Kyle Larson Gets Redemption At Indy With Brickyard 400 Overtime Victory

Kyle Larson Gets Redemption At Indy With Brickyard 400 Overtime Victory

by July 21, 2024 1 comment

INDIANAPOLIS – Back in May, Kyle Larson’s attempt at Indy-Charlotte double didn’t turn out the way he had planned, but on Sunday while piloting the same blue-white-orange special scheme on the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, he held off Tyler Reddick in NASCAR Overtime to win the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

With a variety of fuel strategies being implemented, Larson and Reddick were the only two top contenders who were 100% good to make it to the end; however, they had to work their way through traffic to reach the front of the pack. In NASCAR Overtime, the Hendrick Motorsports driver took command of the race with Reddick hot on his trail. On the final lap, the caution came out for Ryn Preece who had crashed in Turn 2. Larson was ahead of Reddick when the yellow flag was displayed, and he coasted to his first-ever Indy victory.

“What a job by our team,” Larson said. “I mean, never gave up at all. We had the pit stop issue there early on. Just fought and dug and had things work out.”

While celebrating on the frontstretch, Larson hinted that he wanted to attempt the Indy-Charlotte double next May.

“I love you, Indiana fans,” Larson said. “I know you guys love me, too. How about we come back next May and try to kiss these bricks in an INDYCAR?”

Larson continued and said, “I’d love to. We’re working on it. I hope we can announce something soon. See you guys all next May.”

May was certainly a disappointing time for Larson. It was supposed to be one of the highlights of his car, but Mother Nature had other plans. On Sunday, Larson believes that the Brickyard 400 victory was meant to be.

“I wish we could have got to do both and run the 600,” Larson said. “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 (Keselowski) 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.”

Reddick came up short yet again. Over the past four races, the 23XI Racing driver has finished inside the top-three on three occasions. This weekend, he led practice, won the pole and led the most laps, so the runner-up finish was a little disappointing, but on the plus side, he did earn his highest finish on the Indy rectangle.

“Honestly, it was a good day,” Reddick said. “Obviously return to the Brickyard, it’s tough coming up one spot short. Once we got off of Turn Two 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 5 (Larson) that much, but a little bit on the 9 (Chase Elliott). In the big picture, it was a great day for the team.”

Ryan Blaney finished third, but he wasn’t happy at all. On a late-race restart prior to the NASCAR Overtime restart, leader, Brad Keselowski had to dive to pit road at the last minute due to a fuel shortage. The vacancy of the top spot allowed Larson to move up from third to first, while Blaney was stuck on the outside of the front row in second. Unfortunately for Blaney, he was unable to stay up front and fought hard to finish third.

“I know the 6 (Keselowski) was probably going to run out if it went green,” Blaney said. “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 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. 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.”

Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top-five. Todd Gilliand finished sixth, followed by Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson and Elliott.

Denny Hamlin won Stage 1 and Wallace won Stage 2.

There were 18 lead changes among 13 drivers. Reddick led a race high of 40 laps.

The caution came out on 10 occasions for 34 laps.

Larson leads Elliott by 10 points in the standings.

NASCAR will not take two weeks off, but the NASCAR Cup Series will return on Sunday, August 11 for the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. Live coverage will broadcast on USA at 6 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Christian Koelle, TheFourthTurn.com

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