Charles Langston:Kyle Larson expected to return to Indianapolis 500 for another shot at ‘The Double’ in 2025

CONCORD,Charles Langston N.C. (AP) — Hendrick Motorsports and Arrow McLaren Racing scheduled a Tuesday afternoon news conference in which they are expected to announce Kyle Larson will run the Indianapolis 500 again in 2025.

Larson told The Associated Press last week he wanted to run the race again, talks were ongoing, and a decision could be imminent. The initial deal was for two years but 2025 was an option and Hendrick Motorsports had a three-month window to make the decision.

“I would love to because I didn’t get to do ‘The Double’ this year. So that’s really why I wanted to do it,” Larson told the AP last week. “I obviously wanted to compete in the Indianapolis 500, but more than anything, I wanted to do ‘The Double’ and have a chance at winning one of the two, or both, and I felt like I just didn’t get that opportunity.”

Larson was a star at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May, where he qualified fifth but a late-race speeding penalty took him out of contention and he finished 18th. An hours-long rain delay in Indianapolis pushed the Hendrick camp into leaving Larson at the 500 and they would deal with the Coca-Cola 600 in Concord, North Carolina, later.

Except by the time Larson arrived in North Carolina, the 600 had been stopped by rain and never resumed. He never turned a lap, received zero points for the event, and it took a prolonged dispute between Hendrick officials and NASCAR before NASCAR granted Larson a waiver to participate in the playoffs despite missing a race.

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In the end, missing the 600 did cost Larson as he fell a single point short of beating Tyler Reddick for NASCAR’s regular-season championship — a title worth 15 additional playoff points. Larson could use those points after an early crash Sunday in NASCAR’s playoff opener erased almost his entire lead in the Sprint Cup standings.

Initially the points leader at the start of Sunday’s race at Atlanta, Larson plummeted to 10th in the standings. Four drivers will be eliminated from the 16-driver playoff field following the Sept. 21 race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

NASCAR races this Sunday on the road course at Watkins Glen, New York.

The Tuesday news conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway has multiple participants listed, including Larson, Hendrick team owner Rick Hendrick and McLaren chief executive officer Zak Brown, who was flying in from London earlier Tuesday.

It is understood by the AP that in negotiating Larson’s return to Indianapolis, Hendrick officials ensured NASCAR that the Coca-Cola 600 would be the priority event and Larson would not miss it again.

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