Heading towards the Memorial Day Weekend, Kyle Larson’s attempt at running the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in a single stretch is all the heat in North American Motorsports. For a driver to compete in this challenge dubbed the “Double”, many pieces have to fall in place. And they almost did, for Kyle Busch, back in 2017 and again in 2024.
Busch, a 2X Cup Series champion, is regarded as one of the best NASCAR drivers ever. His brother Kurt Busch is one of six drivers to ever compete in the Double. The plan had been for him to follow in those footsteps and get things done back in 2017, but a hurdle came in the form of team owner Joe Gibbs who denied him the opportunity.
He’d once again been on the call last year to find spaces to knead through to make his IndyCar debut, but unfortunately, Larson got there first. “So Kyle Larson is going to do it and he kind of actually snuck in maybe, a little bit, on getting that ride from me,” he said on the Pat McAfee show earlier this year. “That’s who I was talking to about doing the deal, but he got there quicker.”
In an interview for Speed Sport, Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened up on who he wanted to see run in the Indy 500 apart from Larson. He said, “Kyle Busch is certainly at the top of everybody’s list. Before there was Kyle Larson, who impacted our sport in a positive way with how much racing he does outside of NASCAR, I think Kyle Busch was the one we all thought might be the most talented of the bunch.”
Being denied multiple times to enter the IndyCar Series, what’s next for Kyle Busch?
Talking with Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass last year, the former champion admitted that he was far too frustrated to knock on doors to allow him to run the Double. He said, “Larson got the ride that I was slated to get, (and) he’s got that locked up for two years, so I don’t know if it’ll ever happen.” Despite the pessimism, he is open to doing it if the right people call him.
“I’m not going to be making calls and pushing for it,” he continued. “If somebody calls me and says that they’re ready to go and it all lines up right, so be it. We’ll go do it.” Larson is set to make the Double attempt on May 26, driving an Arrow McLaren. For now, Busch will have to settle for being a spectator. Both drivers will race in the Cup Series this Sunday, in Darlington.
