An IndyCar race decided NASCAR's regular season champion

23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick held off Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson to win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship on Sunday night at Darlington Raceway, and he held him off by the slimmest of margins.

The driver of the No. 45 Toyota finished the 26-race regular season with 860 points, while the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet finished with 859.

In the grand scheme of things, it's a massive difference, and that is because of the bonus playoff points awarded to the two drivers. The equivalent of a race win is five playoff points, and 15 playoff points are awarded to the regular season champion. The runner-up gets 10.

Playoff points are points added to each championship eligible driver's point total before the start of each round of the playoffs, excluding the Championship 4.

Larson earned 30 playoff points during the regular season: 20 thanks to his four race victories and 10 thanks to his 10 stage victories. Reddick earned 13: 10 thanks to his two race victories and three thanks to his three stage victories.

So Larson is set to enter the playoffs with 40 playoff points, while Reddick is set to enter with 28. Had Larson won the regular season championship, he would have 45 while Reddick would have 23. He would be 22 points ahead of Reddick instead of 12, marking a 10-point swing in Reddick's favor.

Given the fact that drivers have advanced (and not advanced) from round to round on tiebreakers before, that 10-point swing (which is effectively a five-point swing to everybody else) could theoretically come back to bite Larson (and/or help Reddick).

There are plenty of situations during the regular season which would have/could have/should have seen Larson gain that extra point he needed to win the regular season championship. And one point is literally all he needed, as he owned the tiebreaker over Reddick due to having twice as many race victories.

But those are all hypothetical "what-if" scenarios.

Not to take anything away from what Reddick accomplished, but the simple reality is that had Larson simply started the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway back in late May, he would have gotten that extra point and would therefore be starting the playoffs with 2,045 points instead of 2,040.

The reason he didn't do so? The Indy 500.

Rain at Indianapolis Motor Speedway resulted in a delayed Indy 500, and Larson, who was attempting to become the first driver to run the Memorial Day Double since 2014 and just the fifth of all-time, had a decision to make.

The delay made it obvious that he was not going to be able to compete in the Indy 500 and then fly to Charlotte to start the Coca-Cola 600, but he opted to remain at Indianapolis to compete in the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing". He finished the famed IndyCar race in 18th place, running all 500 miles in the process.

By not starting the Coca-Cola 600, Larson gave up the ability to score points in the race. Justin Allgaier filled in for him behind the wheel of the No. 5 Chevrolet. Larson was able to arrive at Charlotte during the race, ironically during a rain delay, and was ready to replace Allgaier for the remainder.

But the rain ultimately prevented the race from being restarted. Larson did not get to compete, making him just the second driver to see an official Memorial Day Double attempt include only one of the two crown jewel races.

Allgaier finished in 13th place, and as a result of the 24 points he earned the No. 5 team, the No. 5 team was actually able to beat out the No. 45 team for the regular season championship on the owner side (883 to 860).

Even had Larson been able to finish the race, he would not have been credited with any points.

So when it all comes down to it, he is not the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season champion simply because he decided to stay at Indianapolis and compete in the Indy 500.

On the plus side for Larson, he was granted a playoff waiver after missing the Coca-Cola 600, which some initially suggested he might not be. Fortunately for him, he is still a part of this year's 16-driver playoff field.

So it could have been a lot worse.

And even though he missed out on those extra playoff points, it is worth pointing out that he is still the overall points leader heading into the four-round, 10-race postseason. With 2,040 points to his name ahead of the round of 16, he sits eight points ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell, the Coca-Cola 600 winner, in second place.

It is believed that Larson plans to run the Indy 500 again in 2025, though that entry has not yet been confirmed. He competed for Arrow McLaren through a partnership with Hendrick Motorsports this past May.

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs are scheduled to get underway this Sunday, September 8 with the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart, which is set to be shown live on USA Network from Atlanta Motor Speedway starting at 3:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!