Kyle Larson controversy erupts after the Indy 500

There was about a 3% chance of rain on Indy 500 race day heading into last Sunday. Lo and behold, the 3% won out, and there was drizzle which ultimately delayed the start of the race by roughly 40 minutes.

Last year, Kyle Larson had attempted to complete the Memorial Day Double, competing in both the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Indy 500 was delayed due to rain by several hours, and by the time he actually got to Charlotte, the Coca-Cola 600 had been stopped due to rain, and it was unable to be restarted.

After an unnecessarily long process, NASCAR granted Larson a playoff waiver, meaning he remained eligible for the postseason despite missing a start.

But to avoid a similar controversy, NASCAR made their playoff waiver rules a lot stricter this year, and such a scenario unfolding this season would have resulted in Larson forfeiting his series-high 23 playoff points, plus any further playoff points he scores throughout the remainder of the regular season.

It was no secret that Larson was getting antsy in the No. 17 Chevrolet on Sunday as the start of the 109th running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" continued to be pushed back due to rain.

Then it got pushed back even further.

On the final pace lap, Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin made the most embarrassing mistake of his career, crashing on the front straightaway while warming his tires. As Larson drove by, an interesting exchange transpired over his radio.

Larson proceeded to flash McLaughlin a thumbs-up as he drove by the wreckage.

When the on-board footage emerged publicly after the race, fans immediately began taking sides.

Some felt the reaction was justified, given Larson's increasingly stressful time crunch to make it to Charlotte on time, while others could only laugh at the so-called "best driver in the world", who had already crashed twice in the build-up to the race, making fun of another driver for wrecking.

Larson had no issue making it to Charlotte on time, ironically because he caused a three-car pileup with his own rookie mistake when he downshifted just after a restart on lap 92 of 200 around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval.

Others, including Cup driver Corey LaJoie, tried to totally take Larson's thumbs-up out of context just to defend him.

If that were true, McLaughlin would not have fired back, and done so in a way that pretty much amplified how every single IndyCar fan feels about Larson being considered the "best in the world" following his controversial comment that he is a "better all-around driver than Max Verstappen".

To LaJoie's credit, he later walked it back when it became clear that Larson was not innocent.

But the fact that it was Larson, a full-time NASCAR driver, who did what he did only further added to the controversy.

Larson is said to be able to hop in any race car and be competitive, yet both of his Indy 500 attempts have seen a number of significant mistakes and setbacks, and pretty much all of his own doing.

Even last year, when he ran all 200 laps after qualifying fifth, he made a similar error on a restart but got away with it, and he ruined a potential top 10 finish with a pit road speeding penalty.

This year was just a straight-up disaster, and a lot of IndyCar fans were very quick to point out the fact that the driver who claimed IndyCars are "not hard to drive" during practice ended up wrecking his car three times, more than anybody else in the field.

Larson did apologize to McLaughlin, which ironically made the reaction of his own passionate, yet sometimes completely obnoxious, fanbase look even more hilariously awful, considering how quickly they rushed to his defense when it was clear he wasn't acting out of "respect". In their eyes, he can do no wrong.

Larson went one step further and addressed the issue himself, noting that he felt bad about it after the fact.

All things considered, it was another Memorial Day Double attempt to forget for Larson, and he certainly would have preferred the talking point and highlight being something other than a pre-race thumbs-up gesture.

He crashed out of the lead at Charlotte and was later collected in another multi-car pileup, and when the dust had settled, his attempt to become the first driver run all 1,100 miles ended with him ironically running fewer miles than 20 of the 39 drivers who only attempted the Coca-Cola 600.

At least, however, he did officially become the fifth driver, and first since Kurt Busch in 2014, to compete in both races on the same day. Even though he became the first driver to crash out of both events on the same day, he still made history in a way he had been unable to a year ago.