“I wouldn't trade it for anything”: What Kyle Larson said about his ‘Double’ ahead of Indianapolis return

Following his underwhelming The Double attempt earlier this year, Kyle Larson has returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 as the defending race winner. Despite the lowlights, Larson said he wouldn't trade that race weekend for anything.

For the uninitiated, the now 32-year-old NASCAR driver did the double duty on Memorial Day, where he raced in the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. Unfortunately, his #17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet crashed and hit the wall on lap 92 of 200, which meant the end of his Indy 500 run.

Larson didn't have the best day in the Coca-Cola 600 either. He was collected by Daniel Suarez on the frontstretch grass on lap 246, causing damage to his #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, which eventually forced a DNF.

While that seemed to be a weekend to forget, the Californian didn't regret attempting The Double for the second consecutive year. In an interview with TNT, he said (via motorsport.com):

“I obviously wish it would have gone better. I just made a lot of mistakes this May and crashed a few times and just put myself in bad positions. I'll always be grateful for the chance to get to do the Double. (I) wish it would have gone better, but still, a lot of fun and a lot of stress throughout those couple of weeks. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Kyle Larson driving the #17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Source: Getty

Kyle Larson is considering returning to the Indy 500 for the third time, but only after his racing days in NASCAR. This year marks his 12th season in the NASCAR Cup Series and fifth under Hendrick Motorsports. After 21 races, he has scored three wins, 10 top-5s, and 13 top-10s, enough to rank third in the points standings.

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Kyle Larson gears up for a double header this weekend at Indianapolis

In addition to the Brickyard 400, Kyle Larson is set to enter the NASCAR Xfinity Series' Pennzoil 250 on the 2.5-mile circuit. He will drive the #17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for 100 laps of oval racing on Saturday.

HMS announced the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion's double duty this weekend on X and wrote:

“The reigning Brickyard winner is doubling up! (Kyle Larson) will run the Xfinity race this Saturday in the No. 17 (Hendrick Motorsports) Chevy.”

The Pennzoil 250 is Kyle Larson's fourth start in the second-tier series this year. He won two of three races, including at Bristol Motor Speedway in the #17 HMS Chevrolet and Texas Motor Speedway in the #88 JR Motorsports car (he replaced the then-injured Connor Zilisch).

The Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will kick off on July 26 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The following day, Larson will defend his race winner title in the Brickyard 400, which will commence at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The Brickyard 400 is the fifth-to-last race before NASCAR crowns a regular-season champion. The current title belongs to Tyler Reddick, who beat Larson by one point last year.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua