Written by Sean McKean
After a chaotic end to the return of a crown jewel, Kyle Larson held on to take his first victory at the Brickyard. It was the 2021 champion’s fourth victory of the season
As it unfolded
From pole position, Tyler Reddick got away well to hold the lead from Denny Hamlin. He held the lead until Lap 30 when the pit cycles began.
The first stage ended uneventfully from there; although, Hamlin inherited the lead from Reddick being on an alternate strategy. Hamlin took top honours followed by Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney.
Reddick led the field to the green to begin the second stage and kept it from Michael McDowell. He once again held strong, but before pit stops began, the caution came out.
Having suffered with tyre vibrations all race, Cody Ware’s left-rear tyre carcass came loose, resulting in debris that needed sweeped away.
Four cars stayed out under the caution, allowing Kyle Busch to lead the field to the green flag on Lap 74, but only two corners later, the caution came out for a big crash off Turn 2. William Byron came together with Noah Gragson – sending the Daytona 500 winner into the path of traffic and hard into the inside wall. Byron retired from the crash as did AJ Allmendinger.
The Lap 79 restart saw Chase Elliott lead the way, but Bubba Wallace eventually took the lead with a move in Turn 3. He held this position until stage’s end to take crucial stage points for his playoff hopes. Elliott came in second and Hamlin in third.
Denny Hamlin controlled the ensuing restart, but it only took three corners for drama to strike again.
In an attempt to defend, Kyle Larson drifted too high up the track into Martin Truex, sending the 2017 champion into the wall. In this melee, Josh Berry spun into the outside wall as well. Only Berry’s damage was terminal.
The theme of cautions continued for the Lap 110 restart – this time only taking one corner. In Turn 1, Ryan Blaney was hooked by Hocevar and into the path of teammate Joey Logano, sending him into the outside wall hard. Also caught up in this was Jimmie Johnson, who hit the wall with the rear of his car hard. Both drivers went out of the race, but Blaney continued.
Ross Chastain led the field away this time, and he kept his lead until pit stops began. However, amidst pit road chaos, the caution came back out. Martin Truex – limping with a poor race car – had a tyre go flat, resulting in a DNF.
Brad Keselowski controlled the next restart. On an alternate strategy, a run to the end was all the 2012 champion needed to secure a second victory, but with three laps remaining, that all changed for a crash by Busch in Turn 3 – putting the caution back out.
On the overtime restart, Keselowski peeled into the pits, seemingly out of fuel, so Larson and Blaney led the field to the green. Larson got the better of Blaney – having possibly jumped the restart – but their battle couldn’t unfold nor could NASCAR immediately investigate as a pileup occurred in Turn 1.
John Hunter Nemechek took an odd angle on entry, catching Daniel Hemric behind him off guard. This sent them both into the pit wall and subsequently the outside wall, also collecting more cars with them. The cars that went out of the race included Hemric, Nemechek, Hamlin, and Bowman.
Larson reigned supreme on the second overtime restart, but a crash out of Turn 2 from Ryan Preece threatened to make it a third. However, in an odd decision, race control did not immediately throw the caution – instead allowing the field to take the white, and subsequently the chequered when the caution came out.
Kyle Larson held on to win his first ever race at the Indianapolis oval. Tyler Reddick continues a nice run of results in second. A frustrated Ryan Blaney took it home in third. Christopher Bell has a quiet day in fourth. Rounding out the top five was Bubba Wallace.
Provisional Classification:
Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports)
Tyler Reddick (23XI Racing)
Ryan Blaney (Team Penske)
Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing)
Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing)
Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports)
Austin Cindric (Team Penske)
Daniel Suarez (Trackhouse Racing)
Noah Gragson (Stewart-Haas Racing)
Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)
Ricky Stenhouse (JTG-Daugherty Racing)
Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports)
Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing)
Corey Lajoie (Spire Motorsports)
Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing)
Michael McDowell (Front Row Motorsports)
Zane Smith (Spire Motorsports)
Cody Ware (Rick Ware Racing)
Ty Dillon (Richard Childress Racing)
Justin Haley (Rick Ware Racing)
Brad Keselowski (Roush Fenway-Keselowski)
Chris Buescher (Roush Fenway-Keselowski)
Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)
Chase Briscoe (Stewart-Haas Racing)
Kyle Busch (Richard Childress Racing) +1 lap
Ryan Preece (Stewart-Haas Racing) [DNF]
Martin Truex (Joe Gibbs Racing) [DNF]
Erik Jones (Legacy Motor Club) [DNF]
John Hunter Nemechek (Legacy Motor Club) [DNF]
Daniel Hemric (Kaulig Racing) [DNF]
Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports) [DNF]
Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) [DNF]
Jimmie Johnson (Legacy Motor Club) [DNF]
Joey Logano (Team Penske) [DNF]
Josh Berry (Stewart-Haas Racing) [DNF]
Harrison Burton (Wood Brothers Racing) [DNF]
AJ Allmendinger (Kaulig Racing) [DNF]
William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) [DNF]
BJ McLeod (MBM Motorsports) [DNF]
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