NASCAR: Will Kyle Larson do the Memorial Day Double in 2018?

By Asher Fair | Dec 24, 2017

HOMESTEAD, FL - NOVEMBER 18: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Credit One/DC Solar Chevrolet, looks on in the garage area during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18, 2017 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images) /

Will 2018 be the season during which we see NASCAR driver Kyle Larson attempt the Memorial Day Double in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600?

Kyle Larson, 25, has expressed interest in doing what is known as the “Memorial Day Double” one day. The Memorial Day Double involves racing in both IndyCar‘s Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana and NASCAR‘s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina on Memorial Day Sunday.

Larson drives the #42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Cup Series, and Chip Ganassi Racing is one of two teams with a team in both IndyCar and the Cup Series, so that makes the Memorial Day Double a legitimate possibility for him. Will it happen in 2018?

Seeing as how Larson is a full-time Cup Series driver and has been since the 2014 season, there is really no doubt that the plan is for him to run the Coca-Cola 600 in 2018. The real questions surround him potentially making his IndyCar debut driving in the Indianapolis 500.

Chip Ganassi Racing is set to downsize from four full-time drivers to two full-time drivers in IndyCar in the 2018 season for the first time since the 2010 season after having four full-time drivers in six of the last seven seasons. However, a third driver for the Indianapolis 500 is not out of the question.

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When Danica Patrick announced that she would be wrapping up her racing career after driving in the 2018 Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, it was initially thought that Chip Ganassi Racing was her best option since, as mentioned above, the team is one of two teams with a team in both IndyCar and the Cup Series. This would have given the team three drivers for the race, as Patrick would have teamed up with Scott Dixon and Ed Jones, the team’s two full-time drivers.

However, Patrick’s talks with Chip Ganassi Racing have now come to a halt. Given the fact that she could have been the team’s third driver for the race, it would seem that they are open to having three drivers.

With Kyle Larson already driving for the team in the Cup Series and having a desire to drive in the Indianapolis 500, could a Memorial Day Double attempt come to fruition for him in 2018?

A total of four drivers have done the Memorial Day Double. John Andretti did it back in 1994, Robby Gordon did it in 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004, Tony Stewart did it in 1999 and 2001, and Kurt Busch did it most recently back in 2014.

Davy Jones also attempted it in 1995, but he failed to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600. Stewart is the only driver who finished all 1,100 miles of the Memorial Day Double. He did so in 2001 when he finished in 6th place in the Indianapolis 500 and 3rd in the Coca-Cola 600.

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Will 2018 be the year in which Kyle Larson makes his IndyCar debut in the Indianapolis 500 before racing in the Coca-Cola 600 in an attempt to complete the Memorial Day Double? Many fans of both IndyCar and NASCAR would love to see it happen.