Indiana’s lack of glamour is a degree of satisfaction, rooted in Midwestern practicality and countless flat fields of corn.
These days, although, the Hoosier state has been elevated by towering sports activities figures. And on Sunday, two would be the recent faces of the Indianapolis 500, which attracts extra spectators than some other single-day sporting occasion on the earth.
Indiana Fever celebrity Caitlin Clark would be the grand marshal. Nationwide championship-winning Indiana soccer coach Curt Cignetti will drive the honorary tempo automotive.
However even these excessive achievers is perhaps awestruck by one of many race automotive drivers. Or at the least what that driver will try.
Not solely will Katherine Legge be the one girl among the many 33 drivers within the Indy 500, which begins at 9:45 a.m. PT on Sunday. The 45-year-old motorsports trailblazer from England will then fly to Charlotte to race within the NASCAR Cup’s Coca-Cola 600, which begins at 3:29 p.m. PT.
That’s 1,100 miles of left turns round two oval tracks.
On the identical day.
As spectacular as enterprise what is thought merely as “The Double” are Legge’s journey plans from Indianapolis to Charlotte. 5 hours and 44 minutes separate the begins of the 2 races. The Indy 500 takes longer than three hours to finish. The commute will take shut to 2 hours.
Legge plans to hustle. She’s going to hop right into a helicopter moments after the Indy 500 and head to a close-by personal jet that can zip her 366 miles to Harmony Airport close to Charlotte in an hour. One other helicopter will drop her onto the Charlotte Motor Speedway infield. A golf cart will take a beeline to her Chevrolet Camaro in time for the inexperienced flag.
No less than that’s the plan.
“Being targeted for a three-to-four-hour IndyCar race then a five-hour NASCAR race, it’s the identical as driving from New York to Daytona Seaside just about at, gosh, a median of 200 miles an hour,” Legge stated. “You can’t lose focus for a second of any of that. I don’t assume anyone can comprehend that.”
Legge is the primary girl and solely the sixth driver general to try The Double. Though her profession has included IMSA sports activities vehicles and System E along with IndyCar and NASCAR, she has by no means tried something this difficult.
John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson and (relaxation in peace) Kurt Busch are the others who’ve tried.
Larson is the newest, ending 18th within the Indy 500 and thirty seventh within the Coca-Cola 600 a 12 months in the past. He additionally tried in 2024 however didn’t get to his automotive in time in Charlotte due to a rain delay in Indianapolis.
The documentary “Kyle Larson vs. The Double” premiered Wednesday on Prime Video. It follows the two-time NASCAR Cup Collection champion by means of preparation, logistics and grueling actuality of getting by means of the day.
Legge is starting to narrate.
“I used to be fascinated about what I’m going to do with a hybrid technique concurrently telling individuals about how I’m going to do the double,” she stated. “It’s this bizarre disconnect, proper? The place you’re like, ‘That’s so cool.’ And conceptually, you understand precisely what’s concerned, however it doesn’t sink in.”
Busch, who tragically died at 41 on Thursday from an undetermined sickness, turned in a valiant effort in 2014, ending sixth within the Indy 500 regardless of having restricted expertise in IndyCar. Engine issues torpedoed his probabilities within the Coca-Cola 600, nonetheless, and he accomplished solely 271 of 400 laps on the 1.5-mile monitor.
“It was a problem I put forth for myself,” Busch stated. “I loved it. I soaked it in.”
Solely as soon as in 5 makes an attempt did Gordon full each races, ending eighth in Indianapolis and sixteenth in Charlotte in 2002. A 12 months earlier, Stewart turned in probably the most spectacular double, ending sixth at Indy and third at Charlotte.
Andretti was pioneer of The Double in 1994, ending a good tenth earlier than flying to Charlotte with a nurse and registered dietitian to make sure he stayed hydrated. Andretti was penalized for lacking the drivers’ assembly, nonetheless, and despatched from the No. 9 beginning place to the rear of the sphere. He crashed and withdrew on the 91st lap.
Content material with one race Sunday might be defending Indy 500 winner Álex Palou, who will begin on the pole after a four-lap qualifying common of 232.248 mph. Six completely different drivers have received the race in consecutive years.
Legge, who might be racing in her fifth Indy 500, will begin within the No. 26 place. Actor and Indianapolis native Brendan Fraser would be the honorary starter and wave the inexperienced flag. Will probably be the start of an exhausting day.
“Actually, I’m doing it as a result of it’s a very cool factor to do, and it’s sort of like this old-school epic badge of honor that you just get for doing each races in someday,” Legge informed Fox Sports activities. “I’m not doing it to go away a legacy.
“You are able to do something that you just put your thoughts to if you need it sufficient. It will be remiss of me to not take that accountability critically, however on the identical time, that’s not why I got down to do it. I got down to do it as a result of I like to race.”
