HMS ‘golden boy’ could not make the most of it as a string of problems descended. Larson led the first lap of the Coke 600, exchanging leads with teammate William Byron. On lap 43, Larson brought out the first caution as he spun off Turn 4. He could never crack the top ten after that, as the bent rear toe link on his No. 5 Chevy was a hurdle. Then Chase Briscoe’s contact with Daniel Suarez on lap 245 collected Larson’s car, delivering the final crippling damage.

After going through this tumultuous day, it is no wonder that Kyle Larson would have second thoughts about the Double. Moreover, there is another reason for it.

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Coping with the exhaustion

In NASCAR history, only five drivers have attempted the ‘Double.’ They were John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, and now Kyle Larson. Only one of them successfully completed the 1100-mile effort, as Tony Stewart clinched top-ten finishes in both races in 2001. However, that came after a failure in 1999, which taught Stewart a lot about how exhaustive the venture could be. During that first attempt, Stewart finished 4th at Indy but fell 4 laps short. He finished 4th at Charlotte, too, but rumors abounded that he started hallucinating during the final laps.

However, it turned out to be a stomach issue. Tony Stewart recollected that ‘learning experience’ in 2021: “The first year we were so worried about dehydration that I drank and I drank and I drank and I drank. I just never ate enough solid, nutritious food the night before. And the day of the race, I wasn’t hungry because I was drinking so much to try to ensure that I was being hydrated…I got my body so out of whack that, by the time the 600 was done in Charlotte, I’d had enough…It was a good learning experience.”

Clearly, fear of dehydration, incurring stomach problems, or other health issues are huge consequences of the ‘Double’ effort. Kyle Larson may have faced hiccups due to these reasons. So, let us see if the star will stick to his decision or come back for another attempt, as Tony Stewart did.