Jul 225 min read

Brickyard 400: Kyle Larson Tames Indianapolis In Oval Return

Kyle Larson celebrates in Victory Lane at Indianapolis. — Kyle Larson made up for his disappointing May trip to Indianapolis with a Brickyard 400 win. ( Photo: Justin Casterline | Getty Images)

SPEEDWAY, Ind. - Kyle Larson added another Crown Jewel victory to his resume as he won the Brickyard 400 in the NASCAR Cup Series return to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the first time since 2020.

Before claiming the Brickyard 400 win, Larson previously won other Crown Jewel NASCAR races in the 2021 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and the 2023 Southern 500 at Darlington.

Larson was seemingly on pace to win, after a strategy call allowed him to have more fuel saved than all of the competitors in front of him on his way to earning Cup Series win No. 27.

Despite multiple cautions and a lengthy red-flag period, Larson was able to hold on and win, following NASCAR's decision to throw a late caution flag after the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet took the white flag.

"This is just such a prestigious place.. such hallowed ground," Larson said. "Pretty neat to get an opportunity to race here on the oval again. What a job by our team. I mean, never gave up at all. We had the pit-stop issue there early on. Just fought, dug and had things work out."

23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick had another impressive day as he continues to fight for the Cup Series Regular Season Championship. Reddick's second-place finish is his fifth straight race where he earned a top-six result, including finishes inside the top three in three of the last four races.

"Yeah, I mean me and Kyle (Larson) just, were the first few cars on that alternate strategy," Reddick said. "We had that issue on pit road. I think he had some issue on pit road as well that put him back there. Just didn’t have anything to lose. A great effort by all of us, the car went through the field. Unfortunately, when Kyle got to me and passed me like he did, I wasn’t expecting it.

"It was really creative, and he continued to catch the rest of the field and pass cars. I wish I could’ve seen that one coming and maybe defended that better. It was a great way to make a pass. It unfortunately means we bring home our Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry second. But good points day. Didn’t score as many as the 5 (Larson), but nonetheless, a fairly solid points day."

Team Penske's Ryan Blaney ended up third at the Roger Penske-owned track. Blaney, who was incredibly angry and vocal about how the final laps went, cooled down to deliver his post-race interview.

“I thought we had a really good shot to win today," Blaney said. "Our car was fast and I thought we had really good strategy. We were the front guy of having to save a little bit of gas but I thought we put ourselves in a great spot. I knew the 6 was probably going to run out if it went green. We came to the restart and I couldn’t believe they stayed out. 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, and he winds up coming to the green so he gets to go to pit road and the 5 gets promoted. Luck of the day right there I guess.

"I don't even know what to get mad about. I am mad about 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 6 would run out in the restart zone or on the back. It stinks to lose it that way. I appreciate the effort. I hate we don't get to celebrate with Mr. Penske and with everyone from Penske here. That stings a lot. We just have to keep going, that is all we can do."

Results from the 2024 Brickyard 400 are listed below:

Other Race Facts

Bubba Wallace had one of his best days in quite a while as the 23XI Racing driver continues to build momentum as they look to make the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Wallace cut the gap to the cut line to just seven points after finishing fifth, earning his fourth top 15 in a row and winning his first stage (Stage 2) since 2022.

"We were fifth – what a day," Wallace said. "I just did not do a good job on Friday and Saturday and set us behind for track position. I really didn’t know what our car had, but I knew the people we had on it and that is what matters the most. I appreciate Bootie (Barker, crew chief) and the gang for just giving me a car to work with.

"The No. 23 U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry was really, really fast. It felt really good. After a few laps, I was like, I don’t know what we have – but it is good to be back on the oval. The finish is making my mood better, but it was really difficult to pass. All-in-all, a good day. A good points day."

With his Brickyard 400 win, Kyle Larson is now the only driver in the Next Gen Era to win more than one Crown Jewel race. Larson has also won the Southern 500 as well since NASCAR debuted the Next Gen car in 2022.

This was also Larson's second race of 2024 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as he raced in the Indy 500, finishing 18th for Arrow McLaren.

Todd Gilliland earned his fourth top-10 finish this season (finished sixth), which is the most he has ever had in a Cup Series season.

"I think our Mustang was really competitive," Gilliland said. "We were a little tight on exit the whole race, but that is part of it. Our car had good speed when we stayed up there. It was an interesting race, it was hard to pass. We didn’t do good on the strategy for the middle part of the race but then it put us in a position where it worked out for us at the end.

"Just disappointing a little bit. I was fourth on the last restart and probably should have chose the bottom looking back on it, but that is how it goes sometimes. You live and you learn."

Kyle Busch has five finishes of 25th or worse in his last six races, which is one of the worst stretches in his Cup Series career. His winless streak is now up to 43 races.

GRID Ranking

The 2024 GRID Ranking is the eighth year of the world's premier motorsport ranking and was initially released on Sunday, April 7.

The official ranking includes drivers that participate in seven racing series (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, World Rally Championship, Repco Supercars, MotoGP), and each driver earns GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding in the GRID Ranking.

DRIVER	OLD RATING	PREVIOUS RANKING	MOST RECENT FINISH	NEW RATING	NEW RANKING
Kyle Larson	10.42	23rd	1st	11.59	17th
Tyler Reddick	10.29	24th	2nd	11.00	20th
William Byron	11.04	21st	38th	10.54	24th
Denny Hamlin	10.08	25th	32nd	9.62	26th
Christopher Bell	9.94	26th	4th	9.49	27th

Week 16 of the GRID Ranking:

Week 16 of the NASCAR GRID Rating has a new but familiar face on top as Kyle Larson's win helped propel him to the front over Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron.

Unfortunately for Byron, he wrecked and finished 38th while Tyler Reddick finished second to jump him in the rating.

The next race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule will be Sunday, Aug. 11 at Richmond Raceway after a brief hiatus for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Coverage of the Cook Out 400 begins at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.