Next year around this time, Kyle Larson will attempt a daunting 1,100-mile challenge between two different race tracks in cities nearly 600 miles apart. All on the same Sunday.
The soon-to-be 31-year-old NASCAR driver will attempt the “Memorial Day Double” by competing in the 2024 Indianapolis 500 for Arrow McLaren at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before jetting off to Charlotte Motor Speedway for NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 for Hendrick Motorsports that evening.
As arguably the most versatile racer in the U.S., he’ll be the fifth driver to attempt the Double and could become the fourth to successfully compete in both on the same day.
Larson’s friend and former competitor Danica Patrick said she has an abundance of confidence in his skillset translating to the IndyCar Series and open-wheeled cars and shared some tips on how she’d approach racing 1,100 miles in one day.
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“With a guy like Kyle and a good team, there’s always a chance to win the Indy 500,” Patrick told For The Win on Thursday. “Especially because usually there’s a high chance of two strategies working: The fast strategy, the leader strategy, and then something off-strategy because there are so many pitstops and there’s so much that happens in the race.
“But it is hard, no doubt. It is a tall challenge to feel really good in the car when it’s not what you do because open-wheeled cars are very different than stock cars. And I know he drives open-wheeled cars, but most of the time when he’s driving an open-wheeled car, he’s on dirt and not going 240 [miles an hour] on pavement.”
Watch the 2023 Indy 500 on Peacock
Larson will have the opportunity to get as comfortable as possible in an Indy car through practices and qualifying during the month of May. But Patrick emphasized it’s never quite the same as being in an open-wheeled car for a full season.
And she knows from experience. Patrick never attempted the “Memorial Day Double” — though she said she likely could have if she wanted — she ended her racing career after six full-time seasons in NASCAR by returning to her IndyCar roots and doing the Indy 500 one final time. Her retirement run with the 2018 Daytona 500 and Indy 500 was known as the “Danica Double.”
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“Even when I came back after seven years, I was like, ‘Oh, God, that was harder than I thought it’d be,'” Patrick explained. “I would see drivers pop back in the car for just the 500 and have good days. And I was like, ‘Oh, must be must not be that hard. It must be, once you’ve done it, you’ve done it.’
“But there’s just something to be said for that week-in week-out [routine]. You’re familiar with not only your team but the fit of the car. You’re not dealing with that stuff: starts, restarts, fuel mixtures, all the stuff on the steering wheel — which I’m out of touch with at this point in time exactly — all the things that they have. But all of that stuff, you want that to be second nature because it’s so hard to have a good day anyway. And so I have no doubt [Larson will] have a good day.”
The Indy 500 is a long and physically taxing event by itself that can leave drivers exhausted and dehydrated after sometimes more than three hours of intense racing around Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s iconic 2.5-mile track. But when that’s over — assuming Larson qualifies for the 2024 Indy 500 field — he’ll have to head over to a NASCAR crown-jewel race with the Coca-Cola 600.
‘@KyleLarsonRacin, 2021 @NASCAR champion, will attempt to run in the 2024 #Indy500 with @ArrowMcLaren. pic.twitter.com/7OCRlR7ojc
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 18, 2023
Having a plan for the physical side of this formidable 1,100-mile day is crucial, Patrick said. If she were attempting the Double, she said she’d drain an IV bag on the plane ride between Indianapolis and Charlotte.
As for mindset and mental preparation, Patrick said Larson just needs to stay in the moment he’s in as he’ll have to shift from high-adrenaline racing to rest and back to racing again. That could end up being the biggest challenge, she added.
“He’s a pretty cool customer; he doesn’t really get too up or too down,” Patrick said. “But I think still just being able to have the amount of relaxation in the morning that it takes to keep your energy conserved for the race itself at Indy, and then not feeling frantic after it’s over with to hurry up and get to the Coke 600.
“Just staying calm through all that while then going and driving 1,100 miles at 200 miles an hour — I mean, that is a lot. That is a very big shift between staying relaxed in the morning, turning it on for the race, relaxing in between that and the Coke 600 and then turning it back on. …
“His capabilities to be able to drive both cars and do all those miles is good. It’s just, how much energy can you conserve in the in-between during that day, so that you have the most amount of focus and energy for the job itself?”
