The Double (auto Racing)
Double Duty, also referred to as the Indy-Charlotte Double or Memorial Day Double, refers to an accomplishment in automobile racing in which a driver competes in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day. The feat was first attempted by John Andretti on May 29, 1994. In 2001, Tony Stewart became the first and only driver to date to successfully complete all 1,100 miles of both races in the same day. The two races, organized by separate sanctioning bodies - IndyCar and NASCAR respectively - are held on Memorial Day weekend, and are considered two of the biggest annual events on the U.S. motorsports calendar.
The "Double Duty" calls for a driver to compete at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana in the early afternoon, then take an airplane to Charlotte, North Carolina to race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the evening. The feat is considered difficult on face, as well as physically draining and mentally demanding. Considerable media attention usually spotlights a driver who attempts the "Double Duty."
Three drivers (John Andretti, Robby Gordon, and Tony Stewart) have attempted the "Double Duty" feat. Donnie Allison competed in both events in a year in which they were held on successive days.
Read more about The Double (auto Racing): Logistics, Other Uses of The Term
Famous quotes containing the word double:
“Actually being married seemed so crowded with unspoken rules and odd secrets and unfathomable responsibilities that it had no more occurred to her to imagine being married herself than it had to imagine driving a motorcycle or having a job. She had, however, thought about being a bride, which had more to do with being the center of attention and looking inexplicably, temporarily beautiful than it did with sharing a double bed with someone with hairy legs and a drawer full of boxer shorts.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)