Late Cautions Foil Fuel Strategy at the Brickyard

Things did not go Kyle Larson’s way in the Indianapolis 500 in May, but in his return trip to Speedway, Ind., Larson earned redemption with a win in the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 21.

With green flag passes hard to come by, pit strategy became the most effective way to move up the running order. Let’s see which drivers wound up on the right or wrong side of the strategy at the Brickyard.

Pitting Later Pays Off for Larson

When the race restarted on lap 130, the field was split into three different strategy groups.

Group one consisted of Brad Keselowski and Daniel Hemric, a pair of drivers who pitted way back on lap 102.

The second group was made up of a dozen drivers who took on fuel on lap 112, led by Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin.

The remaining drivers in contention, including Larson and Tyler Reddick, pitted on lap 122 or later to put themselves in a comfortable position on fuel.

At first, it looked as if Keselowski and Blaney might stretch their tanks and hold off Larson. That all changed when Kyle Busch spun and hit the turn 3 wall with just three laps left, adding to his nightmare 2024 season.

The caution came out, triggering NASCAR overtime. In response, several of the lap 111 drivers came down pit road, fearing they did not have enough fuel for overtime. Then, just as the field was coming to the restart, Keselowski surrendered the lead to pit, his No. 6 RFK Racing Ford running out of fuel.

“It was still going to be tight [on fuel],” Keselowski’s crew chief Matt McCall told Frontstretch post-race about what could have happened without overtime. “Obviously, we’ll never know now, but a better chance for sure without a caution. It was losing pressure [coming to the green for overtime]. He could have kept going probably a little further, but the best thing to do instead of causing a big crash was to pit right there.”

On the ensuing restart, a mid-pack pileup put the race right back under yellow. Of those involved, Hemric and Hamlin had recently abandoned their pit strategy to ensure they were good on fuel.

Keselowski’s misfortune opened the door for Larson to move up to the front row, pass Blaney in the first overtime, and then he held off Reddick in double overtime for the honor to kiss the yard of bricks.  

In the end, it was crew chief Cliff Daniels who made the winning pit call for Larson and the No. 5 team,…