2021 NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson considers himself a greater “all-around driver” than defending four-time F1 champ Max Verstappen, and has closely implied he believes himself to be one of the best driver on the earth. For the second yr in a row Larson has tried to run “The Double” by competing within the Indianapolis 500, then flying to Charlotte, North Carolina for the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600. This yr’s try went worse than final yr’s and noticed the conceited 32-year-old crash out of each races, wrecking a number of thousands and thousands of {dollars} of race vehicles within the course of. Larson, already the unequivocal heel of North American motorsport, earned even better ire—and upset the steadiness of karma—on Sunday by calling fan favourite IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin a “****ing fool.”
There are only a few drivers who can say they wrecked two totally different vehicles in two totally different states on the identical Sunday, however Larson is simply constructed totally different, I suppose. After failing to perform The Double in 2024 and 2025, Larson now says he does not “actually suppose it is price it.” Undoubtedly, bud. It isn’t that you just aren’t ok to do it, it is simply not price doing.
How was Kyle Larson’s Indy 500?
With a brief timeframe between the tip of the Indy 500 and the beginning time for the Coca-Cola 600, Larson was anxious for the race to start on time and keep inexperienced for so long as attainable. With the 2 tracks about 430 miles aside because the crow flies, Larson had a helicopter ready for him to get out of the automotive and hustle him right down to Charlotte. When a lightweight sprinkle of rain delayed the beginning of the Indy 500 by about half an hour, he was understandably impatient to get going.
As soon as the vehicles began transferring, three-time Aussie Supercars champ and seven-time IndyCar race winner Scott McLaughlin wrecked his automotive on the entrance straight whereas warming his tires forward of the inexperienced flag. The complete race monitor was devastated for the kiwi Penske driver, who was on the pole at Indy only a yr prior. The complete monitor, save Kyle Larson, who known as in on his group comms “anyone simply crashed, ****ing fool” then gave a sarcastic thumbs up (above) as he drove by the scene of McLaughlin’s demise.
Earlier than making it to the half-way level of the 500-mile race, Larson by accident downshifted too many gears into third, locked up his rear tires, and spun up into the wall, gathering Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb within the course of. This was, by a protracted shot, the one most bone-headed self-induced crash I’ve seen within the historical past of this race.
Larson additionally wrecked his automotive in the course of the pre-Indy take a look at in late April, and through Quick Friday apply the week previous to the five hundred. Larson’s Hendrick group, and the Arrow McLaren group who handle his entry on the 500, needed to pay for various damaged parts on account of the numerous wrecks brought on by the NASCAR driver.
How was Kyle Larson’s Coke 600?
As soon as he’d flown again to God’s nation and acquired extra snug in his acquainted Chevrolet Quantity 5, Larson figured his troubles had been over. After getting out to an early lead within the Coca-Cola 600, with teammate William Byron in tow, Larson had an enormous unfastened influence with the wall however stored motoring out of it at full pace. A handful of laps later, nevertheless, he acquired behind on his steering and spun himself out of the lead of the motor race. Fortunately for Larson he did not hit something, nevertheless it dumped him down the order. Perhaps Kyle was drained, however he’d gotten away together with his mistake and lived to battle later within the race.
At lap 245 of 400, nevertheless, Kyle dipped down into the grass to keep away from “the large one” and acquired collected by one other wrecking automotive anyway. Daniel Suarez, a part of an enormous three-wide crash additional up the sphere, was ejected from the pack and tipped down into Larson’s proper rear quarter panel. With a collapsed suspension his day was over. I would hardly name the crash that ended his day Kyle’s fault. That was much less about talent and extra about luck. Or perhaps he’d run afoul of the karma gods.
Just one driver, Tony Stewart in 2001, has completed all 1,100 miles of the double. Kyle tried to hit 1,100 miles on his odometer on Sunday, however solely managed to traverse 597.5 miles. Ross Chastain, Sunday evening’s Coke 600 winner, drove extra miles in a single race than Larson did in two. Greatest driver on the earth, certainly. Perhaps if Kyle shouts the N-word throughout a race once more, he’ll fail upward and get to crash even higher tools and wreck in much more necessary races.
