![Kyle Larson]()
Can't control Mother Nature.
The biggest day in auto racing turned into a cat and mouse game with the weather, as storms moving over the eastern United States wreaked havoc on both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600...and ruined Kyle Larson's attempt at doing the double.
The 2021
NASCAR Cup Series champion was attempting to become just the 5th driver to complete both the Indy 500 and the Coke 600 on the same day, considered one of the most difficult feats in auto racing.
And things started out well for Larson, who qualified 5th for the Indy 500 in his first ever IndyCar series start.
Of course the challenge with doing the double is all the logistics in getting between the tracks. With the Indy 500 scheduled to go green at 12:45 PM, and usually lasting around 3 hours, Larson would then have to take the approximately two hour flight/helicopter ride over to Charlotte Motor Speedway in order to get there for the 6:30 PM start of the Coke 600.
Even under the best of circumstances, he would have been cutting it close. But yesterday was far from the best of circumstances - and it quickly became clear that Mother Nature would throw a wrench into Larson's quest to run all 1100 miles.
A storm came through Indianapolis yesterday ahead of the start of the race, delaying the Indy 500 by 4 hours and forcing Larson to make a decision on whether to stay and make his first IndyCar start, or abandon his ride and get back to Charlotte for the Coke 600.
But Larson was committed to making his IndyCar debut, and the team announced that Larson would
remain in Indianapolis and allow backup driver Justin Allgaier to start the Coke 600 in Larson's car. The plan, of course, was for Larson to immediately fly to Charlotte and take over behind the wheel of his car as soon as the 500 was over, which would still leave plenty of time for Larson in NASCAR's longest race.
It was a solid debut for Larson in IndyCar, with a good run that ended up being ruined near the end of the race with a speeding penalty on pit road that left him with a disappointing 18th place finish, nowhere near indicative of how well he ran during the race.
But he didn't have time to dwell on his mistake, because as soon as the race was over, Larson had to head to a helicopter to get him to a plane, which would get him to the nearby Concord Regional Airport where another helicopter would be waiting to shuttle him to the track to hop behind the wheel of his #5 car.
And the timing seemed to work out well, because as soon as Larson landed and got to pit road to hop in his car, the same storm that hit Indy early in the day had made its way to Charlotte and caused what seemed to be a brief rain delay. This red flag would have given Larson plenty of time to not only speak to Allgaier and the team about the car and how the race was going, but also get situated and strapped into his car without losing a lap if they had to make the driver change under caution.
https://twitter.com/NASCAR/status/1794907104807211495
Of course, it wasn't meant to be.
NASCAR made the bizarre move of attempting to dry the track for over an hour before deciding to pull the plug on the race due to what the sport claimed was high humidity and the possibility of being unable to resume racing until after 1:00 AM - despite pictures going around that showed a nearly dry track when NASCAR gave up their efforts.
Christopher Bell was declared the winner, fans were left upset and confused, and Larson was blocked from making even a lap in the Coca-Cola 600 in his attempt at pulling double duty.
It was disappointing that we didn't get to see Larson in both races as planned, but nobody was more disappointed than Larson himself.
In an interview as he was leaving the track, you could tell just how frustrated Larson was that things happened like they did:
"Just sad. Everything that could have went wrong today went wrong."
https://twitter.com/bobpockrass/status/1794941703352426947
And this morning, Larson shared his thoughts on the whole experience, calling it one of the most disappointing days of his career:
"What I thought could be one of the best days of my life quickly turned into one of the most disappointing ones I’ve ever experienced. I hate it for Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, HAG, Hendrick Motorsports, everyone a part of the 5 team, everyone on the 17 indycar for speeding, my family, my friends, my fans, and the documentary crew that has followed along the journey the past 8 months. So much time, money, and effort went into this experience and it just kills me to have it all end the way it did.
I feel like I let so many people down. We knew all along weather could throw a wrench into things but seeing it come to reality is a horrible feeling.
Up until Sunday it was truly one of the greatest experiences of my life. I can’t describe how appreciative I am of everyone’s support of me to live out a dream. I hope it’s not the last opportunity I have to try the Double but if it is I guess it was memorable.
Thank you to everyone at Arrow McLaren, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and all the competitors there for making me feel welcomed. Ready to get back on track now and get refocused on winning a 2nd championship for our team."
https://twitter.com/KyleLarsonRacin/status/1795063862024163605
The deal between Hendrick Motorsports and the Arrow-McLaren IndyCar team that fielded the car for Larson was a two-year agreement, so there's a strong chance that Larson could attempt the double again next year - if his entire experience this year wasn't soured by such a rough day yesterday.
Unfortunately, it seems that Mother Nature managed to do twice in one day what so may of his competitors on the track aren't able to do: Beat Kyle Larson.
