“Gosh, we could have a huge laundry list of people that should do it,” said Newgarden, who is aiming for an unprecedented third straight Indy 500 win. “You could ask the majority of the field (and they) would want to do the double. It’s so much fun.”

Yet it’s also a massive undertaking, which is why Stewart still stands alone, and not just on the driver who has to complete 1,100 miles around Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway — tracks some 550 miles apart. It also takes some serious financial support, the backing of teams in both IndyCar and NASCAR, tremendous logistical help, and plenty of luck that the weather cooperates, cars hold up mechanically and the driver is able to avoid any wrecks.

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, whose brother Kurt completed the Indy 500 in 2014 but failed to finish the Coca-Cola 600, is among those who have tried to put together a deal to attempt “the Double” but haven’t quite pulled it off.

“It’s just very difficult to get that lined up,” Newgarden said. “Doing what Kyle (Larson) is doing right now, it’s harder than it looks. What I mean by that is just putting the program together. You would have a lot of people doing it if it was simple, I can promise you that. I think Kyle Busch has spoken publicly about trying to get something off the ground. That’s Kyle Busch. It should seem like it’s pretty likely for him to put a program together. It was quite difficult.”

So who else could be in line to try?

Ryan Blaney has contemplated it, and he presumably would have plenty of synergistic support given that Team Penske has established NASCAR and IndyCar programs. But it would take the convincing of team owner Roger Penske, who also owns the IndyCar Series, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 — a race he has won a record 20 times.

“I would love to see Blaney do it at some point,” Newgarden said.

Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing, was close to a deal years ago when that team still had a NASCAR program. Dixon pointed out that there are also conflicts of interest to overcome, such as when an IndyCar driver whose team is powered by Honda has the chance to drive a Cup Series car that might have a Chevrolet engine.

“It’s not an easy thing to do,” Dixon said. “Really admire the people that do it.”

Dixon paused, before telling Palou sitting next to him: “Alex, you should do it.”

“I would love to do it,” he replied. “I would do it.”

McLaughlin, another Team Penske driver with extensive stock car experience, was asked about trying to tackle both Memorial Day weekend races. Before jumping to IndyCar, McLaughlin was one of the most dominant drivers in the history of the Supercar Series in Australia and New Zealand, winning 56 races and three series championships.

Those races take place on road courses, though, and the Coca-Cola 600 is on the Charlotte oval. So, McLaughlin said, all those years of stock car experience Down Under might not translate so easily to a Cup Series car.

“The only reason you’d think that is is if it was road course-to-road course,” he said. “But I think the oval is a completely different kettle of fish. If I was to do ‘the Double,’ I would like to do an (oval) race before Charlotte.”

Larson’s attempt is once again a joint effort of Hendrick Motorsports on the NASCAR side and Arrow McLaren on the IndyCar side.

He had high hopes of completing all 1,100 miles last year, but rain wreaked havoc with his schedule. Larson managed to finish the rain-delayed Indy 500, then do the entire helicopter-plane-helicopter trip to Charlotte, only to be greeted there by more rain upon his arrival. It ultimately washed out the rest of the NASCAR race before he ever got a chance to turn a lap.

The forecast for Sunday? A bit chilly but most likely dry.

“I feel like the Hendrick aviation side does a really good job with logistics and working with motorsports to make sure all the timing’s right on everything and everything operates smoothly,” Larson said. “Yeah, we had the weather delay for the Indy 500 last year, but aside from that, the travel side of it was all smooth. So, as far as I know, nothing is different this year.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Bob Pockrass

FOX Motorsports Insider

Kyle Busch will return to Richard Childress Racing for the 2026 season.

From the outside looking in, some might wonder why a two-time Cup champion with 63 career victories riding a 69-race winless streak would return to a team for another year, that both sides might figure it’s not working.

But Richard Childress and Kyle Busch have a mix of determination and stubbornness that make them believe they can continue to work together. Add that Busch — who turned 40 earlier this month — doesn’t want to stop racing and another year at RCR isn’t a bad gig.

The announcement Saturday confirmed RCR has picked up Busch’s option — it isn’t totally clear who had control of the option but forcing Busch to stay if he wanted to leave likely wouldn’t work out well for RCR — and any significant talks for 2027 and beyond are still yet to happen.

Busch wants to keep racing and eventually race trucks with his son, Brexton, who is 10 (potentially they would split a season when Brexton is 16 and can only do short tracks and road courses).

“There’s kind of the vision or the plan, if you will, on being able to race in some truck races with Brexton alongside,” Busch said. “So obviously, that’s six years from now before he can make that start.

“So that would sort of be an idea of when I would look at stepping aside from Cup Series racing, but it’s a long ways out.”

Those inside RCR say that Busch remains engaged in working with the team to improve. He also might have more options after the 2026 season when more big rides could become available. 

William Byron signed a contract extension through 2029, making all four Hendrick drivers signed through at least next year. Joe Gibbs Racing likely will extend its deal with Denny Hamlin for at least a couple more years. If Trackhouse makes any moves, it has Connor Zilisch waiting in the wings; if 23XI does, it has Corey Heim ready to take over a car. All of Spire’s drivers are under contract for next season. 

Those are all Chevrolet teams and while RFK Racing shouldn’t be ruled out as a possibility for Busch in the future, that organization could be in limbo for its third car depending on the Legacy-Rick Ware Racing litigation over a RWR charter sale to Legacy that was supposed to occur after 2026 (not to mention Ryan Preece hasn’t done anything to lose that ride). Busch driving for Team Penske, which also could very well have the same stable next year, doesn’t appear likely.

Several of those teams could have more openings after 2026, and if a new manufacturer wants to race NASCAR, those plans might be more clear in another year. 

There’s another benefit of staying with RCR and in the Chevrolet camp for Busch — if he did want an opportunity to race in the Indy 500, it is the one manufacturer that competes in both series. Kyle Larson is in the second year of a two-year deal with Arrow McLaren to compete in the event and hasn’t been committal to additional years.

Busch said he had been talking to INDYCAR teams when the Larson deal got done, which didn’t leave another ride with an engine package available.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve given up on, but the phone hasn’t been ringing,” Busch said. “I think Larson got the seat I was supposed to get for the last two years now. So whether that seat is open for next year, I’m not sure.

“I haven’t really ventured into that, but those conversations pretty much take place July, August of each year, and then try to get done before December.”

RCR’s announcement included confirmation the organization plans to remain a two-car Cup team with Childress grandson Austin Dillon as Busch’s teammate.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and IndyCar for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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CONCORD, N.C. – It’s been more than three months since Hendrick Motorsports made history with its 10th DAYTONA 500 victory, but a special delivery Thursday ensured the moment won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France presented Rick Hendrick with a custom Rolex watch to commemorate the achievement, marking a first-of-its-kind gift for the only team owner in history to reach double-digit wins in the Great American Race.

The Feb. 18 triumph by William Byron broke a tie between Hendrick Motorsports and Petty Enterprises for the most DAYTONA 500 wins. It was the driver’s second consecutive victory in the crown jewel race, making him the youngest multi-time winner in the event’s history.

The back of the Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona watch is inscribed with the words, “First 10x DAYTONA 500 champion,” along with Hendrick’s name.

“This is such a meaningful gift, and I’m truly grateful to Jim, everyone at NASCAR, and the team at Daytona International Speedway,” Hendrick said. “The DAYTONA 500 has given us some incredible moments, and this watch will always remind me of the people who made them possible. It’s not just about the wins – it’s about the drivers, crew chiefs, team members, and their families who’ve put their heart into this organization. I’ll think of them every time I look at it.

“I never thought I would win one DAYTONA 500. I couldn’t have imagined 10 in my wildest dreams. It’s hard to believe.”

Also attending the presentation were track president Frank Kelleher and a group from Hendrick Motorsports including vice chairman Jeff Gordon, president and general manager Jeff Andrews, vice president of competition Chad Knaus, DAYTONA 500-winning crew chief Rudy Fugle, and No. 5 team crew chief Cliff Daniels.

Gordon wasn’t left out of the gift giving. The three-time DAYTONA 500 champion was presented with a ring by Kelleher for the 2024 win as well.

Hendrick Motorsports now sits alone in terms of claiming the most wins across NASCAR’s crown jewel events. The team has also compiled 12 victories in the Coca-Cola 600, 12 in the Southern 500 and 11 in the Brickyard 400, leading all three categories. Its 14 NASCAR Cup Series championships and 316 points-paying race wins are also the most all-time.  

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — NASCAR star Kyle Larson will be taking another shot at “the Double,” one of the most grueling feats in all of motorsports, when he tries to complete every lap of the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday.

Tony Stewart is the only driver to have successfully pulled it off, and that was nearly 25 years ago.

But while attempts have been scarce since John Andretti first tried it in 1994, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of ambitious drivers interested. Defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin and reigning IndyCar series champion Alex Palou all expressed some desire to give it a go this week.

“Gosh, we could have a huge laundry list of people that should do it,” said Newgarden, who is aiming for an unprecedented third straight Indy 500 win. “You could ask the majority of the field (and they) would want to do the double. It’s so much fun.”

Yet it’s also a massive undertaking, which is why Stewart still stands alone, and not just on the driver who has to complete 1,100 miles around Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway — tracks some 550 miles apart. It also takes some serious financial support, the backing of teams in both IndyCar and NASCAR, tremendous logistical help, and plenty of luck that the weather cooperates, cars hold up mechanically and the driver is able to avoid any wrecks.

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, whose brother Kurt completed the Indy 500 in 2014 but failed to finish the Coca-Cola 600, is among those who have tried to put together a deal to attempt “the Double” but haven’t quite pulled it off.

“It’s just very difficult to get that lined up,” Newgarden said. “Doing what Kyle (Larson) is doing right now, it’s harder than it looks. What I mean by that is just putting the program together. You would have a lot of people doing it if it was simple, I can promise you that. I think Kyle Busch has spoken publicly about trying to get something off the ground. That’s Kyle Busch. It should seem like it’s pretty likely for him to put a program together. It was quite difficult.”

So who else could be in line to try?

Ryan Blaney has contemplated it, and he presumably would have plenty of synergistic support given that Team Penske has established NASCAR and IndyCar programs. But it would take the convincing of team owner Roger Penske, who also owns the IndyCar Series, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 — a race he has won a record 20 times.

“I would love to see Blaney do it at some point,” Newgarden said.

Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing, was close to a deal years ago when that team still had a NASCAR program. Dixon pointed out that there are also conflicts of interest to overcome, such as when an IndyCar driver whose team is powered by Honda has the chance to drive a Cup Series car that might have a Chevrolet engine.

“It’s not an easy thing to do,” Dixon said. “Really admire the people that do it.”

Dixon paused, before telling Palou sitting next to him: “Alex, you should do it.”

“I would love to do it,” he replied. “I would do it.”

McLaughlin, another Team Penske driver with extensive stock car experience, was asked about trying to tackle both Memorial Day weekend races. Before jumping to IndyCar, McLaughlin was one of the most dominant drivers in the history of the Supercar Series in Australia and New Zealand, winning 56 races and three series championships.

Those races take place on road courses, though, and the Coca-Cola 600 is on the Charlotte oval. So, McLaughlin said, all those years of stock car experience Down Under might not translate so easily to a Cup Series car.

“The only reason you’d think that is is if it was road course-to-road course,” he said. “But I think the oval is a completely different kettle of fish. If I was to do ‘the Double,’ I would like to do an (oval) race before Charlotte.”

Larson’s attempt is once again a joint effort of Hendrick Motorsports on the NASCAR side and Arrow McLaren on the IndyCar side.

He had high hopes of completing all 1,100 miles last year, but rain wreaked havoc with his schedule. Larson managed to finish the rain-delayed Indy 500, then do the entire helicopter-plane-helicopter trip to Charlotte, only to be greeted there by more rain upon his arrival. It ultimately washed out the rest of the NASCAR race before he ever got a chance to turn a lap.

The forecast for Sunday? A bit chilly but most likely dry.

“I feel like the Hendrick aviation side does a really good job with logistics and working with motorsports to make sure all the timing’s right on everything and everything operates smoothly,” Larson said. “Yeah, we had the weather delay for the Indy 500 last year, but aside from that, the travel side of it was all smooth. So, as far as I know, nothing is different this year.”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske, stopped by the Charlotte Motor Speedway infield media center before qualifying to talk about this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600.

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse – YOU HAD AN EVENT ON TUESDAY WITH JORDAN DAVIS IN CONCERT. HOW DID THAT GO? “It was incredible. It was our third annual concert for charity. We had Jordan Davis down there, who is an incredible artist. An awesome guy, by the way. A very normal person. You meet celebrities sometimes and you wonder what they’re gonna be like and he is really normal. So, it was great to have that. We packed the house down there with close to 2400 people showing up. I’m proud of the effort from the team to be able to put on an event like that. It’s a lot of work to put on that type of stuff, but obviously it’s worth it. We were able to raise a lot of money to help foster care in the North Carolina region and it was good. You have two missions when you go there. One, is to obviously raise money for foster care, but the other is to hopefully inspire people to make that leap of faith. If they’re on the fence thinking about should we become foster parents or not, hopefully you can push them over the edge a little bit to take that next step. Those were the goals and hopefully we achieved two of them. It was great timing. Everyone knows this week is so busy with so many different events. Every night it seems like there’s an event to go to and something to do. Our community does a cool job of making the Charlotte race weeks like Speedweek in a way. There’s always something to do every night and obviously with the Truck race last night and what we see tonight with the Xfinity cars as well.”

HOW DO YOU PROCESS WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUR INDY CAR TEAMMATES THIS PAST WEEK AND WHAT THEY HAD TO GO THROUGH? IS THERE A CONCERN OF ANY TYPE OF RESIDUAL IMPACT WITH THE CHANGES HAVING AN EFFECT ON THE NASCAR SIDE OF TEAM PENSKE? “We’re all one team. That’s the way I’ve always viewed it. That’s why we love to support what the Indy Car guys are doing every week and vice versa. We’re in the same building, so there are some shared pieces there. When we go to whatever manufacturing, engineering, those type of things, there are some shared people there. When we see something like that, yeah, does it impact us? Obviously, it’s going to. I think Roger’s comments during the sitdown with Jamie (Little) was everything we needed to hear. Roger came down to visit all of us. He visited drivers and crew chiefs, but then visited the whole team in a Roger type was as you would expect. At this point, it’s unfortunate, but we’ve got to move forward. It’s something that happened and we’ve got to stay out the windshield as Roger always says.”

HOW DOES THIS TRACK COMPARE TO OTHERS AND WHAT MAKES IT GREAT FOR DRIVERS? “It’s become a great racetrack again. It was great and there was a moment in time where everyone was kind of ‘eh’ about it, and that’s really why the Roval started. Now, it’s kind of like, ‘I don’t know if we need the Roval.’ The oval is fantastic. The racing that we see on this racetrack has been great. You look at the start of the Truck race last night, I was up in the booth, and it was like, ‘These guys are racing the heck out of each other,’ and it was really fun to watch. They’re not wrecking each other. It’s not like cautions every five laps like some tracks. It was a really fun race to watch. I expect the same here today with the Xfinity cars and the Cup cars have put on a good race here the last few years as well. It’s challenging. You brought up the surface. It’s definitely on a landfill. It’s bumpy out there. Three and four, it’s rough. It shakes the heck out of you and you do that for 600 miles you don’t feel too good afterwards, so it’s definitely a physical racetrack at this point.”

WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT THE ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR A DRIVER WHO WINS THIS RACE? “You want to win every race. All the wins, especially at the Cup level, all of them mean a lot because it’s hard to do. Everyone is so good and our season, if you can have a five-win season, that’s a pretty good season so you lose a lot. You don’t really care where you get your wins. Obviously, when you think of the Coca-Cola 600, maybe there’s a little extra there. It’s kind of like you look at this as one of the top three biggest races of the year that we have, just from a prestige and historic standpoint. This is a really special one to win. I’d like to be that guy. We’ve been close before, but haven’t quite gotten the old Coca-Cola fridge that they hand out to the winners. I get a picture sent to me before every race here because as a Coca-Cola driver they send me a picture of it and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I know. I got it. I want to go get it. I understand. Message delivered.’”

IN WHAT WAYS IS THE COCA-COLA 600 STILL A TEST OF MAN AND MACHINE? “A lot of ways. It’s just long, but the track itself has become more challenging, which makes it even more physical for the driver and also the car. Getting shook around things come loose, things happen, things can break. There are a lot of pit stops, lots of them. There are a lot of opportunities for mistakes throughout the event, so it’s just trying to keep your head in the game and keep grinding it out throughout the whole event. You can get knocked down and you have time to get back up and get all the way back through. In today’s day and age, that’s really hard to do at most races because the cars are all so similar and speeds are so similar it’s hard to make your way back through the field, but here there are opportunities to pass, opportunities to recover and when you have a track that is this challenging, where cars are running the very, very top at the wall, the bumps create a lot of opportunities for people to have these big moments and get loose or spin out, wreck. The teams that can just keep going, just keep grinding it out and keep going, you can eventually find yourself back to the front.”

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF YOUR TEAM AS YOU MOVE FORWARD? “I think we’re in a pretty good spot right now. I thought at the beginning of the season our speed was pretty good, but our execution wasn’t there. Now I feel like our execution has become better and our speed is still there. The last few weeks it seemed like we were able to put everything together. Since Talladega on, we’ve been top 10, top 5 car and putting ourselves in position to win multiple times, whether that’s obviously Texas, Kansas, we got ourselves to the front. We needed more speed there, but Wilkesboro last week, obviously the car was really fast there, so I feel like we’ve cleaned up a lot of execution issues that we’ve had, and now I feel like we’re back to where we typically see the 22.”

WHEN YOU GO TO MICHIGAN AND WHAT THAT PLACE MEANS FOR YOUR TEAM AND FORD, HOW MUCH OF AN EMPHASIS IS PUT ON THAT RACE? “No more emphasis than any other race. We try to win them all. It’s not like we say, ‘Ah, this one doesn’t matter. We’ll just coast this one through.’ That’s not who we are. We don’t do that because every race matters, especially with the playoff format we have. Every win, every playoff point that you can get can be the difference at the end of the day, so we don’t really put more into any of them. I will say though that the manufacturers take pride in that trophy that they hand out there to the winning manufacturer, so it’s always a topic of discussion. We go up there early more times than not and go visit Ford headquarters and it’s a topic that comes up. They want that trophy in their main lobby, so when people walk in they can walk by it.”

WE HAVE THREE INTERMEDIATE TRACKS IN THE NEXT THREE WEEKS, IS IT AN IMPORTANT STRETCH FOR TEAMS TO HONE IN ON WHAT YOU HAVE FOR THE POSTSEASON, OR DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE AND THERE’S NOTHING LEFT TO LEARN? “There’s always something to learn. You never get it figured out. Everyone over time with this Next Gen car has honed in on specific things that they know are needle movers with their car setup and fine-tuning it, but you can see how the field is getting closer and closer and closer. We’ve had the same rule package for awhile and the teams have had this Next Gen car for awhile and team members have gone from team to team to team bringing their notebooks, so everyone eventually ends up running something fairly similar and I think we’re kind of at that point. With that said, are there still things to learn? Yes. Are we still trying to find the next little bit? We’re always going to be doing that, but we’re definitely on the fine point stuff, the very small little needle that is a little better. You’ve got to stack up 20 of those to really matter at this point, but it’s not like you get to go test much and go learn any other way, so once you get past this stretch of races, the next time you go to a mile-and-a-half you’re gonna be looking back at Kansas, Charlotte, Michigan – Nashville is kind of it’s unique area of what that really falls into – but you’re gonna be looking at those tracks saying, ‘OK, where do we need to build our setup off of?’”

LOOKING TO MEXICO CITY. WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO EXPERIENCE WITH THAT RACE? “I hope the fans enjoy it. I hope it’s a good turnout. I think there’s no doubt that a lot of times when you step outside of your comfort zone it’s uncomfortable. There’s risk involved, but there’s also high reward for our sport by doing this. Stepping out of what we typically do here in America and going international, it’s kind of a scary thing to do. Let’s be honest. I think everyone in here probably has some concerns of how are we gonna get there? Where are we gonna go? What do we do? I don’t know how to speak Spanish. I don’t know about you guys. I’ll only hang out with Suarez as much as I can (laughing). I don’t know where to go, so I think there’s just the unknown factor is at its all-time high when we go there. I hope it’s all worth it because it definitely is a lot of work. I was at the NASCAR building the other day and they had meetings with the truck drivers and going over logistics on how they’re gonna get everything there. They don’t do that for any other race. This is a very specific thing. I think it could be great. I think NASCAR is doing a good job so far from what I can tell and is covering their bases on making sure that there’s no surprises when we get down there. We’ve got to have our faith in them that they’re doing their job and it all ends up going well. I’m sure it will. I think everyone has been down there enough and talked about things enough that it will go well. Hopefully, the fans enjoy NASCAR racing. That’s what I hope.”

HOW HAVE YOU AS A DRIVER ADAPTED TO THE FORMAT OF THIS RACE AS IT HAS CHANGED TO STAGES? IS IT EASIER NOW WITH THOSE BUILT-IN BREAKS? “I still look at this race and I say, ‘Geez, if you can have a fast car in Charlotte for the Coke 600, there are more points available than any other race you go to.’ So, a fast car pays a bigger dividend throughout an event than anywhere else you go, so if you get that special car, that one that is just lights-out, you can really stack them in. If you have a bad day, you double down on that too. You hope that you’ve got a good car from that standpoint. There are obviously added cautions in comparison to what there used to be. That represents an opportunity for strategy when it comes to you, depending on where the caution ends up – if it’s a few laps before the end of a stage, one of those type of things, or just playing the stage cautions however you flip those or whatever you do. It presents an opportunity to stay more on the lead lap because there are more cautions. Typically, a race this long you’d probably have less cars on the lead lap, where the stages present the opportunity to wave are get more lucky dogs, those type of things. The recovery factor is a little bit higher than it used to be.”

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