INDIANAPOLIS -- Powered by a sour feeling left in his mouth after his magical May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ended with a pit lane penalty and an 18th-place finish, Kyle Larson survived a chaotic double-overtime finish to capture his first Brickyard 400 victory on the 30th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports’ 1994 win in the inaugural running.
And though he said his deal is not yet signed, he committed to coming back to IMS next May for another run at ‘The Double.’
“I love you Indiana fans, and I know you guys love me, too. How ‘bout we come back next May and try to kiss those bricks in the Indy car?!” Larson said to roar of fans on the frontstretch after his burnout to celebrate his overtime win over Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney. “I’d love to. I’d love to. We’re working on it, and I hope we can announce something soon.
“See you all next May.”
Brickyard 400 results:Kyle Larson wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in NASCAR's Brickyard 400
Unlike Jeff Gordon’s victory 30 years ago, Larson’s maiden win at the Racing Capital of the World, came after a late-race push through the field after finding himself sitting 23rd with 30 laps to go in regulation. Shouldering a massive fuel advantage to the lead pack ahead of him – having last pitted during a caution on Lap 123, compared to Lap 102 by longtime leader Brad Keselowski and Lap 112 by Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric and others – the driver of the No. 5 Chevy carved his way up to 8th-place by Lap 143 before snagging 6th on Lap 146 to put Larson behind Hamlin – a driver he has a rocky on-track history with.
Within two laps, Hamlin was in Larson’s mirrors, and by Lap 149, Larson took 4th from Zane Smith. By Lap 152, the eventual race-winner found himself sitting 3rd as he, Keselowski and Blaney broke away from the rest of the field by two seconds. Twice on Laps 157 and 158, Larson peaked inside Blaney, trying to tease the defending Cup champ into making a mistake, but he maintained 3rd-place with just over five miles to go when Kyle Busch slid up the track into the side of Hamlin and skidded into the wall, bringing out the day’s first overtime.
“I saved you what I could,” Keselowski said on his radio as he trundled around under caution, nearly 60 laps since he’d last pitted. Just as the pace car pulled off to signal for the start of overtime at the end of Lap 161, the RFK Racing driver peeled off into pit lane, giving Larson the inside lane and Blaney control of the restart.
Seconds later, nearly a half-dozen cars careened into each other before they reached Turn 1 – including Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell – with contact that forced a red flag with debris strewn across the track and sections of the pit exit wall in need of shifting back into place.
Just before the yellow flag flew, Larson had managed to nose himself past Blaney for the race lead on the inside line, giving him the lead for the start of the second overtime. Understandably, the Team Penske driver was incensed – angered that Larson was given the chance to take the optimal spot on the front row that Blaney would’ve chosen, had Keselowski run out of fuel earlier in the run to the green flag.
After a swear-laden radio message in the moment, Blaney’s words were more measured post-race – if not still as pained.
“I knew (Keselowski) was probably going to run out (of gas) at some point. I couldn’t believe he stayed out. There was no way he was gonna make it, so I obviously chose the top (lane), and he runs out coming to the green, so he goes to pit road and the No. 5 gets promoted,” Blaney said post-race. “I don’t know what to be mad about. I’m mad at losing this race, because I thought we were in a perfect position.
“Obviously we would’ve been on the bottom, had the No. 6 run out in the restart zone or on the (back stretch). It stinks losing that way, and I hate we don’t get to celebrate with Mr. Penske. That stings a lot, but you try to keep going. That’s all you can do.”
When asked what he wished NASCAR would’ve done differently, Blaney had a simple answer.
“Just call (the restart) off and re-choose. They promoted the 3rd-place guy before the 2nd, and that’s a problem. That’s not right,” he said. “It’s just dumb luck, with where Brad ran out, and this track (is) one where the bottom is preferred. I’m just upset. That’s a heartbreaker. We did everything right today and were in prime position to win, and it just didn’t work out for us. We just got unlucky. I’m not going to sleep very well tonight, I’ll tell you that.”
At the start of the second overtime, with Larson still sitting on the bottom lane but now able to control the pacing of the restart, the No. 5 Chevy got the typical jump at the end of Lap 165 and broke a clear car length ahead of Blaney by the south short chute and wasn’t really challenged. On the back stretch, Ryan Preece ended up skidding through the grass and stopped. NASCAR then let the field pass over the Yard of Bricks and take the white flag before throwing the yellow, ending the race under caution.
“I think everything comes full-circle and everything’s meant to be, and today definitely felt meant to be for us,” Larson said. “A lot had to fall into place and thankfully it did. I just can’t believe it. It’s surreal to win here, and I can’t wait to kiss these bricks with my team, Rick Hendrick, my family, friends.
“This is such a special place and such hallowed grounds. It’s pretty neat to get an opportunity to race on the oval again. What a job by our team. They never gave up at all. We fought and dug and had to have things work out. I just can’t thank them enough.”
