Last week, I saw a blurb on social media that Katherine Legge was planning on doing The Double; you know – race the Indianapolis 500 in the early afternoon, then jet off to Charlotte to run the Coca-Cola 600 that night.
I dismissed it because it came from one of those AI sites that specialize in fake news. These sites are becoming a real problem. They will show an obviously AI-generated photo of AJ Foyt in the hospital, with tubes hanging out of him and proclaiming him to be near death. While you wouldn’t think anyone would pay attention to such garbage, if you read through the comments, there are a lot of gullible people out there believing every word and offering up the obligatory praying hands emoji. If someone posts two praying hands, does that mean they only care half as much as someone who posts four?
Anyway, I paid absolutely no attention to it due to the source. But I guess a blind hog finds an acorn now and then. Wednesday morning, I got a text from a group chat I’m on telling me she was running the double. I even told the group that it was fake. I then started seeing it posted by more credible sites, and I chuckled thinking they had been duped.
But when I saw it posted by IndyCar and IMS, I figured it must be true.
I like Katherine Legge and think she is a far better driver than most give her credit for, but I’m afraid this won’t end well. It rarely does.
The Double has been attempted ten times, by five different drivers. Legge will be the sixth driver making the eleventh attempt. John Andretti did it first, in 1994. He ran as high as third, before finishing tenth in the Indianapolis 500. After boarding a helicopter, he arrived in Charlotte in time for the race, but not for the driver’s meeting – forcing him to start at the back of the field. He had an engine failure on Lap 220 and finished thirty-sixth.
Since then, Robby Gordon attempted The Double five times without ever completeing both. Kurt Busch made an attempt in 2014. He finished sixth at Indianapolis, but had an engine failure halfway through the race. Kyle Larson was the most recent to attempt The Double, last year and also 2024. The 2024 rain –delay at Indianapolis prevented him from driving in the rain-shortened 600. Last year, Larson crashed on Lap 92 – giving him plenty of time to make it to Charlotte. Unfortunately, Larson crashed on Lap 245 in the 600.
As it stands, Tony Stewart is the only driver to complete all 1,100 miles. He did it on his second attempt at The Double, in 2001. He finished sixth at Indianapolis and third in Charlotte. He had to be helped from his carin Charlotte, and sat beside his car with a wet towel draped over his head in exhaustion.
This will be Katherine Legge’s fifth Indianapolis 500. She was running at the end of her first two; one lap down in 2012, and seven laps down in 2013. In 2023, she crashed on Lap 42, and in 2024 she dropped out on Lap 22. I’m not sure she is in the best of equipment, being in the third car at Foyt; but I think it is far better than what she is driving in NASCAR.
Last week, Legge drove in the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen. She started thirty-eighth and finished thirty-fifth. Is that more of a reflection of her team or her current skills. Katherine Legge is roughly the same age as Will Power and Scott Dixon, but the difference is she is driving sporadically, while those two are driving the full seasons.
As we’ve seen from drivers far more accomplished than she is, it’s tough to complete The Double. From what we saw from Tony Stewart, fatigue takes over. Given her age and lack of experience in either cars (her main job is sports car racing) and the fact that her equipment for both races might be questionable; I just don’t see how this will end well.
You have to think that he main goal in each race is not to win or even have a good finish – it is probably just to finish, no matter how many laps down she is. Which begs the question…if she finishes five laps down in the 500, and six laps down in the 600; that’s only 1,078.5 miles. Does that count as completing the 1,100-mile Double?
Personally, I would have preferred she focus exclusively on her 500 campaign. But as hard as this is to believe, she didn’t check with me before agreeing to do this. I wish her the best of luck in both races. I just hope she stays safe.
George Phillips
