Kyle Larson and his teams moved Heaven and Earth to give him a shot at running two of motorsport’s crown jewels in one day on May 26th, 2024: the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. Unfortunately, inclement weather ended his chance of being the first driver since Kurt Busch in 2014 to attempt 1,100 miles of racing on Memorial Day weekend. While Larson completed the delayed Indy 500 and beelined for Charlotte, he missed out on driving his No. 5 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1 in the 600, which was, ironically, also on hold due to inclement weather and eventually called off completely.
Justin Allgaier, Xfinity Series regular, stepped up to drive Larson’s race car while the latter was tied up at Indy. The No. 5 NASCAR Chevy was forced to start at the rear of the field when the green flag dropped on the Coca-Cola 600 due to the driver swap, but Allgaier managed to race his way just outside the top 10. He was running 13th when weather hit Charlotte (possibly the same storm that wreaked havoc at Indy) and red-flagged the race.
Larson, who finished 18th at Indy, landed just in time for rain to drench the track. After waiting around for several hours, NASCAR finally declared track drying efforts hopeless, and since the race was 249 laps in – well past the halfway point – officials called it and gave the win to Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry.
“So much time, money, and effort went into this experience and it just kills me to have it all end the way it did. I feel like I let so many people down,” Larson said in a post on social media. “We knew all along weather could throw a wrench into things but seeing it come to reality is a horrible feeling. Up until Sunday it was truly one of the greatest experiences of my life.”
William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Camaro, led The Bow Tie at Charlotte, finishing third after leading 49 laps.
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Rheem Toyota | 249 | 90 | Toyota TRD Camry |
2 | 30 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | BuildSubmarines.com Ford | 249 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
3 | 2 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Patriotic Chevrolet | 249 | 49 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
4 | 8 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | The Beast Unleashed Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
5 | 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Mavis Tire Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
6 | 1 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy/Interstate Batteries Toyota | 249 | 74 | Toyota TRD Camry |
7 | 5 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Patriotic Chevrolet | 249 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
8 | 7 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Jockey x Folds of Honor Chevrolet | 249 | 10 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
9 | 6 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Patriotic Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
10 | 13 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Overstock.com Ford | 249 | 7 | Ford Mustang |
11 | 12 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | MoneyLion Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
12 | 4 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 249 | 8 | Toyota TRD Camry |
13 | 10 | 5 | Justin Allgaier(i) | HendrickCars.com H1100 Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
14 | 28 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
15 | 15 | 8 | Kyle Busch | zone Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
16 | 9 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Walmart/RTIC Ford | 249 | 6 | Ford Mustang |
17 | 35 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Quincy Compressor Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
18 | 24 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
19 | 34 | 43 | Erik Jones | Family Dollar Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
20 | 17 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Duracell Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
21 | 20 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
22 | 22 | 51 | Justin Haley | The Cleaning Authority Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
23 | 39 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
24 | 14 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
25 | 18 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
26 | 31 | 41 | Ryan Preece | HaasTooling.com Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
27 | 27 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
28 | 36 | 16 | Shane Van Gisbergen(i) | WeatherTech Chevrolet | 249 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
29 | 29 | 84 | * Jimmie Johnson | AdventHealth Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
30 | 26 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Dollar Tree Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
31 | 23 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Irish Spring Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
32 | 32 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
33 | 25 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
34 | 33 | 15 | Kaz Grala # | N29 Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
35 | 21 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Chili's Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
36 | 38 | 50 | * Ty Dillon(i) | AmeriVet Securities Chevrolet | 247 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
37 | 37 | 66 | * BJ McLeod(i) | Truan Equipment Ford | 241 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
38 | 19 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Bass Pro Shops Winchester Ford | 170 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
39 | 16 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | BodyArmor Flash I.V. Ford | 143 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
40 | 40 | 44 | * JJ Yeley(i) | Beard Vet Coffee Chevrolet | 114 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comment
I was hoping Larson would get to try the double. Too bad! He drove pretty well at Indy, but the pit road penalty killed his chances to finish at the front.