Dale Earnhardt Jr. never did the double, and it’s one of his biggest regrets from his time racing at NASCAR’s highest level.
During a recent episode of SPEED With Kevin Harvick and Fox IndyCar announcer Will Buxton, Jr. spoke about a multitude of topics, and during the conversation when asked if there was anything he regretted not doing while he was still a full-time Cup Series driver, Jr. had a very interesting answer.
He said that he wished he would’ve done “The Double,” which is a grueling attempt at completing both the Indianapolis 500 (IndyCar) and the Coca-Cola 600 (NASCAR) on the same day, which is always on Memorial Day Sunday. It totals 1,100-miles, and of course, because the races are on the same day, it requires flying between Indianapolis and Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, which makes for an incredibly long day, even if all goes decently well, and it’s really hard to pull off
Jr. explained that he’d had chances to run laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but he never took them up on it, and he joked that now he’s going to get a bunch of offers to do so but “that ship has sailed”:
“IndyCar. I’ve had some chances to just run laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a car, and I should’ve. And I always kind of wondered what that would feel like, and just saying that now, I’m probably going to get another couple of offers, but that ship has sailed.”
He added that even if he never did Double Duty in the way most fans think about it, he should’ve just run some laps to get a feel for it:
“I wish I would’ve done that, really, because when I was younger, in my 30s, I had some opportunities just to go feel it. Not really go race. I don’t need to go race, but I just really would love to know what that car feels like going around such a historic racetrack.”
There are a handful of drivers that have attempted it over the years, including Tony Stewart, AJ Foyt, Juan Pablo Montoya, James Allmendinger, Jimmie Johnson, Danica Patrick, Kurt Busch, and even Mario Andretti, just to name a few, though most of them weren’t overly successful.
Tony Stewart is widely considered the most successful driver to do both races 2001, as he is the only driver to finish all 1,100 miles in both races on the same day, finishing 6th at Indy and 3rd in Charlotte that year. The most recent and current NASCAR Cup Series driver to attempt it, reigning champion Kyle Larson, attempted “Double Duty” in 2024 and 2025.
Dale Jr. remains one of the most popular drivers of all-time, and even though he never won a championship, he is a Hall of Fame driver who won 26 races in the Cup Series and back-to-back championships in the Xfinity (then called the Busch Series). He was also voted the Most Popular Driver 15 consecutive times while racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, as his streak began in 2003 and continued every year until his retirement from full-time racing in 2017.
You have to imagine the fans would have LOVED to see Jr. do this back in his prime, but again, there’s so much effort, time and money that goes into attempting this and it’s a big reason why not everyone does.
But I like to think Jr. would’ve pulled it off and done really well had he ever decided to go all-in and give it a try…
