Kyle Larson takes another crushing hit at the Coca-Cola 600 in a wreck involving Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, and Ross Chastain
Kyle Larson didn’t have the best day at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Following a restart on Lap 42, the Hendrick Motorsports driver spun out with Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, and pole sitter Chase Briscoe involved in the mess.
Larson managed to keep his No. 5 Chevy Camaro from crashing into the outside wall. Nevertheless, he was taken to the infield care centre for a mandatory checkup following the multi-car mayhem.
Here is a video of the incident as shown by NASCAR on X (formerly Twitter):
“I just saw smoke off of [Turn] 4 and I tried to get left through the infield, and I just didn’t get far enough left,” Larson recalled after being checked and released (quoted by On3).
It markes a double DNF for Kyle Larson, given how he crashed out of the Indy 500 earlier that day. As a result, the Elk Grove native failed to etch his name alongside Tony Stewart, who remains the only driver to have attempted and completed the Double.
With the 13th race of the season currently underway, Kyle Larson sits at the top of the leaderboard with 469 points to his name. He has won three races already, besides bagging eight top-fives and nine top-10s.
Next up for the Cup Series champion is the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Larson has been there four times; his lone win came in 2021, followed by a P4, a P5, and a P8 in the next three years.
The 300-lap race has been scheduled for Sunday, June 1. Fans can watch it live on Amazon Prime Video, 7 pm ET onwards, or listen to its radio coverage on PRN (Performance Racing Network) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Will Kyle Larson attempt the infamous double ever again?
It’s been two years in a row that Kyle Larson has tried and failed to complete his double duty, which includes running all 1,100 laps of the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 combined. Often referred to as the Double, this Memorial Day feat has been attempted by only five drivers to this day.
Larson, who finished the Indy 500 18th last year, knew it was going to be tough. He crashed out shortly after a restart on Lap 91, involving fellow racers Sting Ray Robb and Kyffin Simpson.
“It was a bit crazy there on the start,” said Larson, who finished 27th this year. “I got like tight behind Takuma (Sato). I was really close to him, and as I got loose and kind of got all over the place. So I spun. So just hate that I got a little too eager there on the restart and caused that crash. Hate it for everybody else that caught up in it.”
“Just bummed out. So try to get over this quickly. And get on to Charlotte and just forget about it,” he added.
Now the question is: Will Kyle Larson run the Double again next year? Well, it’s safe to assume that unless Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports decide to spend millions of dollars for yet another Memorial Weekend doubleheader, that’s not going to happen.