Not many drivers get to race in both the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500 in the same year, but NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson did exactly that in 2024 and 2025.

For the last two seasons, Larson has dared to complete ‘The Double’, which saw him attempt to complete both the Indy 500 in IndyCar and the Coca-Cola 600 in NASCAR on the very same day.

While the Coca-Cola 600 is a huge event, the Daytona 500 is the biggest on the Cup Series schedule, and so Larson is in a unique position of being able to offer a modern take on the main differences between racing in NASCAR’s premier event and IndyCar’s.

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Kyle Larson on Daytona 500 and Indy 500

Speaking ahead of this season’s Daytona 500, Larson said it was unfair to compare them and that both were special in their own right, but also revealed some of the big differences between the two.

“Well, they’re different,” Larson explained on the SPEED with Harvick and Buxton podcast.

“So it’s like, I don’t think it’s fair to like try to compare them in a way, and I don’t want people to hear me describe the two of them and think that I’m making one out to be better than the other, because I truly feel like they’re both equally amazing.

“I would say the Indy 500, they do like the drivers meeting on the frontstretch, and there’s fans, and they give each driver a ring that has their average qualifying speed and stuff. So like there’s a little bit of gifts and things that I think make the [Indy] 500 special.

“But then you also get similar pageantry and prestige of this race [Daytona 500] too. I feel like the media day is a little bit more fancy here. It’s similar, but a little bit more fancy here.”

Larson: Indy 500 build-up makes race feel huge

Aside from the pageantry and media duties, Larson explained that another big difference was the buildup to the events.

The 2026 Indy 500, for example, officially kicks off with opening day practice on May 12 this year, and culminates in the race on May 24 – a 12-day build-up. However, the Daytona 500 in February was only spread from February 11-15, with the Clash exhibition having been moved away from Daytona the week prior.

“And then Daytona is just a shorter week now,” Larson continued. “Like, it’s not two weeks like it used to be [before the Clash exhibition was moved], so now you rush through it.

“It’s just [the] Indy 500 is a really slow ramp up to the race, which makes the race feel really big, whereas here, it’s like boom, we’re straight into qualifying, duels, and then boom, the race, so it’s like a quick build up.

“They’re both unique and both fun.”

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