Almost two months after a complicated inaugural attempt at the Indianapolis 500, one that threatened to derail his NASCAR Cup Series championships hopes, Kyle Larson returned to the Racing Capitol of the World and won the first Brickyard 400 in four years.
But, his victory was not without any shortage of controversy.
Larson first took the lead coming to the first overtime, from the second row, when leader Brad Keselowski ran out of fuel coming to the green. It created an unprecedented scenario of sorts because Larson had the right to move up a row but it put him in position to arguably jump the restart over Ryan Blaney in a very hurried process.
Larson was scored the leader when the caution immediate came out and retained the lead in second overtime before another caution cemented the victory.
That also came under dubious circumstances as NASCAR waited until Larson took the white flag before throwing a caution for a stalled Ryan Preece, who had a flat tire and was not able to get his car rolling. Nevertheless, Larson rolled back to the finish line and took the checkered flag.
In his excitement, he told the fans in attendance that this made him even more excited to come back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May to chase the Greatest Spectacle in Racing once again. In the meantime, does this make up for all the complications that May beget?
“It does,” Larson said. “I guess a little bit. I wish we could have got to do both and run the (Coca-Cola) 600. We had a phenomenal car for that race, too.
“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.
“I can’t believe it. It’s surreal, the win here. Can’t wait to kiss the bricks with my team, Rick Hendrick who is here finally, my family, my friends. My parents are here. We’ll be celebrating these next couple weeks.”
Immediately after the race, Blaney was incredulous and just chalked it up to bad luck.
“I’m pissed off,” Blaney said. “But like I told my guys, I don’t know who to be pissed off at. I don’t know who to be pissed off at because it was just racing luck. The break he got and the hardship we got, when it happened, it killed our race.
“You know what I mean? It was just a weird circumstance that benefitted him getting a row and it killed our race, any chance for us to win the race. That’s what I’m upset about. I’m not mad at anybody. It’s just lady luck I’m pissed off at.”
In real-time, he was much more animated and agitated at race control.
Until that decisive caution, one for Kyle Busch suffering his eighth crash in 10 races, the Brickyard 400 was set to come down to a fuel mileage and track position calculation with Keselowski leading the field three laps short of making it to the finish.
Knowing this, Keselowski backed the pace up to such a pace that it allowed Larson with no fuel worries to carve his way through the top-15 and ultimately force the issue. The race was coming to come down to Keselowski saving and air blocking Blaney, who was about to have to defend against Larson.
It seemed inevitable that Keselowski would run out before the finish around three laps to go and it would be the Penske 12 versus the Hendrick 5.
The early goings of the race also featured a pair of disputed blend line penalties for both Keselowski and Chase Elliott.
In the regular season points battle, Larson regained the lead over Chase Elliott, by 10 points, with Tyler Reddick 15 points back. Hamlin is 43 back after being involved in the crash.
In the playoff battle, Chris Buescher suffered through two flat tires and combined with a Bubba Wallace top-5, the points tightened considerably. Ty Gibbs battled an engine issue and lost ground with a 23rd place finish too.
Daytona next month could also move the cutline up by one, should there be a surprise winner from outside the provisional grid, making this battle all the more intense.
Regular Season standings
- Kyle Larson
- Chase Elliott -10
- Tyler Reddick -15
- Denny Hamlin -43
- Ryan Blaney -73
- William Byron -95
- Martin Truex -96
- Christopher Bell -98
- Brad Keselowski -134
- Alex Bowman -143
- Ty Gibbs -162
- Chris Buescher -187
Results
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Penske Racing Ford
- Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
- Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
- Austin Cindric, No. 2 Penske Racing Ford
- Noah Gragson, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daughtery Racing Ford
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
- Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
- Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
- Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
- Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
- Zane Smith, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
- Cody Ware, No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford
- Ty Dillon, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
- Justin Haley, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
- Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
- Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
- Ryan Preece, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
- Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
- Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
- Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
- Joey Logano, No. 22 Penske Racing Ford
- Josh Berry, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
- Harrison Burton, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
- AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
- William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
- BJ McLeod, No. 66 Power Source Ford