Kyle Larson arrives at NASCAR Charlotte race under weather delay
Less than an hour after finishing 18th in the 2024 Indianapolis 500, Kyle Larson showed up Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway where he entered the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600.
Larson landed by helicopter at Charlotte at about 8:20 p.m. (CT) as a yellow flag for weather hit the NASCAR Charlotte race. The Coca-Cola 600 was on lap 250 of 400 (225 miles to go) when Larson arrived and lightning had been detected in the area.
Larson replaced Justin Allgeier, who had started the race in the Hendricks Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet. Allgeier was in 13th place when he turned the car over to Larson. Allgeier was listed as the official driver of the car for the NASCAR points standings and will be awarded the win if Larson is able to win the race if it resumes.
Christopher Bell was in first place at the time.
Now, it's a wait and see if NASCAR will resume the race after rain pelted the Charlotte race track.
If Larson completes the Coca-Cola 600, he will have driven 725 miles on Sunday, 375 less than the 1,100 miles he had hoped to have race had he raced the entire Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600.
Larson, who started fifth at Indy, was whisked away from the Indy 500 to a waiting helicopter where he was taken to Indianapolis International Airport where he boarded an airplane for the for the 450-mile trip to Charlotte.
Larson was in contention for much of the Indy 500, which was won for the second consecutive year by Josef Newgarden of Nashville. He was among the leaders before taking a speeding penalty on pit road with 70 laps to go.
More: NASCAR Charlotte delay: Coca-Cola 600 is under weather delay for lightning
The penalty put Larson, 31, a lap down and wiped out any realistic he had of winning the 108th annual race.
Larson did manage to make it back to the lead lap and actually took the lead with 21 laps remaining when he chose to stay on the track when the leader pitted. Larson gave up the lead with 17 laps to go when he went into the pits for service.
Before heading to Charlotte, Larson said in a television interview he would like to return to the Indy 500 in 2025.
"I would definitely love to be back next year," Larson said. "I feel like I learned a lot throughout the race. Felt like I did a really good job on the restarts. I definitely feel good about knowing what I would do different for the balance coming back to help with runs and stuff."
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Charlotte race: Kyle Larson arrives during weather delay
