Larry McReynolds reacts to Kyle Larson double attempt: 'There's no way he's 100-percent'

Kyle Larson made some uncharacteristic mistakes in this past Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Larson, who started second, hit the wall while leading the race during Stage 1 and went for a spin on his own on Lap 42.

This was Larson’s second time inside a race car that day as just hours earlier, he competed in the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500. Larson was attempting to become just the second driver to run the full 1,100 miles in one day. Given the weeks of preparation leading up to the Indy 500 and the race itself, FOX Sports analyst Larry McReynolds believes Larson wasn’t 100-percent when he started the Coca-Cola 600.

“There’s no way he was 100-percent when he got back to Charlotte. … He’s human,” McReynolds said on Tuesday’s Door Bumper Clear podcast. “He may be a freak of nature, but he’s human. … He’s a human being and no matter how well prepared, there is no way when he cranked that engine in the Coke 600, that he was 100-percent. It’s just not possible.”

Larson did not finish the Indy 500 before arriving to Charlotte. He crashed on Lap 91, prematurely ending his bid at the Double. He was credited with a 27th-place result. Even if he hadn’t crashed out of the race, Rick Hendrick would have had to pull him out of the race car. Larson had to leave by roughly 4:00 p.m. ET to make it to Charlotte. There were still 50 laps to go less than 10 minutes away from the top of the hour.

Kyle Larson unsure about another Indy-Charlotte Double attempt

If Larson didn’t arrive to Charlotte in time to start the Coca-Cola 600, he would have forfeited all of his playoff points for the entire season. That would have ended his chances of competing for a Cup Series Championship. It’s part of the reason why McReynolds feels it’s harder than ever to attempt the Double.

“This is not to take anything away from John Andretti who did it in 1994, Tony [Stewart] then did it with some success, Robby Gordon, most recently Kurt Busch — I think it’s harder to do it now. Those Indy cars are not driving well. Look at the cars that wrecked in practice. Kyle Larson wrecked twice,” McReynolds said. “Let’s face it, this Gen-7 car is no piece of cake to drive, just ask Kyle Busch. So, I just think it’s harder and harder to do what he’s trying to do regardless of the logistics of how tight the time frame is.”

Larson is unsure if a third Double attempt is in the cards. He called it a “tough undertaking.”

“I don’t know,” Larson said. “It’s so fresh right now I don’t really have a good answer for you. The Double is just a tough undertaking. The window of time is too tight. Even if I didn’t wreck, I don’t think I would have made it here on time and probably would have had to end that race short anyways.

“So, I don’t really think it’s worth it. But I would love to run the Indy 500 again. Just doing the Double I think is just logistically too tough.”