Who… should you be talking about after the race?
NASCAR returned to the Indianapolis oval for the first time since 2020, 30 years after stock cars first raced on the famed oval. Still fresh off running the Indianapolis 500 in May, Kyle Larson was among the favorites to win the Brickyard 400 on Sunday. Differing fuel strategies and 10 caution periods kept Larson from leading a lot of laps on Sunday — he led twice for eight of them — but didn’t keep him out of victory lane.
Larson came to pit road for what would be his final time several laps later than the cars in front of him, and was able to use the extra fuel to his advantage, not having to worry about saving what he had in the tank. He raced his way to third and that might have been as far as he got, but a late caution for Kyle Busch’s spin set up a pair of overtime attempts.
Leader Brad Keselowski finally had to duck onto pit road for fuel coming to the first overtime green, and that left Larson in the preferred line with nobody in front of him. He was able to get past Blaney on the restart and hold Blaney and a charging Tyler Reddick off through a second overtime restart until the final caution that ended the race.
And don’t forget Todd Gilliland. Gilliland didn’t get a lot of fanfare, but he ran well all day, leading a lap midrace, and was able to have the No. 38 in excellent position for the overtime restarts. He was strong enough to finish sixth, his third top 10 of 2024.
What… is the big question leaving this race in the rearview?
What’s with the insane fuel mileage some cars are getting lately?
The magic number at Indy was supposed to be 41-43 laps, but most of the top 10 exceeded that number. Keselowski managed well over 50 laps on a tank before giving up the lead.
This follows the June 30 race at Nashville Superspeedway, where Joey Logano was able to run more than 30 extra laps of overtime without having to stop, even though his team thought he only had a couple of overtimes’ worth at best.
Are teams sandbagging their fuel numbers? That’s certainly a probablilty as teams hold their cards close to their vests. However, we have seen drivers run out trying to stretch a tank, and that costs so much track position that overplaying the strategy doesn’t make sense.
The current car, with much less horsepower than its predecessors, isn’t going to get the same numbers as a car making 700 or more horsepower, but teams have had three years to work their furl calculations, so it isn’t a guessing game.
Whatever it is, the extra miles some drivers are getting certainly ups the game for everyone else and keeps fans guessing on strategy.
Where… did the other key players wind up?
Pole winner Reddick led twice for a race-high 40 laps, but a fuel strategy that might have played out perfectly had most of the race run under the green flag petered out when 10 caution flags, seven of those after lap 100, left Reddick needing to make up track position. He had one of the fastest cars on track, and was able to move past Blaney into second, but the final caution of the day left him short.
The last driver in today’s field to win on the Indy oval was Keselowski in 2018. On Sunday, Keselowski played the mileage game almost perfectly, defying the numbers to lead what would have been the final 33 laps of the race, getting more than 50 miles to his last tank of gas. But when the race went into overtime, Keselowski had to call “uncle” and pit for fuel, finishing 21st after leading a total of 35 laps on the day.
Active Indianapolis win leader Jimmie Johnson started 33rd but worked his way into the top 15 before becoming the victim of a restart pileup on lap 110. Blaney got sideways off the nose of Carson Hocevar, hooking Johnson in the process. Johnson got into Logano and both slammed the outside wall. The hit was hard enough to end the day for his No. 84, finishing 33rd with Logano 34th.
When… was the moment of truth?
While Larson was racing to his first Brickyard 400 win, Ryan Preece was sitting in his car on the backstretch after hitting the inside wall. As Preece sat there, car unable to roll, NASCAR waited … and waited and waited some more to throw the caution. While it allowed Larson to take the white flag, staving off another restart, the call was terrible.
Restarts were a problem all day, with cars crashing on several of them, and NASCAR probably wanted to avoid a situation like we saw at Nashville with five overtime restarts and multiple crashes, but the lack of caution also shows disregard for the safety of a driver after hitting the wall.
All in all, it was a day of inconsistent calls and too many cars hitting the wall. It was an OK race but nowhere near the triumphant return to the Indy oval NASCAR was hoping for.
Why… should you be paying attention during the Olympic break?
Don’t be surprised if the NASCAR landscape is a quiet one over the only off-weeks of the season. Still, for a few teams, it provides a valuable reset just before the last push for the playoffs.
That picture didn’t change much on Sunday. Bubba Wallace inched closer to the points cut line as Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain both struggled. Busch’s struggles continued as well. He lad laps at Indy and was in position for his first top 10 on an oval since Kansas in May. A late brush with former teammate Denny Hamlin ended that bid, and time is running out for Busch to make a playoff appearance this season.
How… come NASCAR was so vague with the blend rule this week?
Both Chase Elliott and Keselowski were handed pit road violations during the race for briefly crossing onto the apron of the track between turns 1 and 2. Cars have to blend back into traffic on the backstretch as is standard at every track.
Here’s the directive NASCAR handed out to teams before the race: “Returning to the track while exiting the pits, vehicles must use the acceleration lane through the exit of turn two. Check your mirrors and come up to the racetrack. You may swing wide beyond the white line on the accelartion (sic) lane between turns 1 and 2, stay off the racing surface. Vehicles must fall in line behind the continuous line of vehicles that remain on the race track. Do not impede vehicles that remained on the race track.”
That’s so poorly written it’s laughable. There are two white lines, and nowhere is either one specified. While Elliott crossed further over the outside line than Keselowski, neither driver impeded racing traffic in any way. Larson also had his right-side wheels on the line (but they never crossed it completely) and was not penalized.
The blend rule is a safety rule and violations can lead to dangerous situations. But this was a case of the rule not being communicated well, and teams following what they thought was the rule only to be penalized. If the second line wasn’t clarified in the drivers’ meeting either, that’s on NASCAR. Even if they had warned Elliott and clarified to teams at that point, it would have been better than nothing.
About the author
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
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NA$CAR’s blend rule was so vague that two drivers couldn’t figure it out. The other 38, on the other hand, did figure it out. Maybe it wasn’t the directive, just the two drivers…
Is it just me or does it seem that every time there is a LONG green flag run to the end of the event that a car, usually that shouldn’t be on the track causes a caution that results in a GWC? It is usually a blown tire or a spin by a car that is a lot of laps down and “qualified” in the thirties I was waiting for it.
NA$CAR should have realigned the lineup after the 6 went to pit road to give the 12 the lane choice.
a 10 year old may have written the acceleration/blend rule better than what was given.
It’s not hard to clearly say “…stay fully below the outside white line, separating the acceleration lane from the race track, when rejoining the race from pit road. Safely blend back into the race after turn 2.
Pass through penalty if tires/car touches outside white line.