CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Busch will remain with Richard Childress Racing through next season, the team announced Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The team stated that it picked up the option on Busch’s current contract. RCR also confirmed it will have two Cup cars next season.

The announcement comes a day after Hendrick Motorsports stated that William Byron had signed a contract extension through the 2029 season.

Two-time Daytona 500 winner is ranked second in the points heading into Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

Busch, a two-time Cup champion who turned 40 years old earlier this month, is in his third season with RCR. He has three Cup victories with the team. All came in 2023.

Busch is 17th in the points, the first spot outside a playoff spot, entering Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

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Childress is excited about retaining Busch.

“He and I are both alike in one area,” Childress said Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We don’t like to lose. We want to win races. I still think that Kyle will win him a championship and we want it to happen at RCR and that’s our plan. We’ve got a lot of new things coming.

“This car is a lot different. It’s so engineering driven. We’re stepping our engineering up more and I’m excited about the future and where we can go.”

Austin Dillon praises what kind of a teammate Busch is.

“I feel like he gives you what you expect, which is that he’s a hard worker,” Dillon said. “He’s a fiery. He wants the best for the cars. He wants to get to victory lane constantly and will push everyone to figure out how to make that happen, even himself on the track.

“But as far as being in the meetings with him after practice and, you know, on Monday’s and the debriefs, he’s very helpful. You know, he asks good questions at the right time about what your car is doing and he provides information that you can make your car better off of.

“So from that standpoint, you couldn’t ask for a more helpful teammate when it comes to his knowledge of the game and what he is providing from an informational standpoint.”

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

FILE – Carl Edwards smiles prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Sunday, May 14, 2023, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)

Even signing with Prime Video to be one of their analysts, Carl Edwards admitted he was wondering if NASCAR fans would know about the sport’s shift to streaming for five races on Prime Video or if they would know how to access the races.

That was, until he talked to one of his neighbors.

“We’re talking about other things and he said, ‘Hey, you’re doing some sort of TV thing.’ And I was thinking, you know, this guy’s 85 years old, and I’m gonna have to explain this to him,” Edwards said. “And I started and he’s like, ‘Oh, yeah. I’ve got Prime. I’ll be watching.’”

Prime Video’s first race on Sunday is the Coca-Cola 600. Not only is it NASCAR’s longest race, it comes on motorsports’ biggest day with Formula One’s Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 taking place before the green flag drops at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Prime Video has a seven-year deal with NASCAR.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be starting with a crown jewel (race). It’s a huge responsibility and we’re excited to bring it to fans,” said Alex Strand, Prime Video’s senior coordinating producer for live sports. “What we saw when we brought ‘Thursday Night Football’ to Prime is we spent a lot of time making sure that we’re delivering on expectations. There’s trust the viewers are putting in you to bring them the sport that they love.”

Prime Video is hoping to do that by getting some production help from NBC Sports, which has had NASCAR since 2015. Prime’s relationship with NBC goes back to 2022 when it launched “Sunday Night Football.”

In the booth, Adam Alexander is the play-by-play announcer for the Xfinity Series on The CW along with doing Cup Series races on TNT.

Analysts Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are reunited. Earnhardt Jr. was with NBC for six seasons (2018 through ’23) while Letarte has been with NBC since 2015.

Alexander said his approach to calling the races has been the same, no matter the network.

“Just be a setup guy for two analysts that obviously know it inside and out, and be able to relay the message to the fans of what’s happening on track,” he said. “I think it would be easy for someone when you look at new partners coming into the sport, that everything is going to be changed. It jumped off the board with me right away that Prime has the balance of new, but also the respect to traditions that we’re used to in the TV world and how that matches up with NASCAR.”

The only new faces are Edwards and Corey LaJoie, who will be on pre- and post-race coverage.

Many thought Edwards would become an analyst after retiring in 2017, but he resisted overtures from various networks until Prime Video approached him earlier this year.

“The timing just feels right. I’m shocked at the way the sport has welcomed me back personally,” said Edwards, a 28-time winner in the Cup series. “I wasn’t sure about this, but Prime came to visit me in Missouri and we sat around at my kitchen table talking with my family. I’m glad they came out. It’s going to be an adventure.”

Prime Video will be bringing its own touches to the races. Green flag racing will include a double-box commercial format, ensuring viewers won’t miss any action. There will also be highlights of key moments allowing viewers to catch up to action.

As far as in-race strategy innovations, Prime is still testing some things as they try to continue what they have done during NFL coverage, which is explain complex matters in a simple way.

“I believe people are going to find it. They’re going to enjoy it. And, you know, hopefully it just becomes, something that that all the fans feel good about and don’t have any hiccups,” Edwards said.

Chase Briscoe became just the tenth driver to earn pole position for both the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same year, besting Kyle Larson by 0.020s in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Saturday.

Briscoe now has four career poles, but his previous best start in the 600 is only 15th. Larson, who will be excused from driver introductions and the pre-race driver’s meeting while he competes in the Indianapolis 500, has only started from the front row once before in NASCAR’s longest race. That was when he earned pole in 2021, going on to win the Coke 600 that year.

William Byron, who recently signed a four-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports, placed third, Chris Buescher was the top-qualifying Ford driver in fourth, and A.J. Allmendinger earned his best start of the 2025 season in fifth.

Jimmie Johnson, who is making his 700th career start, qualified 17th while Ross Chastain was the only driver to not take part after an incident in practice.

Complete starting lineup for the 2025 Coca-Cola 600

Trotting down the grandstand steps after being introduced in Saturday morning’s traditional Indianapolis 500 Public Drivers Meeting, NASCAR champion Kyle Larson encountered a standing ovation, loud cheers and a steady line of high-five greetings indicative of being the crowd favorite that he absolutely is for Sunday’s 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 (Noon ET on FOX).

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion and current championship leader would love nothing more than to reward the support with a massive celebration in the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway Victory Lane where he celebrated last summer after winning NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 at the famous track.

Larson’s No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet lines up 19th on the 33-car grid Sunday for his second consecutive start in the Indianapolis 500; the first leg of a Memorial Day race “Double” that begins at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway and concludes eight hours away in NASCAR’s longest race of the season, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime, PRN and SiriusXM).

Last year the 32-year-old Californian finished 21st in a rain-delayed Indy 500 but by the time he got to Charlotte, the race had already started and was in a rain delay, ultimately called “official” before Larson was able to climb into his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

This year, Larson is committed to making the start of the race in Charlotte. He’d sure like to arrive, however, fully-hydrated with whole milk – his choice – the beverage traditionally given to the Indy 500 race winner.

Larson’s second Indy 500 go-round on the famed 2.5-mile oval has been markedly different than his debut last year. He’s had a pair of crashes in practice in race preparation and instead of starting from the second row as he did in his debut, he’ll roll off from the seventh row.

However, after Friday’s “Carb Day” final practice, he said he was comfortable with his car and more prepared for what the big race will ask of him. He was among the fastest six drivers in both 10-lap and 20-lap speed.

With a controversy involving two of the fastest cars – Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden – the two-time defending race winner – and his teammate, 2018 winner Will Power, Larson’s quest has shared the big-type headlines. Those two former winners will have to start on the last row after failing inspection prior to pole qualifying last Sunday.

It’s indicative of a starting grid featuring plenty of bold headlines. The race will  showcase the first rookie polesitter – Robert Shwartzman – since 1983. And the season’s most dominant driver, three-time and reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, who has won four of the opening five races, is starting from the second row trying to claim his first ever oval win in the sport’s biggest race.

Having a NASCAR champion like Larson in the race with a competitive team would normally dominate the pre-race talk, but there has been a lot going on. And Larson says that’s fine by him.

“I actually like that a lot,” a smiling Larson said of the other storylines.

“I feel like I get a lot of attention in everything that I do and race, and I don’t really like that because I feel like it takes away from the spotlight of others. This year has been better because I feel like I’ve kind of flown under the radar a little bit more. Not really under the radar, still obviously an important thing, and I have still gotten a lot of coverage. But last year I felt like it was crazy. It’s been good and I like that, more normal.”

Larson is the fifth full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver to attempt “The Double” joining the late John Andretti, Robby Gordon and NASCAR Hall of Famers Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. Of them, Stewart is the only driver to complete all 1,100 laps – that 2001 effort including a sixth place at Indy and a third place at Charlotte – best all-time among those doubling-up.

But there is a lot of optimism and a lot of support for Larson’s effort Sunday.

Most of Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team – crew chief Cliff Daniels and most of his pit crew – came to Indy for Friday’s final two-hour practice, showing their solidarity for this milestone effort.

“Seeing the NASCAR Cup drivers doing it, it’s a really big deal and so awesome to be a part of,” said Eric Ludwig, the jackman on Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

“Kyle is just a racer through and through. Everything in his passion is just to race a car wherever he can, whenever he can and it’s just so cool to be a part of.”

It’s a common theme and one that Larson hopes to reward.

“He’s unique, he’s special, and we’re living in this moment where we’re getting to experience it and will be telling the next generation all about it one day,” NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. said of Larson. “And so hopefully he has a great experience at Indy, represents the NASCAR crowd well with a great run, and we’ll see what he does next.”