In a race that played out in a similar fashion to the 2017 running of the Brickyard 400, Sunday’s (July 21) return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval needed multiple overtimes to decide a winner.
In double overtime, Kyle Larson took the lead from Ryan Blaney and held off Tyler Reddick for a series-leading fourth NASCAR Cup Series win of 2024.
Despite seeming to jump the second-to-last restart of the race, Larson was still allowed to keep his position for the race’s final restart, where he pulled away from the field to add another crown jewel to his resume.
“This is such a prestigious place, hallowed ground,” Larson said to NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “Cool to get a chance to race here on the oval again. Our team never gave up all, just fought and dug. Can’t thank them enough.”
Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney finished second and third, respectively, with Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace rounding out the top-five. Todd Gilliland, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson and Austin Cindric completed the top-10.
It was Indianapolis’ pit road that dealt the first major blow of the afternoon, as Chase Elliott was penalized for prematurely blending onto the racetrack after the first round of green flag pit stops. Denny Hamlin ended up being the biggest winner on the first cycle of stops, as he assumed the race lead and the stage win from Tyler Reddick, who was forced to settle for a fifth-place finish in stage one.
With pit strategies varying under caution, it was Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace – both of whom took two tires rather than four – that led the field off pit road. However, Tyler Reddick, Michael McDowell and seven other drivers opted to stay out on the ensuing restart, with John Hunter Nemechek taking the lead on lap 56.
A debris caution on lap 70 bunched the field back up, and the majority of the field pitted, with Kyle Busch and Todd Gilliland leading the field to the green flag. Chaos would ensue on the restart, however, as William Byron, Harrison Burton and AJ Allmendinger found themselves as victims of a hard crash on the exit of turn 2.
With the majority of the field deciding to stay out, Wallace cleared Elliott for the race lead on lap 79. Hamlin would quickly move through the field, though, moving up to third place behind Wallace and Elliott.
With the field trying to save gas for the race’s final stretch, it was Wallace who won stage two. The stage victory was the first for…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …