Brickyard 400 Results, Notebook: Passing No Problem for Kyle Larson at Indianapolis

Entering Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Brickyard 400, numerous drivers said passing would be tough, if not impossible, at the historic 2.5-mile track, but Kyle Larson proved them wrong in Sunday’s return to the oval to claim his fourth victory this season.

With 30 laps remaining in the scheduled 160-lap race, Larson was 23rd. He immediately began charging through the field and in 10 laps he gained 13 positions in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to claim 10th. With Brad Keselowski leading and Ryan Blaney less than a second behind him, Larson dispensed with three more cars in five laps to claim seventh with 15 laps remaining. Two laps later he passed Denny Hamlin for fifth.

By the time the lap counter showed 10 laps remaining, Larson had maneuvered into fourth behind Keselowski, Blaney and Daniel Hemric. Only 0.219-second separated Keselowski and Blaney and two questions remained: Did Keselowski and Blaney have enough fuel in their cars to go the distance and if Larson caught them, could he pass them?

One question was answered with five laps remaining when Larson found himself in third on Blaney’s bumper, 0.496 second behind leader Keselowski.

With anticipation surrounding the fuel in Keselowski’s Ford mounting, Kyle Busch, who was sixth, suddenly made contact with Hamlin in turn three and spun on lap 158. That sent the race into overtime.

On the restart, Keselowski’s Ford ran out of fuel and Larson grabbed the lead before a five-car wreck behind him halted the race for 17 minutes 08 seconds for cleanup.

It was now double overtime and with Larson restarting on the inside, he wasn’t to be denied. Even though Ryan Preece spun to the inside on the backstretch on the restart, NASCAR didn’t throw a yellow flag until after Larson had received the white flag. That gave Larson a 0.282-second victory over pole position winner Tyler Reddick.

With Larson’s 27th career victory, he now has won three of NASCAR’s four Crown Jewel races—Brickyard 400, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. The only “jewel” he has yet to acquire is the Daytona 500.

“This is just such a prestigious place, such hallowed ground,” said Larson, who noted he hoped to run the 2025 Indianapolis 500.

“I think everything just comes full circle. Everything is meant to be. Today, definitely meant to be for us. With the way the strategy was working out, Brad running out of fuel, me inheriting the front row. A lot had to fall into place. Thankfully, it did.”

Keselowski’s Decision a Heartbreaker for Blaney

With the laps winding down in Sunday’s Brickyard 400, whether or not Brad Keselowski’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse would have enough fuel to go the distance became the main question.

Keselowski was leading and he decided to run his Ford until it ran out of fuel. It was a decision that ultimately cost Ryan Blaney a shot at victory.

For the overtime restart on lap 161, Keselowski chose the inside lane with Larson behind him. Blaney went to the outside lane. The field got as far as the pit road exit when Keselowski pulled to the inside of the track because his Ford was out of fuel. Under NASCAR rules, that made Blaney the control vehicle for the restart because he was second and the inside lane led by Larson was simply to move up. However, with the sudden change it caught Blaney off guard and Larson snatched the lead.

Blaney said he couldn’t believe Keselowski stayed out during the caution period that led to overtime, knowing that his Ford would run out of fuel.

“I knew there was no way they were going to make it,” Blaney said. “So, I obviously chose the top because he might run out in the restart zone. He runs out coming to the green, so he gets to go to pit road and the 5 (Larson) gets promoted.”

A five-car wreck behind Larson and Blaney on the restart sent the race into double overtime. Since Larson was in the lead when the yellow flag waved, he got to choose which lane he wanted first and he took the inside. Blaney was left with the outside and Tyler Reddick slid in behind Larson. The Team Penske driver knew he couldn’t win from the outside lane, and he ended up having to settle for third behind Larson and Reddick, respectively.

“I don’t know what to be mad about,” a disappointed Blaney said. “Mad at losing this race because I thought we were in the perfect position.

“Once I lost control of the race, obviously, I would have been on the bottom, but I thought the 6 (Keselowski) would run out (of fuel) in the restart zone or down the back. Stinks to lose in that way.”

Blaney said due to Keselowski running out of fuel as they took the green flag, he thought NASCAR should have called off the restart and let the drivers re-choose the lane they wanted. Due to the way it was done, Blaney said NASCAR was “promoting the third-place guy before the second-place guy.”

“That’s not right,” Blaney said. “It’s dumb luck. I’m just upset. That’s a heartbreaker. Not going to sleep very good tonight.”

Final Playoff Position Tightens

With Bubba Wallace’s fifth-place position in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Ross Chastain having to settle for 15th, the point differential to determine the 16th and final playoff-position tightened.

With just four races remaining in the regular season, Chastain is only seven points above the cutline while Wallace is seven points below it.

Results

NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

1. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 167.

2. (1) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 167.

3. (7) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 167.

4. (18) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 167.

5. (17) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 167.

6. (24) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 167.

7. (38) Austin Cindric, Ford, 167.

8. (25) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 167.

9. (21) Noah Gragson, Ford, 167.

10. (3) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 167.

11. (9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 167.

12. (30) Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 167.

13. (11) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 167.

14. (19) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 167.

15. (28) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 167.

16. (8) Michael McDowell, Ford, 167.

17. (27) Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 167.

18. (36) Cody Ware, Ford, 167.

19. (22) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 167.

20. (35) Justin Haley, Ford, 167.

21. (26) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 167.

22. (23) Chris Buescher, Ford, 167.

23. (6) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 167.

24. (20) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 167.

25. (34) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 166.

26. (31) Ryan Preece, Ford, Accident, 165.

27. (14) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 165.

28. (29) Erik Jones, Toyota, 165.

29. (10) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, Accident, 161.

30. (32) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, Accident, 161.

31. (13) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 161.

32. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 161.

33. (33) Jimmie Johnson, Toyota, Accident, 110.

34. (12) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 109.

35. (37) Josh Berry #, Ford, Accident, 104.

36. (16) Harrison Burton, Ford, Accident, 74.

37. (15) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 74.

38. (4) William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 73.

39. (39) BJ McLeod(i), Ford, Engine, 15.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 119.77 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 29 Mins, 9 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds.

Caution Flags: 10 for 34 laps.

Lead Changes: 18 among 13 drivers.

Lap Leaders: T. Reddick 1-36;M. McDowell 37;C. Bell 38-39;B. Keselowski 40;D. Hamlin 41-51;T. Reddick 52-55;J. Nemechek 56-69;K. Busch 70-72;T. Gilliland 73;K. Busch 74-75;B. Wallace 76-101;D. Hamlin 102-111;J. Nemechek 112-113;R. Chastain 114-121;K. Larson 122;C. Elliott 123;N. Gragson 124-126;B. Keselowski 127-160;K. Larson 161-167.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Tyler Reddick 2 times for 40 laps; Brad Keselowski 2 times for 35 laps; Bubba Wallace 1 time for 26 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 21 laps; John Hunter Nemechek 2 times for 16 laps; Ross Chastain 1 time for 8 laps; Kyle Larson 2 times for 8 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 5 laps; Noah Gragson 1 time for 3 laps; Christopher Bell 1 time for 2 laps; Michael McDowell 1 time for 1 lap; Todd Gilliland 1 time for 1 lap; Chase Elliott 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,5,12,24,45,34,48,54,47,10

Stage #2 Top Ten: 23,9,11,12,42,45,47,19,20,14