INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Larson found redemption at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, winning the Brickyard 400 in double overtime Sunday and vowing to try again in an Indy car next year.
Larson held off charges by Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick on the final restart lap and then effectively won when NASCAR threw the yellow flag on Lap 167 and froze the field just after the white flag flew. Ryan Preece had spun into the wall in Turn 2 on the first lap of the second overtime restart, but NASCAR held the caution until Preece’s car was stopped on track with a flat tire.
Larson won on the 30th anniversary of the Brickyard 400 (which also was won by his Hendrick Motorsports team with Jeff Gordon, now the team’s vice chairman) and the first time on the IMS oval for NASCAR’s premier series since 2020.
He also earned his first Brickyard win nearly two months after he tried to become the fifth driver to attempt “The Double” — racing the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.
He finished 18th in his Indy 500 debut because of a late speeding penalty. Because the race started nearly five hours later, he was unable to run the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway before that race was shortened by rain that night.
“It’s for sure up there,” Larson said when asked by NBC Sports’ Marty Snider if his fourth win this season and 27th of his Cup career ranked at the top. “This is just such a prestigious place and such hallowed ground and pretty neat to just get an opportunity to race here on the oval again.
“What a job by our team. Never gave up at all. We had the pit stop issue early on and just fought and dug and had things work out. ... I love you, Indiana fans. And I know you guys love me, too. So how about we come back next May and try to kiss these bricks on the Indy car.”
Asked by Snider if that was a guarantee he would race “The Double” again and attempt the 109th Indy 500, Larson replied: “I’d love to, I’d love to; we’re working on it. I hope we can announce something soon and see you guys all next May. I wish we could have got to do both and run the 600 because we had a phenomenal papaya orange car for that race, too.
“I think everything just comes full circle, and everything is meant to be, and today definitely felt meant to be for us.”
Reddick finished second, followed by Blaney, Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace.
Coming to a restart in overtime, Brad Keselowski had been leading but pulled to the bottom of the track just before the restart zone as his No. 6 Ford ran out of fuel. That moved Larson in the bottom lane to the front alongside Blaney when the green flag waved, and he took the lead into Turn 1.
“With the way the strategy was working out, Brad running out of fuel, me inheriting the front row and all that,” Larson said. “Just a lot had to fall into place, and thankfully, it did. So I just can’t believe it. It’s surreal to win here, and can’t wait to kiss these bricks with my team, Rick Hendrick, my family, my friends, my parents are here. We’ll be celebrating these next couple of weeks.”
Blaney technically inherited control of the restart when Keselowski pulled out of the lead and into the pits. But the Team Penske had only seconds to process that he was the new leader before the green flag waved, and he was upset with how the situation unfolded because he would have chosen the bottom instead of the top as the leader (per NASCAR rules, drivers already had chosen the top or bottom lane earlier).
“It’s no fun,” Blaney told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns. “Had a really good shot to win today. 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 (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 pit road and (Larson) gets promoted.
“Luck of the day right there, I guess. I don’t know what to be mad about. 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 would run out in the restart zone or down the back, I don’t know. Stinks to lose in that way.”
Asked by Burns if there was any way to change the situation, Blaney said, “Call it off and rechoose because now you’re promoting the third-place guy before the second-place guy if the leader has problems. That’s not right. It’s dumb luck, right, of where Brad ran out and stuff like this. At this racetrack where the bottom is preferred.
“I’m just upset. That’s a heartbreaker. We did everything right today. I mean I was in prime position to win and just didn’t work out for us. Just got unlucky. Gosh, I’m not going to sleep very good tonight, I can tell you that. Like I said, I appreciate Team Penske and everybody for the fast car. Gosh, we’ve been super fast. It definitely showed again today. Just wasn’t meant to be.”
Shortly after Larson seized first over Blaney, the race went to a second overtime on a yellow for a hard crash involving John Hunter Nemechek, Alex Bowman and Daniel Hemric. The race was red-flagged for 17 minutes to clear debris and make track repairs.
Keselowski was on the verge of stretching his fuel tank an unbelievable 58 laps (the window was 42 to 44 laps) for his second Brickyard 400 victory when the caution flew with two laps remaining in the scheduled 160-lap distance and sent the race into overtime.
The yellow was for Kyle Busch, who spun in Turn 3 while running sixth. The two-time Brickyard 400 winner lost control of his No. 8 Chevrolet while underneath Denny Hamlin, whose No. 11 Toyota made continued despite the contact but finished 32nd after getting caught in a multicar crash on the next yellow.
Hamlin led 21 laps and won the first stage in coming up short of winning the Brickyard for the first time.
Stage 1 winner: Denny Hamlin
Stage 2 winner: Bubba Wallace
