Larson, who ran in the Indianapolis 500 earlier this season as part of an aborted attempt to do ‘the Double,’ picked up an anticlimactic win under caution in an otherwise drama-filled race on Sunday.
Larson, one of the few cars who stayed on the safest fuel strategy, grabbed the lead on the start to the first overtime after then-leader Brad Keselowski dove on pit road at the last moment out of fuel.
A multi-car wreck erupted behind the leaders, which required a 17-minute red flag to fix part of the retaining wall, and sent the race into a second overtime.
Larson again quickly cleared for the lead, but Ryan Preece hit the wall. NASCAR held the caution flag as it appeared Preece would get rolling, but he ended up coming to a stop on the track, which brought out the caution on the final lap and secured Larson’s win.
The win is Larson’s fourth of the 2024 season and 27th of his career.
Tyler Reddick ended up second, reigning series champion Ryan Blaney was third, Christopher Bell was fourth and Bubba Wallace completed the top five.
Completing the top 10 were Todd Gilliland, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Sunday’s race was the first for the Cup Series on the IMS oval course since 2020. NASCAR debuted at the track in 1994 and ran one Cup race for 26 consecutive seasons until moving to the Indy Road Course layout the past three years.
Stage 1
Denny Hamlin cycled to the lead after a round of green flag pit stops with nine laps to go and held off Larson by 0.282 seconds to take the Stage 1 win. Blaney was third, William Byron fourth and Reddick fifth.
Stage 2
Trying a different pit strategy, Wallace stayed out and inherited the lead then held Chase off Elliott by 0.723 seconds to win Stage 2. Hamlin ended up third, Blaney fourth and John Hunter Nemechek was fifth.
On lap 74, several cars banged off each other exiting Turn 2, with Preece turning Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet into the outside wall. Byron went back down the track, was hit by A.J. Allmendinger and then slammed head-on into the inside SAFER barrier.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, several lead lap cars pitted but Hamlin was among more than a dozen that remained on the track and inherited the lead when the race resumed with 56 laps remaining.
Shortly after the restart, Larson got into Martin Truex Jr., who cut a tire and hit the wall. Further back in the field, Josh Berry got turned on the same lap and…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – NASCAR – Stories…