IndyCar team Arrow McLaren and NASCAR Cup Series team Hendrick Motorsports confirmed that their partnership is set to continue into 2025 and that Kyle Larson is set to return for a second Indy 500 attempt at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Memorial Day Weekend in May.
Larson attempted to become the fifth driver to pull off the Memorial Day Double this past May, but his attempt was cut short. The 108th running of the Indy 500 was delayed due to rain, and he opted to stay and compete in the legendary IndyCar race, rather than make it to Charlotte Motor Speedway in time for NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600.
After qualifying on the middle of the second row in fifth place, the driver of the No. 17 McLaren-Hendrick Chevrolet ran inside the top 10 before a late pit road speeding penalty dropped him down the order and he had to settle for 18th.
That decision made him late for the Coca-Cola 600, which was halted due to rain itself by the time he had arrived.
Because enough of the race had been completed for it to be classified as official, the Coca-Cola 600 was ended before its scheduled distance, and Larson never got to compete, making him the first driver in almost 30 years to make only one of two starts in a Memorial Day Double attempt.
In 2025, Larson is aiming to officially become the fifth driver to complete a Memorial Day Double attempt and first since his former teammate, Kurt Busch, pulled it off in 2014.
Only Tony Stewart has ever completed all 1,100 miles of the challenge in one day, doing so back in 2001.
However, there is a caveat to next year’s attempt (or at least that’s what Rick Hendrick has said to appease NASCAR).
After Larson missed this year’s Coca-Cola 600, there were questions as to whether or not he would receive a waiver to remain playoff eligible, even though he had already won multiple races during the regular season to secure his playoff spot.
Following an unnecessarily long wait, that waiver was granted, but NASCAR was faced with the tough reality that they needed to make modifications to the system moving forward.
While the Indy 500 is the Indy 500 and nothing, no matter the series, should ever take a back seat to the most attended single-day sporting event in the world, there was concern that giving Larson a waiver would lead to other drivers competing in various races that might conflict with Cup Series events down the road.
Hendrick has said that the Coca-Cola 600 is the priority for Larson, meaning that if there is rain at Indianapolis again in 2025, he would not start the race. This statement comes after Larson lost out on this year’s Cup Series regular season championship by just one point, a point he would have earned simply by competing at Charlotte.
