Blaney On Future Double Attempt: ‘There’s Always Interest’

Ryan Blaney (John Harrelson/NKP photo)

CONCORD, N.C. – Rain may have squelched the chance for Kyle Larson to complete Double Duty this year, but his attempt during Memorial Day weekend has others thinking about the possibility also.

Reports have already surfaced about two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch starting to seek an Indianapolis 500 opportunity for 2025 – which would be supported by his NASCAR team owner Richard Childress – but Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney is another driver dreaming of doing the double.

Blaney drives in the Cup Series for Roger Penske, the owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the NTT IndyCar Series, as well as a 19-time winner as a car owner of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

He watched Indy car teammates Scott McLaughlin, Will Power, and Josef Newgarden sweep the front row for Sunday’s 108th Indy 500, knowing that he’s with a team that could allow him to race in both the ‘500’ and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at some point in the future.

Asked by Motorsports Hotspot Sunday if there was interest in attempting Double Duty like Larson planned to this year – before rain delayed the start of the Indy 500, of course – the defending Cup Series champion offered a strong affirmative.

“There’s always interest there,” said Blaney. “I think it’s something I’ve always thought about … and racers are always curious about other series, you know? You want to see what the similarities and the differences are between different cars and things like that. Indy cars were something I grew up really enjoying watching, as well as the NASCAR scene, obviously because of my dad [Dave Blaney].

“I loved watching Roger’s [Indy] cars growing up. I actually remember listening on the radio when [Sam] Hornish [Jr.] won the 500 [in 2006], when I was a kid and still going to quarter midget races,” Blaney recalled. “That scene is just something that has always been pretty neat to me. Luckily, I’m with a great group of people to where maybe one day … you never know what could happen.”

Prior to Larson this year, the last driver to attempt Double Duty was Kurt Busch in 2014.

Larson’s plan to race 1,100 miles in a single day was shattered by the morning rain shower at IMS, ultimately deciding to stay for the Indy 500 and foregoing the start to the Coca-Cola 600 because of the delayed start to the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Despite that, Blaney said he has “the utmost respect” for anyone who even makes plans to compete in both historic races in the same year.

“I think it’s really special for anyone that gets to do the double,” he noted. “I remember watching Tony [Stewart] do the double as a kid [in 2001], and I thought that was cool. I watched Kurt do it in ‘14, and now Kyle is doing it. I think it’s awesome.”

Then, Blaney dropped an interesting tidbit – that he’s angling to lean on Penske to allow both he and NTT IndyCar Series star Scott McLaughlin, this year’s Indy 500 polesitter, to do the double in the same year sometime in the not-too-distant future.

“I’ve been trying to start a petition – I don’t know if I should say this or not – but [for] me and Scotty Mac to each do the double,” he tipped. “I don’t think that’s ever been done, where an IndyCar regular has done that … so that’d be kind of neat if both of us could do the double in the same year.

“I know that it’d be a headache for a lot of people over at Team Penske, but man … I think that’d be pretty cool if we could make it happen. But there’s always interest,” he reaffirmed.

“You never know what can happen in the coming years.”