Kyle Larson wins a dramatic Brickyard 400
After not winning the Indy500 earlier this year Kyle Larson finally wins at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Brickyard 400.
The NASCAR Cup Series arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. Yesterday Tyler Reddick put his #45 car onto pole position after qualifying.
When the race began Reddick led the field, a position that he held until the start of the first pit stop window. Redick pitted from the lead on the 37th lap of the race and then dropped back to fifth place on lap 43. The new leader was now Denny Hamlin after he maximised from the pit stops.
Hamlin held onto the lead until the end of the first stage on lap 52. Hamlin winning the stage gained him 10 extra points for the Championship standings.
Reddick then led the race from the restart on lap 56, it was John Hunter Nemechek who followed Reddick up in second place. On lap 70 the caution flag came back out after Cody Ware lost a tyre and debris covered the track.
After the drivers made their way down into the pits it was Kyle Busch who led the field for the restart with Todd Gilliland in second place. On the restart Ryan Preece, William Byron, AJ Allmendinger and Harrison Burton. The caution flag then came back out. Bubba Wallace led from the restart with Chase Elliott in second place.
At the end of the second stage, it was Bubba Wallace who took the stage victory followed by Elliott and Hamlin.
After the end of the stage caution flags were taken away Josh Berry span and hit the walls bringing out more caution flags that Denny Hamlin took first as he inherited the lead after the Stage Two pit stops. Hamlin bought the field back to green, which was immediately changed for yellow once again as Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Larson made contact, as well as Ty Gibbs and Berry collided.
Hamlin once again led another restart that did not last long as Ryan Blaney hit Austin Dillon after contact with Carson Hocevar, who collected Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson. John Hunter Nemechek led the next restart, but Ross Chastain took the lead, after only 11 laps Truex Jr crashed, and the caution flags returned.
Brad Keselowski led the restart on lap 130, on the restart Larson gained 11 positions from 21st to 10th place. By lap 144 Larson was up to seventh and pressuring the front runners. Keselowski is still leading the way from Blaney with Larson in third place. Busch who was in sixth collided with Hamlin and the caution flags came back out, meaning the race would go to Overtime.
At the start of Overtime Blaney leads from Larson and Keselowski pits, the caution returns though after a pile-up on the restart. Nemechek, Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and Alex Bowman all were involved in the crash. After the crash the red flag was displayed so they could clear up the track. After 17 minutes the red flag was lifted and the cautions were back out.
In Overtime, it was Larson who claimed victory in the Brickyard 400 and his 21st career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney finished in second and third place for Toyota and Ford. Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five.
The remainder of the top ten was Todd Gilliland in sixth, Noah Gragson in seventh, Daniel Suarez in eighth, Austin Cindric in ninth and then Chase Elliott in tenth.