Kyle Larson’s decision to remain at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to compete in the rain-delayed 108th edition of the Indy 500 prevented him from competing in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Larson started the Coca-Cola 600 race weekend as the Cup Series point leader, a position he had held since the early April race at Martinsville Speedway.
Even if the 400-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Concord, North Carolina oval had not been cut to 249 laps and Larson had been able to jump into the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after replacement driver Justin Allgaier came from the back to run 13th by the time the red flag flew, he would not have been able to score any points.
In reality, if the race had continued and Larson had won, Allgaier would have earned his first career Cup Series victory.
Allgaier is ineligible to gain points in the Cup Series since he drives full-time for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. However, he could still score points for Larson’s No. 5 squad in the owner standings.
The NASCAR driver standings and owner standings have distinct leaders.
So, while Larson dropped from first to third place in the point standings, with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. moving into first and second place with fifth and 12th place finishes, respectively, the No. 5 team remained atop the owner standings thanks to Allgaier’s 24 points at Charlotte.
Hamlin’s No. 11 team is in second place in the owner standings, 18 points behind the No. 5 team, with Truex’s No. 19 team in third, five points back. Larson, however, trails Hamlin by six points and Truex by one.
It is uncommon for a driver and a team this high in the standings to have different point totals, except in cases where a driver or a team is granted a points punishment that does not apply to both.
However, this is the current situation, as weather has impacted both races of Larson’s ill-fated Memorial Day Double attempt, which would have been the first time a driver has ran both races since Kurt Busch in 2014.
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