The history of the Indianapolis 500-Charlotte double
This weekend, Kyle Larson has the opportunity to join a short list of drivers who have done “the double,” racing in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day/year.
Before 1974, the Indianapolis 500 was held on May 30 every year. Meanwhile, the Coca-Cola 600 (then called the World 600) was held on the Sunday before Memorial Day. That meant it was much easier for drivers to do both races.
From 1967-1971, Cale Yarborough, Jerry Grant, Donnie Allison and LeeRoy Yarbrough did just that.
Cale Yarborough was the first driver in 1967. He finished 41st in the World 600 with a broken steering wheel. Then, two days later, he finished 17th after spinning and then crashing out late in the Indianapolis 500.
Jerry Grant finished 23rd in the 1968 Indianapolis 500, four days after finishing 12th at Charlotte.
LeeRoy Yarbrough, meanwhile won the 1969 World 600 and finished 23rd in the Indianapolis 500 a few days later. The next year, in 1970, Yarbrough finished 19th at Indy and 29th at Charlotte.
However, Donnie Allison one-upped him that year. Allison finished fourth in the Indianapolis 500 after winning the World 600.
Allison was successful again in 1971, finishing sixth in the 500 and second in the 600.
The Indianapolis 500 moved to the Sunday before Memorial Day in 1974, the same day the Coke 600 was typically scheduled for.
The same day double duty in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600
20 years later, a driver finally attempted to do both events on the same day.
In 1994, John Andretti became the first driver to do the same day double of racing the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600.
Andretti earned a 10th-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 before finishing a disappointing 36th, 180 laps down, in the Coca-Cola 600.
Davy Jones attempted the feat in 1995, but failed to qualify for the 600. He finished 23rd after completing 161 laps in the 500.
Robby Gordon was next in 1997. He finished 29th after just 19 laps in the 500, then 41st after 186 laps in the 600.
In 2000 and 2002, Gordon did The Double again. Both times, he finished on the lead lap in the Indianapolis 500, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively. The 600 was a different story as he finished 35th, 11 laps down, in 2000, and 16th, one lap down, in 2002.
Gordon also did The Double in 2003 and 2004 to less-than-stellar results. In 2003, he finished 22nd, 31 laps down in the 500, before finishing 17th, a lap down, in the 600.
In 2004, Robby Gordon finished 20th, three laps down, in the 600, after Jacques Lazier carried the torch for him in the 500. Gordon stepped out during a rain delay to go to Charlotte, giving way to Lazier who only wheeled the car until a mechanical issue near lap 88, finishing 29th in the rain-shortened 500.
Tony Stewart did The Double multiple times during Gordon’s time. He did it in 1999 and 2001.
For the same-day double, Stewart has the best average finish. In 1999, Stewart finished ninth (four laps down) in the Indianapolis 500, and fourth in the Coca-Cola 600. Then in 2001, he finished on the lead lap in both races, coming home sixth in the 500 and third in the 600.
Kurt Busch was the most recent to do it in 2014. He finished sixth on the lead lap in the Indianapolis 500 but then fell out of the Coca-Cola 600 with a blown engine after completing 271 of 400 laps.
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