This weekend features the biggest day in American auto racing as the Sunday before Memorial Day includes both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. These are two distinct forms of racing in two states, and only five drivers have attempted “The Double,” with Tony Stewart (2001) the only one to complete all 1,100 miles in a single day.
Amazon Prime Video’s Kyle Larson vs. The Double is a documentary about Larson’s attempts in 2024 and 2025. Director Cynthia Hill was embedded with Larson, his family, and his team to chronicle his run at history. Hill knows her way around the track. She directed Road to Race Day, an eight-part docuseries covering Hendrick Motorsports’ 2016 drivers and teams. We recently caught up with Hill to discuss her new documentary.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
How would you convince someone to watch Kyle Larson vs. The Double?
Cynthia Hill: “I guess it would depend on whether they are a fan of Kyle Larson or of motorsports in general, or if they’re just the spouse on the couch. I think it’s high-energy, and it’s not just about racing; it is a character-driven portrait of an individual who’s trying to do something almost impossible. And it is one of those films that, at its core, is really about what happens when life refuses to follow a script.”
Is it a tough sell if racing fans already know how this story ends?
“Because of the access, it offers an audience the opportunity to go on this journey and gain insight into what it takes to attempt something like this. I think what you see on TV is just a surface-level presentation. It’s kind of like a highlight reel, almost. This film really dives deep, getting to know Kyle and understanding what it takes.
“We’re there for those unpolished moments. We’re there for the excitement. We’re there for the extreme disappointments. And I think it is one of those films that surprises you with how much you didn’t know about what you thought you knew.”
“Win one race, and then you just become addicted again.”
Kyle Larson vs. The Double is now streaming pic.twitter.com/MzZ0hnmoKD
— Prime Video (@PrimeVideo) May 21, 2026
How did you become involved in this?
“I had made a series with Hendrick Motorsports when we followed the 2016 season with their teams. The name of that was Road to Race Day. So I had developed a good relationship with the folks there. And when they were getting ready to announce his attempt at The Double, they really wanted to document it. I think that, because of the work I had done with them in the past, I was kind of an obvious choice for them. When they called me, though, I actually had to Google what The Double was because I did not know. But once I dug a little bit deeper into it and understood its high-stakes nature, I felt like, who wouldn’t want the opportunity to embed with someone attempting this?”
What were the logistical challenges?
“Trying to keep up with him. This man races a lot. He is on a dirt track several times during the week. He’s doing NASCAR races on the weekends. Just keeping up with him, trying to plan travel around him or with him, and jockeying for seats on a plane or a helicopter when he is in transit. Those kinds of logistics became a lot to wrangle. There’s a lot of planning that goes into play for him just to get from point A to point B. And then you throw a film crew in there, trying to also be with him from point A to point B. There was a lot to wrangle.”
What was different about covering the first attempt compared with the second?
“In the first attempt, everything was new to him. It was the first time he had a seat fitting in an IndyCar. It was the first time he did a Sims for an Indy track or in a car. It was all firsts. The first time he was on the track in an IndyCar. So, there were just a ton of firsts in the 2024 season. And the second year, it didn’t have that same kind of wide-eyed newness that the first year had for sure. And I think the first year had a lot more media attention on him. And so that kind of added pressure was obvious that year. I think the second year, there was less of that.”
Prime Video’s ‘Kyle Larson vs. The Double’ focuses on drive to achieve but sidesteps controversy https://t.co/RCNeHT2eTL
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 19, 2026
Did it take any convincing to have his wife, Katelyn, be part of the documentary?
“I don’t think it took a lot of convincing. We developed a pretty good relationship pretty early on. The film and the main crew I work with are all women. So it was easy to go be gal pals with Katelyn a lot. And I think that was new for her, because she gets asked to participate in content as Kyle’s wife, I’m sure, quite often. But not to the degree of the amount of time we wanted to spend with them.”
What was it like asking him about 2020, when he was fired and suspended for using a racial slur during a live-streamed virtual race?
“I knew it was a moment in his life that had a huge impact. And I wasn’t really sure, from the material I had seen online, what his take was going to be once we sat down and started talking about that specific incident. So, he wasn’t prepared for it. I didn’t send him a list of, ‘Oh, these are the things we’re going to cover today.’ But when we talked about it, we had been with him for over a year. So, it was not one of the first things we discussed.”
Did you consider including Black drivers or professors in the documentary to provide their perspectives?
“We did. And it was a topic of many internal conversations we had with the film team about how best to ensure we addressed it authentically. But we also understood that, stylistically, the film we were making was an in-the-moment film. And again, the people who were involved are on the screen. They were the people who were part of his story, The Double story. So ultimately, it just didn’t seem like it would fit in this.”
#NASCAR… When @KyleLarsonRacin won the 2024 #Brickyard400, only a three-person crew was at IMS filming some pickup shots. Cynthia Hill recounts her experience of that day, and how her small film crew had to react.
Kyle Larson Vs The Double is streaming now on @PrimeVideo. pic.twitter.com/fQgNW3M7Dt
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) May 21, 2026
What is the main takeaway you hope viewers gain from your documentary?
“The perseverance and resilience under that kind of pressure. And that life is messy. I think for Kyle, who has the shortest memory of anybody I’ve ever known about a mistake that he made in a race, he’s able to just look forward. That is a good lesson for people who are trying to pursue something that might be difficult. Just keep going forward.”
Is it possible that Kyle Larson attempts The Double again?
“We just flew together to the premiere screening in Indianapolis. We had this exact conversation, and he said that while he is in NASCAR, driving for championships and worried about points, he will not attempt it again. But yes, he would love to do the Indianapolis 500 again when that pressure is not there.”
Kyle Larson vs. The Double is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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