Larson adds a crown jewel on his return to the Brickyard

Only two months after competing in the Indianapolis 500, Kyle Larson returned to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon to claim the trophy in one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ crown jewel events, the 30th Anniversary Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG – holding off the field in a dramatic double overtime finish.

Larson led only eight of the race’s 167 laps in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – seven of them coming in the overtime periods when he needed them most — ultimately holding off the polesitter, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney on the white flag lap. A caution came out moments later to officially end the race after Ryan Preece’s Ford spun and became stalled on track.

The 31-year-old Californian Larson climbed out of and onto his Chevrolet Camaro to wave his arms toward the grandstands and encourage the cheering crowd, clearly elated with his first win in one of NASCAR’s most prestigious races – a return to the 2.5-mile oval after four years racing on the infield road course. It comes 30 years after his Hendrick Motorsports team executive Jeff Gordon won the inaugural stock car race at the historic 2.5-mile oval.

It’s the third NASCAR crown jewel win for Larson, also including the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and the sport’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

This comes only eight weeks after a 18th-place showing for Larson in his Indianapolis 500 debut. Bad weather delayed his trip to Charlotte to compete in NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600, the second half of racing’s “Double” so this week’s work at Indy felt like redemption.

“This is just such a prestigious place, such hallowed ground,” said the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson, who now leads the series with four wins this season.

“Pretty neat to get an opportunity to race here on the oval again. What a job by our team. I mean, never gave up at all.

“To all the fans, I love it here,” he added with a grin. “I think everything has come full circle with what was meant to be and today was meant to be for us.”

For much of the closing laps, the third-place finisher Blaney thought it was meant to be for his No. 12 Team Penske Ford team. He was lined up on the front row alongside fellow Ford driver Brad Keselowski for the first overtime restart when Keselowski suddenly pulled onto pit road after running out of gas — not taking the green flag.

That opened a hole for Larson – who was positioned behind Keselowski for the start – to rush forward and claim the lead over Blaney. It was a position he would never relinquish.

“It’s no fun. Had a really good shot to win today,” a visibly disappointed Blaney said. “Our car was fast. Thought we had really good strategy. Kind of was the front guy having to save a little bit of gas. I thought we put ourselves in a great spot.

“I know the No. 6 [Keselowski] was probably going to run out if it went green. Came to the restart, I couldn’t believe they stayed out. I knew there was no way they were going to make it, 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 do to pit road and the No. 5 gets promoted.

“Luck of the day right there, I guess. I don’t know. I don’t know what to be mad about — mad at losing this race because I thought we were in the perfect position.”

Reddick’s runner-up effort – passing Blaney on the white flag lap — keeps him right in the mix for the regular season championship. Larson takes a 10-point lead into in the sport’s summer break and Reddick is only 15 points back with four races remaining in the regular season to settle the 16-driver Playoff field.

“Obviously a lot of cars and a lot of things had to happen for us to get second,” said Reddick, who led a race best 40 laps in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. “Honestly, it was a good day. Obviously return to the Brickyard, it’s tough coming up one spot short. Once we got off of Turn 2 there, I knew I was pretty much it. He [Larson] was going to have to make a mistake.

“Glad we had a good recovery. Another solid points day. We didn’t close the gap on the No. 5 [Larson] that much, but a little bit on the No. 9 [Elliott]. In the big picture, it was a great day for the team.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell finished fourth and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace turned in an impressive fifth-place performance. Wallace also claimed his first stage win since 2022, leading the field at the second stage break.

There was never real rhythm to the race with varying pit stop strategies putting drivers out front. There were 13 leaders and 17 lead changes on the afternoon.

Denny Hamlin, who led 21 laps earned the first stage win — his sixth stage victory of the season and the first ever for the veteran at Indy. He finished 32nd after being involved in a multi-car accident during the first overtime restart and now is fourth in the championship standings, 43 points behind Larson.

Front Row Motorsport’s Todd Gilliand, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, Stewart Haas Racing’s Noah Gragson, and Hendrick Motorsport’s Chase Elliott rounded out the top 10.

It was an important points grab for Wallace, who is still trying to become Playoff eligible. Wallace now trails Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain by only seven points for the 16th and final Playoff position. Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Chris Buescher is 15th in points, only 17 points up on Wallace.

The sport is taking a two-week summer break in competition with the NASCAR Cup Series schedule resuming Aug. 11 with the Cook Out 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Buescher is the defending race winner.

RESULTS

Story originally appeared on Racer