After 251 of the 400 scheduled laps, Christopher Bell was declared the winner of the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, Kyle Larson’s attempt at an Indianapolis-Charlotte double was rained out.
Bell led for 90 laps and was the race leader when the race was red-flagged for bad weather at 9:31 p.m. local time at Charlotte Motor Speedway. A lightning delay during the third of four stages turned into an approximately two-hour rain delay that lasted well into the night. Workers attempted to dry the track in time to finish the race, but officials called the race over at 11:30 p.m. local time with 149 laps incomplete.
Brad Keselowski secured second place, while William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top 5. Last year’s winner, Ryan Blaney, suffered damage to the right front of his car after blowing a tire and retired from the race on the 143rd lap. He finished in 39th place out of 40 drivers.
The shortened race, combined with a weather delay early Sunday in Indianapolis, ruined Larson’s effort to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. His backup driver Justin Allgaier, a regular on the Xfinity Series circuit, earned a 13th-place finish in Larson’s No. 5 car.
Kyle Larson was denied the chance to achieve the Indy-Charlotte double
Larson began Sunday with the goal of covering 1,100 total miles in both races. Thanks to a four-hour weather delay at the Indianapolis 500, he was unable to make it to Charlotte in time to start the race.
Larson earned an 18th-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 and traveled to Charlotte hoping to take over his car from Allgaier for the final 151 laps.
Crazy race from Indianapolis to Charlotte
After finishing in Indianapolis, Larson left the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a helicopter to board a private jet bound for Charlotte.
After landing in Charlotte, he took another helicopter to Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he ran onto the track to prepare to take over.
Kyle Larson lands at Charlotte Motor Speedway by helicopter and then by golf cart to the pits just as the Coca-Cola 600 hits a weather delay. Larson finished 18th in the Indy 500 this afternoon and will take over the No. 5 car with 151 laps remaining. #nascar pic.twitter.com/I3U6dtwFvm
– Pat Welter WRAL (@PatrickWelter) May 27, 2024
But he arrived just in time due to the weather delay and did not run a single lap.
The decision to race at Indianapolis after the weather delay had a lot riding on it for Larson, who entered Sunday as the points leader in the NASCAR Cup standings. Larson is vying for his second NASCAR Cup title after winning his first in 2021.
Drivers must start in each race to be eligible for the playoffs. Is widely believed that Larson will receive an exemption from that rule, but it’s not a certainty. And he will not receive driver points for Sunday’s race.
Larson was attempting to become the fifth driver to compete in both the Coca-Cola 600 and the Indianapolis 500 on the same day. Kurt Busch was the last to compete in both races in 2014. Tony Stewart did it twice in 1999 and 2001. Robby Gordon did it five times (1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004).
John Andretti was the first to complete the feat in 1994. The double was made possible when lights were installed at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1992, allowing the race to be held after sunset.
