Indianapolis 500 - NASCAR Drivers in The 500

NASCAR Drivers in The 500

In the 1960s and early 1970s, the Indy 500 and the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway were held on different days of the week. A handful of NASCAR regulars participated in both events in the same year, including Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough, and Lee Roy Yarbrough. From 1974-1992, the two events were scheduled for the same day and same starting time, making participation in both impossible. A few stock car drivers during that time, namely Neil Bonnett in 1979, nevertheless still attempted to qualify at Indy, even if that meant skipping Charlotte altogether.

From 1994 to 2004, several NASCAR drivers were able to compete in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in the same day. Since 1993, the Coca-Cola 600 has been scheduled in the evening the same day as the Indy 500. The effort has been known as "Double Duty."

At the conclusion of the Indy 500, drivers would catch a helicopter directly from the Speedway to the Indianapolis International Airport. From there they would fly to Concord Regional Airport, and ride a helicopter to the NASCAR race. John Andretti, Tony Stewart, and Robby Gordon, attempted the feat. In 2001, Tony Stewart became the only driver to complete the full race distance (1100 miles) in both races on the same day.

For 2005, the start of Indianapolis was pushed back to 1 p.m. EDT to improve television ratings. This significantly closed the window for a driver to be able to race both events in the same day. (The race's original starting time had been set at 11 a.m. EST - 12 noon EDT - because in 1911, race promoters estimated it would take six hours to complete the event, and they did not want the race to finish too close to suppertime. Nowadays the race is routinely completed in under three and one-half hours.)

Two drivers, Mario Andretti and A. J. Foyt, have won the Indianapolis 500 and have also won NASCAR's premiere event, the Daytona 500. Indy 500 winner Johnny Rutherford once won one of the Daytona 500 qualifying races.

In 2010, Bruton Smith (owner of Speedway Motorsports, Inc.), offered $20,000,000 to any driver, IndyCar or NASCAR, who can win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day starting in 2011 - a feat that has never been done before. For 2011, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway moved the start time of the Indy 500 back to 12 noon EDT, which re-opened the window for travel. However, no drivers stepped forward to attempt the double duty.