INDIANAPOLIS – Bubba Wallace saved just enough fuel and survived double NASCAR Overtime to win the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Wallace was well on his way to victory in the 23XI Racing No. 23 Chumba Casino Toyota, when rain brought out the caution with just four laps remaining. In double NASCAR Overtime, Wallace didn’t pit for fuel despite running on fumes and held off Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson twice. The win marks Wallace’s third-career NASCAR Cup Series victory and he now goes from a bubble driver to a NASCAR Playoffs contender.

“Unbelievable,” Wallace said. “To win here at the Brickyard, knowing how big this race is, knowing all the noise that’s going on in the background, to set that all aside is a testament to these people here on this 23 team. It’s been getting old right around the cut line.”

Larson won last year’s Brickyard 400, but this year, he came up one spot short to finish second. The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Hendrick 1100 Chevrolet was there at the end battling for the win, but Wallace was just stronger on the two final restarts. The strong finish is Larson second consecutive top-five finish this season.

“Kind of the same thing with me last year,” Larson said. “Leaders got the inside. It’s really hard for me to beat that. Kind of just hoping for good fortune again with fuel and whatnot.

“Regardless, proud of my team today. We just executed. I don’t think we passed many cars on track, but our picker did a good job and our team did a good job with strategy. Happy to get a good result like that.”

Denny Hamlin finished third in a backup car, but he celebrated the win as a team owner. Ryan Preece who is also fighting for a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs finished fourth, followed by his RFK Racing team owner and teammate, Brad Keselowski in fifth. Completing the top-10 was Todd Gilliland, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and Carson Hocevar.

With a 21^st-place finish, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs won the first-ever In-Season Bracket Challenge, earning his team $1 million. After defeating Ty Dillon, who finishes 28^th, Gibbs announced he was donating $10,000 to Toys for Tots.

“Super cool,” Gibbs said. “Very honored to be in this position. Thankful to all of NASCAR and TNT Sports to allow us to be able to do this. It’s awesome to win this. Super cool to be in this position.

“I told the broadcast on the other show, but our sponsor Saia challenged Ty Dillon’s sponsor whoever loses gets $10,000 for Toys for Tots. I want to put another 10 on top of that. Wherever Ty wants it to go will be his choice. Super cool to be in this position and very blessed.”

Polesitter Chase Briscoe won Stage 1 but finished 19^th due to being forced to pit late. Blaney won Stage 2.

There were 16 lead changes among 10 drivers. Team Penske’s Austin Cindric led a race high 40 laps. Unfortunately for Cindric, he suffered a blown right rear tire under green flag conditions and finished 15^th.

The caution came out on six occasions for 28 laps.

On Lap 19, Ross Chastain spun off the nose of Michael McDowell and pounded out the outside wall in Turn 3 to bring out the first caution of the day. Chastain finished last in 39^th.

“I went into turn three and I think I got run into,” Chastain said. “It was a tough weekend for our No. 1 Busch Light Lime Chevrolet team. It felt the same, balance-wise and grip-wise, as the next couple of cars in front of us and we were just plugging along. We’ll regroup and get ready for Iowa Speedway next weekend.”

The caution came out on Lap 91 for Erik Jones. As the Legacy Motor Club driver entered Turn 3, the wheel came off his No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota. He finished 36^th.

“Yeah, no warning other than just slow on the right front (on the pit stop),” Jones said. “I saw them struggling there for a second, but figured we got it on. (As) soon as I turned into (turn) three, I knew we were going to crash, and I felt it come off. Yeah, it looked bad but honestly didn’t feel as bad in the car as others I’ve had. I feel good and fortunate, happy for that. But, sad for the Dollar Tree Toyota team. Fast car and things weren’t working out the best today, but I just wanted to have a shot at the end.”

The final caution that sent the race into double NASCAR Overtime ignited when Zane Smith was sent spinning down the backstretch. A total of five drivers were caught up in the chaos.

Chase Elliott leads Byron in the standings by four points.

With only four races remaining before the Regular Season ends, Wallace becomes the 13^th winner of the year. Tyler Reddick (+138), Alex Bowman (+63) and Chris Buescher (+42) are above the NASCAR Playoffs cutline. Bubble drivers include Ryan Preece (-42), Kyle Busch (-81) and Gibbs (-95).

The NASCAR Cup Series will visit Iowa Speedway on Sunday, Aug. 3, for the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol. Live coverage of the race will broadcast on USA at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Mitchell White/TheFourthTurn.com