IndyCar: 5 drivers who should attempt the Memorial Day Double

Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 28: Max Chilton of England, driver of the #8 Gallagher Honda (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Which five IndyCar drivers should consider attempting the Memorial Day Double by competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600?

A total of four drivers have combined to make nine Memorial Day Double attempts over the years, with the most recent attempt having taken place in 2014 when 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kurt Busch came to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana to make his IndyCar debut in the Indianapolis 500 before flying to Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina later that night to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 as a part of his regular full-time driver role in the Cup Series.

Like Busch, the other three drivers who have combined to make the other eight Memorial Day Double attempts were also full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers at the time of their attempt. Never has a full-time IndyCar driver attempted the Memorial Day Double while he or she was an IndyCar driver.

That said, Busch is actually the only one of these four drivers who have attempted the Memorial Day Double when they had not previously been a full-time IndyCar driver. The other three drivers who have attempted the Memorial Day Double are John Andretti, Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon, and they all attempted the Memorial Day Double after they had competed full-time in IndyCar.

In fact, Gordon even returned to IndyCar in each of the next two seasons after attempting the Memorial Day Double in 1997, which was the first year during which he drove in more than just one or two NASCAR Cup Series races.

With all of this in mind, could a current full-time IndyCar driver compete in the Memorial Day Double in the near future? If so, when would this happen, and which driver or drivers would attempt it? Would an IndyCar driver who is not a full-time driver attempt it?

Here are five IndyCar drivers who should consider attempting the Memorial Day Double.

Ed Carpenter

Ed Carpenter, 37, is not a full-time IndyCar driver, but there is a reason for that. After competing full-time in IndyCar from the 2004 season through the 2009 season and then in the 2012 season and the 2013 season as the series lone car owner and driver, Carpenter decided to drive in the oval races only.

As a result, he has not driven in a road or street course race since the second race of the Houston doubleheader in the 2013 season. At first, this move looked like it would pay off. He took the pole position for his first race in this new role, the 2014 Indianapolis 500, and he was in contention for the race win until he wrecked late.

In his next race at Texas, he won his third career IndyCar race, and he went on to rack up three top 10 finishes, including two top five finishes and one podium finish, in his final four races of the 2014 season.

However, in the 18 races since the 2014 season ended, he has finished in the top 10 just four times, and he has not finished a single race inside the top five. While this has caused many to wonder if he still has what it takes to compete at a high level in IndyCar, it may not be that big of a deal if he decided to drive in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 to attempt the Memorial Day Double.

Carpenter’s decision to focus solely on oval races following the 2013 season meant and means that he no longer has to worry about driving in road and street courses whatsoever. As a result, he would be well-prepared for what would be his first career NASCAR race.

When NASCAR drivers such as Kurt Busch and now Danica Patrick came and returned, respectively, to Indianapolis for the Indy 500, the concept of them being well-prepared for the race as a result of their extensive experience on oval tracks in NASCAR was tossed around a lot.

For Busch, it was accurate. For Patrick, who is set to drive in this year’s Indy 500 for Ed Carpenter Racing, it very well might be as well, although that will be hard to judge seeing as how she finished in the top 10 six times in seven Indy 500 starts before she left IndyCar for NASCAR to begin with.

This concept could potentially work the other way around if Carpenter were to become the first part-time or full-time IndyCar driver to attempt the Memorial Day Double during his IndyCar career. His focus on oval races and oval races only would certainly not hurt him in what would be his first career NASCAR race on the four-turn, 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway quad oval.

Helio Castroneves

Helio Castroneves, who turned 43 years old today, is not a full-time IndyCar driver this season for the first time since the 1997 season. He drove full-time for Team Penske in his final 18 IndyCar seasons from the 2000 season to the 2017 season after opening up his IndyCar career driving for Bettenhausen Racing in the 1998 season and Hogan Racing in the 1999 season.

Instead, Castroneves is a full-time driver in Team Penske’s Acura program in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. That said, he is still returning to Team Penske’s IndyCar team for the two races at Indianapolis, the IndyCar Grand Prix and the Indy 500, as the team’s fourth driver in addition to their three full-time drivers.

With Team Penske being one of only two teams with full-time teams in both IndyCar and the NASCAR Cup Series, it would be interesting to see them add Castroneves to their lineup for the Coca-Cola 600 on of these years as their fourth driver in addition to their three full-time drivers, just like they are doing with him this year for the Indianapolis races this year.

Castroneves has never driven in NASCAR before, but he does plan on driving in the Indy 500 for several more years, and he would likely continue to do so for Team Penske.

With Team Penske having moved Castroneves to their Acura program in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship after he drove full-time 20 seasons in IndyCar, them moving him to the Cup Series for one race at Charlotte Motor Speedway to attempt the Memorial Day Double would certainly make a lot of sense if he ever wanted to pursue it.

He should certainly consider it, especially since he is no longer fully committed to IndyCar but wants to continue driving in the Indy 500 for several more years.

Carlos Munoz

Carlos Munoz, 26, is not a full-time IndyCar driver this season for the first time since the 2013 season, which is when he made his IndyCar debut driving for Andretti Autosport in the Indy 500. After three seasons driving full-time for the team, he made the switch to A.J. Foyt Enterprises last season before losing his ride after the season ended.

He is set to return to Andretti Autosport this season in just the Indy 500, which is by far the race at which he has had the most success as a whole over the course of his IndyCar career.

In his five Indy 500 races, Munoz has finished outside of the top 10 just once. In his four Indy 500 races for Andretti Autosport, he finished outside of the top four just once. He finished in second place twice, including in his first career IndyCar race back in 2013, and fourth place once in those four races. There is no doubt that he is at his best on the sport’s biggest stage.

Coupled with the success that he has had racing on other oval tracks over the course of his IndyCar career, it would seem to be safe to say that Munoz is more of an oval driver than he is a road or street course driver despite the fact that his lone career IndyCar win came in the first street course race of the Belle Isle doubleheader in the 2015 season.

As referenced above, Munoz is driving in the Indy 500 and the Indy 500 only this season unless something unforeseen happens to result in him landing a ride for more races throughout the season.

Given his success in IndyCar’s biggest race and in races on oval tracks in general, Munoz should consider driving in NASCAR’s longest race of the season, the Coca-Cola 600, on the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval after he competes in the Indy 500 one of these years to attempt the Memorial Day Double. There is arguably no driver better suited to complete all 1,100 of those miles of oval racing than he is.

Marco Andretti

Marco Andretti, 31, has kept the Andretti family name in IndyCar over the last several years since he first started driving full-time in the sport as a 19-year-old in the 2006 season. His grandfather Mario Andretti is a four-time champion of the sport in addition to an Indy 500 champion, and his win total of 52 ranks second on the all-time IndyCar wins list.

Michael Andretti, who is Mario Andretti’s son and Marco Andretti’s father, is also a champion of the sport, and his win total of 42 ranks third on the all-time IndyCar wins list. Marco Andretti’s uncle, John Andretti, also raced in IndyCar for several seasons and secured one career victory.

There has been at least one Andretti driver in IndyCar, whether he was a full-time driver or a part-time driver, for all but two seasons, the 2004 season and the 2005 season, since the 1963 season ended, as Mario Andretti made his IndyCar debut in the 1964 season.

Something that is not really considered or thought about a whole lot that should be is an Andretti driver in NASCAR. After all, Mario Andretti is also a Daytona 500 champion, as he won the race in his second of three attempts back in 1966, and John Andretti spent several seasons as a full-time Cup Series driver after leaving his role as a full-time IndyCar driver following the conclusion of the 1992 season.

Marco Andretti putting the Andretti family name in NASCAR is something that is certainly possible. Last fall, he discussed the possibility of driving in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports, the team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Rick Hendrick.

Have spoken to Dale and Kelley. Maybe
— Marco Andretti (@MarcoAndretti) October 26, 2017

In April of last year, he also discussed driving in Xfinity Series races and Cup Series races, possibly for Stewart-Haas Racing, the team co-owned by Tony Stewart and Gene Haas. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to the Associated Press.

"“I’ve talked to Smoke (Stewart) a little bit about it. I don’t think I should jump right to Cup. I think there’s probably some Xfinity stuff that could be a possibility. Smoke hates restrictor plate races to begin with, so he’s not very high on me wanting to do it. But I think if we could put something together it would be fun.”"

There is certainly nothing to suggest that Andretti will leave IndyCar, at least not to the extent where he would no longer drive in the Indy 500, within the next few seasons. Whether you believe that is due to the fact that he drives for Andretti Herta Autosport, the team his father co-owns with Bryan Herta, is up to you, but the fact is, he does run extremely well in the Indy 500.

With recent discussions about him driving in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Cup Series, what better way to get the Andretti name back into the sport than by also driving in the Coca-Cola 600 to attempt the Memorial Day Double, something that John Andretti also did?

Josef Newgarden

Josef Newgarden, 27, is the defending IndyCar champion, and he is in a perfect position to become the first full-time IndyCar driver to attempt the Memorial Day Double during his IndyCar career, as he drives for Team Penske, one of two teams with full-time teams in both IndyCar and the NASCAR Cup Series. Team Penske is a great team for him to drive for since he could drive for them in both races of the Memorial Day Double.

Newgarden currently leads the IndyCar championship standings in his #1 Chevrolet despite the fact that Chevrolet drivers have struggled mightily through four races so far this season. In fact, only three of the 24 top six positions have gone to Chevrolet drivers, with Newgarden having taken two of those three top six positions in his two victories.