Kyle Larson Admits “The Double” Era Is Over After Gruelling Indy 500 and NASCAR Balancing Act

Kyle Larson is arguably the top driver in NASCAR today.

The 33-year-old is the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champ and has won twice in the past five seasons since joining Hendrick Motorsports. Before he won his second NASCAR Cup Series championship, Larson was named one of the 75 greatest NASCAR drivers in history back in 2023.

Larson is one of the most well-respected names in the auto racing industry, having experience racing on the dirt track as well as being just the fifth driver to attempt "The Double," which is IndyCar's Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

His attempt at "The Double" is actually documented on Amazon Prime's new documentary of the same name, which is scheduled to premiere on May 21. 

Larson detailed that after two consecutive years of attempting the feat (2024 and 2025), he's probably done trying. One of his attempts was washed out due to bad weather on the day of the Indy 500.

"My time of doing 'The Double' is probably over," said Larson in a one-on-one interview with SportsBoom.us. 

"Just based off my experience the last couple years of the weather just kind of derailing things and the money that it goes into an investment to organize all that between travel logistics and racing and all that is expensive. I don't think I'll be doing 'The Double' again. But maybe someday down the road, I would try to do the Indy 500 again. But even that, I think at this point in my life and racing career, I'm satisfied with being able to have competed in the event a couple times, and I think I'm perfectly happy if I don't ever do it again. But you can never say never."

During the documentary, viewers see the emotional toll that preparing and actually attempting "The Double" is taking on Larson's psyche. 

He mentioned how he felt that while attempting the Indy 500, he was letting his teammates from Hendrick Motorsports down. During one of those years, he was actually ranked No. 1 in the NASCAR Cup Series standings entering that Memorial Day weekend.

"When you're going to do anything new, it's going to take focus away from something else," said Larson, "For me, that was taking focus away from NASCAR. I felt comfortable with it because it's what I'm used to doing, but you're still not able to give 100% to either one as much as you might think you are at the moment. If I was to dedicate myself solely to an Indy car or solely to the Indy 500, I think I would do a better job. But it's just tough to try and be in two places at one time and devote your time to two things at one time."

Why Kyle Larson Is Likely Done Doing 'The Double'

Larson teams up with Chase Elliott, William Byron and Alex Bowman as part of Hendrick Motorsports. During the interview, as he did in the documentary, he detailed how attempting "The Double" wasn't good for his mental state, and he felt he wasn't able to focus on his NASCAR chase due to worrying about the Indy 500.

"In the moment, I didn't realize how much it was stressing me out until it got to race day," said Larson. 

"I was just very stressed because I just felt like I was letting my NASCAR team down, which was not a feeling that I liked having. They weren't upset or anything, but in the moment, I felt like, 'Man, I just, I'm letting my team down.' And it just felt terrible. It was just a stressful couple of weeks and I had to go through it a couple different times."

Kyle Larson On Why Jeff Gordon Is His Idol, Biggest Thing He's Learned From Him

While the documentary shows the rollercoaster ride of emotions Larson and his family, he's married with three kids, were going through during "The Double," one of the key storylines is Larson's relationship with Jeff Gordon, the legendary NASCAR driver who now serves as the Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. Larson grew up idolizing Gordon, with both drivers being from the state of California.

Larson and Gordon have a special relationship and friendship, considering they work together.

"Every young kid, especially from California, was a fan of Jeff Gordon growing up," said Larson. 

"You can see that in the documentary. I go to my first day of kindergarten, I'm in a full Jeff Gordon outfit, head to toe, plus my backpack. But Jeff, with his background, he was in dirt racing, and that's what I was wanting to do and follow his career path. He was from California, made it to NASCAR, so he kind of paved the way. My career path very closely was in line with what his was, moved to Indiana, raced nationally there, and then get to North Carolina and go to NASCAR." 

"Fast forwarding to get to compete with him in his final season, which was really cool," Larson continued. "Had a couple really good battles with him. And then fast forward from that, he becomes my boss, Hendrick Motorsports. It's really cool to not only call him my boss, but also a friend."

Larson detailed that the biggest thing he's learned from Gordon isn't what he's told him verbally, it's by observing how he treats people.

"I like to observe kind of how he is and how he treats people, how hard he works," said Larson. 

"I think there's more of what I learned from just observing him rather than the things that he's told me. He's told me a lot of things along the way, but just kind of seeing him in action is what I take the most away from him and I think he's very much like a younger version of Rick Hendrick. Rick is somebody I think Jeff looked up to a lot and learned a lot from, the leadership side of things and all that. I would say Jeff, Rick also, but Jeff is my guy that I've always looked up to in that sense."

When asked how much longer he plans to race, Larson said he plans to go until at least the age of 40 and then will reassess from that point forward. He points towards his family and his kids as a big determinant of whether or not he'll continue to race at that point.

 "I don't know," said Larson. "I'm getting into my mid-30s. It's something that I do think about. I would say I don't have a necessary end date in mind at all, but I think for me, the next milestone that I wanted to get to would be 40 years old, and then kind of reevaluate from that to see where life is at the moment. My kids will be getting older right now. My oldest son is 11. My daughter just turned eight, and our youngest is three, and I'll be 34 later this year. Life is going to look a lot different by the time I'm 40." 

"We'll see, but that's the next milestone I want to get to, and then I'll reevaluate," Larson continued, "Although I'm not running as well as I want to right now, (Larson is No. 8 in the standings) I'm still having a lot of fun. I enjoy the process of trying to get better more than I ever have. I'm working harder than I ever have. I enjoy that as I've gotten older. It's just something I appreciate, and I appreciate other athletes who try to make a long career out of whatever they're doing. We'll see, but I don't know. I don't have an end date."

Larson's answer when it comes to what he wants his legacy to be is a little more complex, he wants to be remembered for his versatility and competitiveness.

"I don't know, I think that changes along the way as well, but I don't know," said Larson. "I think for me, I just want to be considered as a guy that people respected on and off the racetrack, and somebody who could maybe not be the best at everything that he competes in, but a versatile driver who was ultra competitive in everything that he stepped in, and I feel like I've done well in that category and pleased with that. But like I said, I still have a long career to go, so hopefully we keep trending in the right direction," he concluded.