Donnie Allison did the double best

Amid the talk about how Kurt Busch might fare in this year's Indianapolis 500 as the first pure NASCAR driver to "do the double" in a long time, here's a not-so-trivial question for you: Who is the all-time maestro of the Indy-Charlotte combo in May?

Donnie Allison remains the most successful NASCAR driver ever in the 500 and retains the best combined record for both the 500 and 600.

He had a secret, which we'll reveal in a minute — one neither Busch nor any other pure NASCAR driver ever at Indy, except for Bobby Allison, Donnie's older brother, has had.

Donnie in 1970 won the 600 on May 24 and then finished fourth at Indy on May 30, earning rookie of the year honors and recording what remains the highest finish ever by a NASCAR driver there. Yes, he had six days in between, where Busch will attempt to run both races on the same day, but Allison drove Indy with a badly burned heel on his throttle foot, suffered at Charlotte.

In 1971, Allison had the fastest car going into the 500 and might have won Indy if not for a race-morning technical rules change. As it was, he finished sixth at Indy on May 29 and then flew by private jet to Charlotte, where he finished second on May 30. So first and fourth in '70, second and sixth in '71. More at ESPN