Monday Morning Pit Box: Variety of Fuel Strategies Play Out at Indianapolis

Bubba Wallace has added a crown jewel win to his racing resume. Wallace saved just enough fuel in his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota to survive double overtime and hold off Kyle Larson to win the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday (July 27).

While Wallace kissed the bricks, Ty Gibbs became one million dollars richer. Though he only managed a 21st-place finish, it was good enough for Gibbs to finish ahead of Ty Dillon in 28th to win the In-Season Challenge and earn the big check for the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

While there weren’t many pit penalties or incidents on Sunday, pit strategy was ever evolving throughout all 168 laps, including the eight laps of overtime. Here are the main pit road plotlines coming out of the Hoosier State:

Bubba Wallace Saves Enough Gas to Win Brickyard 400

Teams Play Pit Strategy Shuffle Throughout the Day

Between the dirty air in the draft and the pack stringing out quickly after restarts, it became clear that track position at Indianapolis had to be gained primarily via pit strategy.

Team Penske and Wood Brothers Racing set the tone for the split in strategy early, with Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, and Josh Berry all staying out under the first caution on lap 20 for Ross Chastain’s crash. Those three teams pitted again on laps 41-43 to flip the stage and start stage two near the front. The departure in strategy from the pack paid dividends for the three Fords, particularly Cindric, who led a race-high 40 laps before his right rear tire went down on lap 84.

Fast forwarding to the final stage, the wide variety of strategy calls carried over when the final fuel window opened. Berry and Logano began the green-flag cycle on lap 117, each taking two tires and fuel. Eventual race winner Wallace pitted on lap 119, while Larson came down pit road on lap 121. Other drivers, including Justin Haley and Brad Keselowski, attempted to stretch their fuel tank as long as possible in the hopes of catching a caution.

As the cycle unfolded, it looked as though Logano was in the catbird seat to take the lead once everyone pitted. That was cast asunder when the right rear tire went flat on the No. 22 Ford with 26 laps to go, which made Wallace the top driver among those who had pitted.

This changes everything!

There are problems on the No. 22! pic.twitter.com/IuHnLnkJ4h

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 27, 2025

A rain shower in turns 1 and 2—and the brief red flag that came with it—gave drivers and teams an opportunity to reset for overtime. Going into overtime, here was the last pit lap for the top 10:

Though Larson had a two-lap edge, Wallace proved to be good to the last drop to take the checkered flag.

“Yeah, we were extraordinarily close,” No. 23 Crew Chief Charles Denike said post-race. “We really needed them to come to the choose [cone] at the lap that they did. I think some others were in the same boat. He saved enough obviously because he still had enough for a burnout and still drive it to victory lane.”

One Hendrick Motorsports driver was not so lucky with the fuel as William Byron’s tank ran dry of the backstretch of the white flag. Byron, who was in the top five, plummeted to 16th as his recent slump continued at The Brickyard.

Erik Jones Undone by Pit Stop Stumble

At first, it was shaping up to be a breakout weekend at The Brickyard for Legacy Motor Club. John Hunter Nemechek turned the second-fastest lap in practice in his No. 42 Toyota, while Erik Jones qualified fifth as part of an all-Toyota top five on the starting grid.

In the opening laps on Sunday, Jones did a great job of maintaining his starting track position, staying well within the top 10. Though he surrendered potential stage points to pit on lap 46, Jones cycled back into the top 10 for the start of stage two.

Jones’ day took a turn with his next pit stop on lap 88. The No. 43 pit crew had trouble on the right side as jackman Kellen Mills dropped the jack on the right side before front tire charger John Rosselli could fully tighten the lug nut on the right front tire. One lap later, Jones’ wheel came loose and he hit the turn 3 wall hard, suffering race-ending damage that ended his day.

There's more trouble!

This time it's the No. 43! pic.twitter.com/1kadxc1DZg

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 27, 2025

“I’m fine, the right front there just fell off,” Jones told Frontstretch after he was checked and released from the infield care center. “I saw [the pit crew] just hang up for a second on pit road and then went into [turn] 3 and immediately knew it was going to come off. I love to have speed, just got to do everything right and we just didn’t.”

Jones fell to 36th in the final running order, and the quest for his first win since the 2022 Southern 500 continues.

Pit Road Police

Overall, it was a quiet Sunday afternoon for the NASCAR official in race control and on pit road, with just three penalties in this week’s summary.

• Because of Jones’ loose wheel on lap 89, the No. 43 crew will likely be without Mills and Rosselli for the next two races when the penalty report comes out later this week.
• A member of Riley Herbst’s 23XI Racing crew went over the wall too soon on lap 92, sending the No. 35 Toyota to the tail of the field. Herbst crossed the finish line in 26th.
• The No. 66 team had too many men over the wall during their yellow flag pit stop on lap 94, which put their driver Josh Bilicki at the tail of the field for the ensuing restart. Bilicki finished back in 34th.
• On lap 101, Ryan Blaney pitted before pit road was open to avoid running out of fuel, resulting in a tail end of the field penalty. Blaney bounced back for a top 10, taking the checkered flag in seventh.

Look Ahead to Next Week

The drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series will go short track racing in the Heartland next Sunday, Aug. 3, with the running of the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol. Race coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. on the USA Network as NBC Sports takes over Cup Series broadcasting for the balance of the season.

With last year being the inaugural Cup race at the 0.875-mile oval in Newton, Iowa, the notebooks for race teams are very thin. Whichever teams learned the most from last year’s race to carry over to this year will put themselves in a good spot to contend for the win.

Andrew Stoddard

Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.