You had to feel for Kyle Larson.

And Pato O'Ward. And Brad Keselowski. And NASCAR fans.

A Sunday that promised to be an auto racing dream derailed early with a clunker in Monaco, a rain delay in Indy and a rain-shortened crowned jewel in Charlotte.

O'Ward was in tears after losing the Indianapolis 500 lead on the last lap to winner Josef Newgarden. Keselowski lamented not having a few more laps with which to try and work around abbreviated Coke 600 winner Christopher Bell.

SPEED FREAKS: F1 dud, Kyle Larson heartbreak bookend big race day; Indy delivers

NASCAR fans stormed social media after track-drying efforts were deemed ineffective, finally leading to a calling of the race after hours of waiting late on Sunday night.

But none had it worse than Larson, who saw a dream turn into a nightmare. The early rain in Indy ensured he wouldn't make the start in Charlotte and will need a playoff waiver to be eligible for the Cup Series title.

Then, he made a mistake on pit road, turning a possible top-five run into an 18th-place finish. Then, he hustled to the infield at Charlotte and arrived right as the rain began to fall, eventually nixing one of NASCAR's biggest nights.

"Everything about the two weeks and all that was great until today, so, just sad," a dejected Larson told Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass after NASCAR's decision landed. "Everything that could’ve went wrong today went wrong."

He expanded on those sentiments via tweet on Monday morning.

And ya had to feel for him as two years of training, an elaborate and taxing travel schedule and a documentary in the works were all hampered by the undefeated racing champion: Mother Nature.

Larson expressed interest in trying it again. Here's hoping he does.

Let's go through the gears:

First gear

The King and the Prez met with an embrace and a photo in Charlotte.

Former President Donald Trump attended Sunday's 600 ... er, 350 ... and seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty made it a point to meet up and share an embrace. Petty, a lifelong conservative and Republican, once ran for Secretary of State in North Carolina in 1996, losing to Democrat Elaine Marshall in a landslide.

Second gear

Sunday's events may have hurt Kyle Larson, but they helped quite a few in the Cup Series field.

Larson entered with the points lead but putting up an 0-fer in the 600 gave Denny Hamlin that distinction and drew several drivers much closer to the top and those coveted 15 playoff points that go to the regular-season champ.

Ty Gibbs, for instance, was 97 points behind Larson last week and despite staying in 10th place, is now just 57 points out of first place.

Third gear

Whether it was Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s freshly levied $75,000 fine or heads cooling quickly in the Charlotte rain, all’s well that ended well between Denny Hamlin and Chris Buescher.

Hamlin was frustrated with Buescher, who occupied the pit box in front of the 11 car. Hamlin felt Buescher was short-pitting, leaving him to try and maneuver around the 17, costing him several positions in the pits. At one point, Hamlin screamed over the radio, “I will stomp on your bumper!”

But a video released to Twitter by RFK Racing shows the teams coming together on pit road for a civil discussion with Buescher and Hamlin hashing things out.

Fourth gear

Joey Logano and Kyle Busch each have a win at World Wide Technology Raceway and each has finished in the top five in both events. Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. each have a pair of top 10s.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR miffs fans, Kyle Larson left, "so sad", Petty and Trump embrace