INDIANAPOLIS — Two months after running the Indianapolis 500, Kyle Larson returned to Indy to win the Brickyard 400 and "kiss the bricks" for the first time in his career.
Larson raced his way through the field under green after strategy left him outside the top 15 under a late pit stop. He reached Ryan Blaney for the proverbial race for the lead with under five laps to go when a caution forced overtime.
"This is such a prestigious place," Larson said after the win. "What a job by our team. We never gave up at all... Just can't thank them enough."
Several drivers were very low on fuel in the closing laps, creating a scramble among the top drivers outside of Larson and Tyler Reddick. On the final restart, Larson raced ahead of Blaney and held off Reddick to take the white flag. Ryan Preece wrecked during the restart and was unable to clear the track. NASCAR called a caution on the white flag, ending the race and allowing Larson to take the win.
Blaney, Christopher Bell, and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five.
It's the 11th Brickyard win for Hendrick Motorsports. Kasey Kahne won the last one for Hendrick in 2017.
Tyler Reddick started on the pole and led the first 37 laps before hitting pit road. Reddick went on pit road much later than most of the field as others banked on getting track position toward the end of the first stage.
Denny Hamlin inherited the lead after the first pit cycle and held off Kyle Larson to win the first stage.
Reddick regained the lead at the beginning of the second stage. Cody Ware brought out the first caution for an incident when he lost a tire.
Split strategies allowed Kyle Busch to lead after that caution period. During the restart, Ryan Preece made contact with William Byron, sending him hard into the inside wall, which wrecked him out of the race. AJ Allmendinger and Harrison Burton were also caught in the crash.
Busch hit pit road during that caution period, allowing Bubba Wallace to take the lead. Wallace held on to win the second stage, earning crucial points toward the playoff cutline. Wallace came in 27 points behind Ross Chastain for the final playoff spot and left Indianapolis with just a seven-point deficit.
Reddick's chances took a big hit when a loose wheel forced him to come back down pit road under caution.
The first restart of the final stage was shortlived when Martin Treux Jr. slammed into the wall after making contact with Chastain and Larson.
On the next restart, Carson Hocevar made contact with Ryan Blaney, forcing him to clip Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano. Johnson and Logano were taken out of the race in the wreck.
That caution brought most of the field down pit road as it left drivers right at the limit of making it to the end with enough fuel. Some opted for another strategy, though, including Brad Keselowski and Larson.
Truex spun again 10 laps later, bringing Larson and others down pit road to bank on better tires and giving them more than enough fuel to reach the end of the race.
Keselowski stayed out, though, and led while in max fuel conservation mode. Blaney followed him in the waning laps and waited for him to eventually hit pit road. Meanwhile, Larson drove his way through the field and reached Blaney's bumper with under 10 laps to go.
As Larson and Blaney dueled behind Keselowski, Kyle Busch wrecked with just three laps to go. That caution left many drivers tight on fuel.
Keselowski stayed out once again but dipped to pit road just before the green flag came back out. That created a controversy where Larson inherited a spot in the top row alongside Blaney. He quickly passed Blaney during the restart.
A huge pileup happened during the first overtime restart attempt. Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, and Hamlin were all collected in the mess.
Larson easily held on for the win during the second restart attempt to earn his fourth victory of 2024 and take over the regular season points lead.
The NASCAR Cup Series takes two weeks off for the Summer Olympics. The sport is next in action on Sunday, Aug. 11 at Richmond Raceway.