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Kelly Crandall - May 24, 2025, 2:37 PM EDT
Gordon IS Adamant Larson 'is going to be here' for start of Coke 600
Jeff Gordon is adamant. He has the driving suit and the rubber mask just in case..
Kyle Larson will be at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the start of Sunday night’s Coca Cola 600.
“He is going to be here for driver introductions at 5:25pm – that’s the call,” Gordon said of the double attempt. “The call is that we know exactly how to back it up from there. What time he has to be leaving, taking off from Indianapolis, to get here. That’s all that matters.”
The call in 2024 was for Larson to stay in Indianapolis with Arrow McLaren and run the Indianapolis 500. The race was delayed due to rain and forced Larson to miss the start of the NASCAR Cup Series race. The same weather cell then moved over Charlotte Motor Speedway and ended one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events before Larson could get in the car and finish the race; he was standing in his pit box when the rain began.
Sunday, Larson starts 19th in his second Indianapolis 500. Weather Underground currently calls for a few showers and a 30 percent chance of rain at noon in Indianapolis, but the chance then decrease in the following hours. There is a 17 percent chance of rain in Concord, North Carolina, at 6 p.m. ET for the start of the Coca-Cola 600.
“At this point, we can’t predict red flags, caution flags, or anything else other than that time,” Gordon continued. “And that’s what is different this year from last year. Last year, as the rain started coming and the delays starting coming, it started being a factor of, 'OK, how do you take this opportunity from Kyle Larson and the team, everybody that has worked so hard for this one and only shot at racing in the Indy 500, especially now that the track is starting to dry, and it starting to clear up?'
“We took into account at that point, yes, he’s going to miss the start of the 600, but we still had the plan to get him here and get him in the car and finish the race. That’s what bit us, really, was that [cell] on both sides. That is just not the case this year.”