Driver Kyle Larson wanted to make history over the weekend, but the weather had other ideas.
Larson made the rare attempt to finish the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina on the same day in a feat called the “double.”
However, the Indy Race was delayed for four hours, thwarting Larson’s plans to start both races. Larson finished 18th in the Indianapolis 500. Meanwhile, NASCAR was forced to end the Coca-Cola 600 after 249 of 400 laps were complete because of rain.
Larson could not hide his disappointment of not being able to compete in both races because of the weather.
“I’m very, very thankful for the experience obviously—everything about the two weeks [at Indy] and all that was great until today,” Larson said. “It’s just sad. Everything that could have went wrong today, went wrong. Hopefully, I get to do it again in the future and hopefully the weather is better.”
At the Indianapolis 500, Josef Newgarden became just the sixth driver to win the Indianapolis 500 for two consecutive years, holding off Pato O’Ward. Newgarden became the first repeat winner since Helio Castroneves won the Indy 500 in 2001 and 2002 for Team Penske, which has a record of 20 victories at the track.
“I knew we could win this race again,” Newgarden said. “There’s just no better way to win this race than that. I’ve got to give it up to Pato, as well. He’s an incredibly clean driver. It takes two people to make that work.”
At the Coca-Cola 600, Christopher Bell, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota won the rain-shorted race. Bell started third, led a race-high 90 laps, and won the second stage of the 14th NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, holding off Darlington winner Brad Keselowski for his second win of the season.
“Man, it feels so good – to win or lose – just to have a great race to go off of,” Bell said. “A race where we led laps. We were able to pass cars. We lost the lead at times and were able to drive back to the lead. We had great pit stops. It was a team effort, and it was amazing to have a good race.
“Hopefully, this is something we can build on and get back to being more consistent.”
NASCAR attempted to dry the track after heavy thunderstorms swept through the area, but officials later deemed it was too wet to finish the race.
By not competing at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Larson fell from first to third in the NASCAR Cup Series points leaders with 486 points behind Danny Hamlin (492) and Martin Truex Jr. (487). Larsson now needs a waiver from NASCAR to be eligible for the playoffs because the rules require a driver to start every race of the regular season.
As for Larson, his goal is to attempt the “double” again next season if possible.
