Denny Hamlin believes Kyle Larson has already served his penalty for skipping the Coca-Cola 600 in favor of the Indy 500.

Kyle Larson’s hopes for the Double were virtually dashed by the inclement weather last weekend. With a four-hour delay in his inaugural run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the HMS star was forced to miss the start of the Coca-Cola 600.

He made it to the NASCAR race, but it was rained out. Larson might face a major penalty, preventing him from competing in the playoffs. The only thing that can save him from this terrible fate is a waiver, but there’s nothing tangible to suggest he’ll get one from NASCAR. Denny Hamlin, his rival driver, believes he has already done his time for not starting the Coca-Cola 600 race.

Denny Hamlin highlights the loss of points for Larson as retribution.

The Coca-Cola 600 race is among the crown jewel events of NASCAR racing. Apart from being the longest event, the race also offers drivers the chance to get maximum points. It’s the only event in the calendar that has not three but four stages. As Justin Allgaier started in place of Larson, even if he had won the race, no points would have been credited to his name.

Hamlin understood NASCAR having second thoughts about Larson’s waiver request, but stated how Larson is already on the bitter end of things. “It’s a tough predicament for everyone to be in. Listen, he lost out by not being able to collect any points for the 600, right? I mean that really was the penalty in my mind. I mean, and I think it’s a fair one.” He said this via his podcast show, Actions Detrimentl.

Denny Hamlin has taken over the lead that Larson held before the Coca-Cola 600 in the standings. Meanwhile, the HMS star dropped down two positions and now sits third. The biggest gainer from the rain-washed race was Christopher Bell, bagging 67 precious points and a win to his name.

Further highlighting the importance of points for the drivers, Hamlin’s co-host, Jared Allen, chimed in, stating, “That’s a significant penalty. Christopher Bell made 67 points in this race. That’s almost two races advantage that Kyle Larson missed out onto Christopher Bell. Like, if you’d have won the race, you would have gained 67 points on him, that’s significant.”