Frustrating Indy 500 for Kyle Larson started with a rain delay for the second consecutive year

For the second consecutive year, a bid by Kyle Larson to race the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day was adversely affected by weather.

But as it turned out, a popup shower was only the beginning of his frustrating Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A light rain delayed the start of the 109th Indy 500 by nearly 45 minutes, and when the race eventually did start at 1:29 p.m., the yellow flag was displayed after multiple incidents on the parade laps.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver will be unable to complete 1,100 miles but will be heading early to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coke 600.

And after a choppy start from a Lap 4 crash, the yellow flag flew again on Lap 19 at 1:50 p.m. for rain. The race returned to green at Lap 30 with Larson restating in 31st after accidentally shifting into second gear while trying to leave the pits.

His second Indy 500 bid ended on Lap 91 after he lost control and crashed in Turn 2 on a restart. He finished 27th.

The green flag had been scheduled to wave at 12:46 p.m.

Instead, the 33 drivers, including Larson in the No. 17 Dallara-Chevrolet of Arrow McLaren, were waiting in their cars with team members holding umbrellas over their cockpits. Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske finally gave the command to start engines at 1:21 p.m. (42 minutes late).

But the race was delayed even further when Scott McLaughlin had a minor crash while trying to warm his tires on the parade laps.

Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon also had a problem, and drivers were left circling the 2.5-mile track for more than 10 minutes behind the pace car as the green and yellow flags finally were displayed together.

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Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan told Fox Sports that Larson had a hard out of 4:07 p.m. to leave for Charlotte Motor Speedway, where the green flag was scheduled for the Coke 600 at 6:27 p.m. ET. If Larson had been unable to start the race, Kanaan (who won the Indy 500 in 2013) would have been the substitute driver.

In Larson’s first Indy 500-Coke 600 attempt last year, a four-hour rain delay precluded the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from arriving at Charlotte Motor Speedway in time for the Coke 600, which was shortened by rain.

Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon said Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway that Larson would arrive in time for driver introductions at 5:25 p.m. ET in Concord, N.C.

The Indy 500 generally takes at least three hours to complete. Getting from IMS to Charlotte Motor Speedway (which is near a regional airport) takes a little over an hour.

Jeff Gordon addresses Kyle Larson’s travel from the Indianapolis 500 to the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday.

Larson is trying to become the fifth driver to race in the Indy 500 and Coke 600 on the same day, joining John Andretti (1994), Tony Stewart (1999, 2001), Robby Gordon (2002-04) and Kurt Busch (2014).

Stewart is the only driver to complete all 1,100 miles in 2001.