SPEEDWAY, Ind. — As the laps ticked down during Sunday’s (July 21) 2024 Brickyard 400, NASCAR’s return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval was shaping up to be a showdown between Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson, with all three drivers on separate pit strategies.
Keselowski led, but he was running dangerously low on fuel; with the difficulties in passing all day, he was hoping for just enough fuel in the tank to score his second Brickyard 400 crown.
Blaney was second and had more fuel than Keselowski, but he still had to save fuel within the final 20 laps to make it to the finish. Third was Larson, who had no questions about fuel and roared from outside the top 15 and up to third, blowing by the cars that were forced to make an economy run to the finish.
The top three were all nose-to-tail and going all-out with two laps to go, but a Kyle Busch crash forced overtime and bunched the field right back together.
As the field entered the pivotal choose zone, Blaney elected to go to the outside of Keselowski, while Larson decided to tuck behind the No. 6 car in the second row. But Keselowski ran out of gas moments before the field took the green flag, and his exit to pit road promoted Larson to the front row of the restart.
It was a sequence of events that Blaney — who would have restarted on the inside had Keselowski pitted one lap earlier — was absolutely furious about.
Now with the preferred inside line, Larson capitalized on the sudden fortune and cleared Blaney into turn 1 for the lead. The process repeated for a second overtime attempt, and Larson scored his first Brickyard 400 crown and his fourth win of the 2024 Cup Series season.
Meanwhile, Blaney was saddled with a third-place finish in an absolutely crushing defeat. Had Keselowski run out of fuel after the restart or under caution before the choose zone, this race might’ve had a far different outcome.
“I know the No. 6 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 go to pit road and the No. 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 No. 6 would run out in the restart zone or down the back. I don’t know. Stinks to lose in that way.”
In regard to that pivotal restart, Blaney argued that — as the control car — he should’ve had the opportunity to rechoose the inside line once Keselowski surrendered his spot.
“Call it off and rechoose, because now you’re promoting the third-place guy before the second-place guy if the leader has problems,” Blaney said. “That’s not right. It’s dumb luck 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.
“Not going to sleep very good tonight, I can tell you that.”
In the wake of such a bitter loss in one of NASCAR’s most prestigious races, there’s not much the No. 12 team can do but set its sights on the next race.
“We just have to keep going,” Blaney said. “That is all we can do.”
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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Wow, Ryan should be pissed. I have to wonder why Brad and team stayed out till that moment.
I was really confused by that restart too. It looked like Larson got a huge advantage by accelerating to the front row before the restart zone, then he beat Blaney to the start-finish line. Did NASCAR somehow rule that because Keselowski dropped off the pace that the car behind him became the control car? To me it should have been Blaney, which if I understand the rules correctly Larson jumped the start. I don’t know if calling off the start would have been appropriate in that situation because that would have meant another lap and more cars running short on fuel, but it definitely looks like a loophole has been exposed.
Yeah, should the 5 be allowed to move up like that? Seems like another “Hamlin at Richmond” move where NASCAR didn’t catch it in time.
Sometimes NASCAR gets caught between their roles as strict officials and their, “Let ’em race,” attitude. I think they made the right call in not wanting to micro-manage a situation where the rulebook isn’t clear and they only had seconds to react. But then what if Keselowski had run out of gas on the backstretch giving NASCAR more time to react? They probably would have been forced to rule differently because Blaney would have probably tried to switch lanes, causing more confusion about the lineup and leading NASCAR to extend the yellow. What’s clear is NASCAR needs to fix the rule. This was so much easier when restarts were single-file.
Yes to single file restarts
I was surprised when Brad followed the pace car down pit road. It’s not something you normally see the leader do during a restart. Once again, NASCAR seems to wing it when there’s a situation like this.
The change to the “rule” is easy. If a car drops out the cars have to maintain their position and can’t move up. If they go early they get a penalty, although it will probably depend on the car owner.
Is the flagman even allowed to call off a restart without the approval from a higher power?
I believe the starter has to do what the control tower says. This isn’t a short track where the starter is God.