Brickyard 400: Kyle Larson tames Indianapolis in oval return

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Kyle Larson added another Crown Jewel victory to his resume as he won the Brickyard 400 in the NASCAR Cup Series return to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the first time since 2020.

Before claiming the Brickyard 400 win, Larson previously won other Crown Jewel NASCAR races in the 2021 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and the 2023 Southern 500 at Darlington.

Larson was seemingly on pace to win, after a strategy call allowed him to have more fuel saved than all of the competitors in front of him on his way to earning Cup Series win No. 27.

Despite multiple cautions and a lengthy red-flag period, Larson was able to hold on and win, following NASCAR’s decision to throw a late caution flag after the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet took the white flag.

“This is just such a prestigious place.. such hallowed ground,” Larson said. “Pretty neat to get an opportunity to race here on the oval again. What a job by our team. I mean, never gave up at all. We had the pit-stop issue there early on. Just fought, dug and had things work out.”

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick had another impressive day as he continues to fight for the Cup Series Regular Season Championship. Reddick’s second-place finish is his fifth straight race where he earned a top-six result, including finishes inside the top three in three of the last four races.

“Yeah, I mean me and Kyle (Larson) just, were the first few cars on that alternate strategy,” Reddick said. “We had that issue on pit road. I think he had some issue on pit road as well that put him back there. Just didn’t have anything to lose. A great effort by all of us, the car went through the field. Unfortunately, when Kyle got to me and passed me like he did, I wasn’t expecting it.

“It was really creative, and he continued to catch the rest of the field and pass cars. I wish I could’ve seen that one coming and maybe defended that better. It was a great way to make a pass. It unfortunately means we bring home our Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry second. But good points day. Didn’t score as many as the 5 (Larson), but nonetheless, a fairly solid points day.”

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney ended up third at the Roger Penske-owned track. Blaney, who was incredibly angry and vocal about how the final laps went, cooled down to deliver his post-race interview.

“I thought we had a really good shot to win today,” Blaney said. “Our car was fast and I thought we had really good strategy. We were the front guy of having to save a little bit of gas but I thought we put ourselves in a great spot. I knew the 6 was probably going to run out if it went green. We came to the restart and I couldn’t believe they stayed out. There was no way they were going to make it. So I obviously chose the top because he might run out in the restart zone, and he winds up coming to the green so he gets to go to pit road and the 5 gets promoted. Luck of the day right there I guess.

“I don’t even know what to get mad about. I am mad about losing this race because I thought we were in the perfect position. Once I lost control of the race, obviously I would have been on the bottom, but I thought the 6 would run out in the restart zone or on the back. It stinks to lose it that way. I appreciate the effort. I hate we don’t get to celebrate with Mr. Penske and with everyone from Penske here. That stings a lot. We just have to keep going, that is all we can do.”

Results from the 2024 Brickyard 400 are listed below: