Kyle Larson gets Indy redemption in Brickyard 400
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Redeeming himself for the failed attempt at The Double, Kyle Larson brought the blue and papaya livery back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and parked it in victory lane Sunday in the Brickyard 400.
Larson led all seven of the extra laps during overtime Sunday in the Brickyard 400 and earned his first win in the crown jewel race. It is his fourth win of the NASCAR Cup Series season, the most of any driver this season so far.
Larson was supposed to run the blue-and-papaya scheme in the Coca-Cola 600 after running the Indianapolis 500. However, rain delayed the start of the 500 and shortened the 600 before Larson could turn a lap.
Larson almost didn’t need overtime. He was picking off drivers one-by-one, getting up to Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney who ran 1-2 with two laps to go. On that lap, Kyle Busch wrecked in turn three and sent the race into overtime.
On the first overtime, Keselowski came to pit road, moving Larson up to the front row. In turn one, he blasted Blaney but a caution evened them out. During the second overtime, Blaney was better in turn one but appeared to stumble, possibly running out of fuel. That gave the win to Kyle Larson.
“I wish we could’ve gotten to do both because we had a papaya-orange car but I think everything comes full circle and is meant to be. With the strategy working out, all that had to fall into place and it did. I just can’t believe. It’s surreal to win here. I can’t wait to kiss these bricks,” Larson said.
Larson (led twice for 8 laps), Tyler Reddick (twice for 40 laps), Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell (2 laps led), Bubba Wallace (26 laps), Todd Gilliland (1 lap), Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson (3 laps) and Chase Elliott (1 lap) were the Top-10 finishers.
Brad Keselowski finished 21st after leading twice for 35 laps and nearly pulling off the miracle fuel stretch of the year.
Playoff cutline
Wallace is now -7 points to the cutline. Above the cutline is Ross Chastain (finished 15th, +7), Chris Buescher (22nd, +17) and Ty Gibbs (23rd, +42).
Gibbs had a motor going sour in the closing laps. Buescher had lingering damage from a left-rear tire issue earlier in the race.
Through the field
The race ended under caution after Ryan Preece wrecked on the backstretch with two laps to go. NASCAR waited for Preece to re-fire his car and get out of the way. Preece limped briefly with a flat tire. Then, he stopped as the leaders approached the start-finish line. Officials then threw the caution in turn two on the final lap, ending the race under caution.
Preece finished 26th and was one of 12 drivers who failed to finish.
John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric, Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin finished 29th-32nd after wrecking in turn one during the first overtime attempt. Nemechek threw a block on Hemric which Hemric didn’t take. He bumped into Nemechek, collecting the others and Chase Briscoe. Briscoe continued and finished 24th.
Jimmie Johnson netted his fifth DNF in nine starts since returning to NASCAR Cup Series competition on a part-time basis last year. He was running 11th before Ryan Blaney moved down on Carson Hocevar, got sideways and clipped Johnson, sending him and Joey Logano into the turn one wall on lap 111.
Johnson and Logano finished 33rd and 34th.
Josh Berry continued his post-Iowa skid. He finished 35th after getting caught up in a secondary wreck behind Martin Truex Jr. wrecking in turn three on lap 126.
Harrison Burton, AJ Allmendinger and William Byron finished 36th-38th after a lap 75 wreck on the backstretch.
BJ McLeod fell out on lap 15 with steering issues.
2024 Brickyard 400 stage results
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 50): Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Noah Gragson
STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 100): Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, Hamlin, Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek, Reddick, Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe
With Kyle Larson’s win, he leads the regular-season points standings by 10 points over Chase Elliott. Tyler Reddick is third, -15 points to Larson, while Denny Hamlin is fourth, -43 to Larson.
If the playoff started today, here is what the seeding would look like:
All 12 winners this season are locked into the playoffs. There are just four races left until the playoffs begin with four playoff spots left.
The NASCAR Cup Series has two weeks off for the Olympic break. The series returns August 11 with the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway (6:30 p.m. ET; USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
If the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs started today
- Kyle Larson 2043
- Denny Hamlin 2028
- Christopher Bell 2027
- William Byron 2021
- Ryan Blaney 2019
- Chase Elliott 2016
- Tyler Reddick 2016
- Brad Keselowski 2007
- Martin Truex Jr. 2007
- Austin Cindric 2007
- Alex Bowman 2006
- Joey Logano 2006
- Daniel Suarez 2005
- Ty Gibbs 2002
- Chris Buescher 2002
- Ross Chastain 2001
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com