SPEEDWAY, Ind. – In the closing laps of the 30th running of the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG, Ryan Blaney had an opportunity to win his second crown jewel in his NASCAR Cup Series career.
Kyle Busch made contact with Denny Hamlin in Turn 3 approaching two laps remaining, forcing the race into overtime.
Brad Keselowski was leading but running out of fuel, putting Blaney in prime position to win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Coming to the restart zone for the first overtime restart, Keselowski ran out of fuel and pulled out of line into pit road.
By rule, the car behind Keselowski would inherit control of the restart.
That driver, Kyle Larson, would go on to win the race.
“I know the 6 (Keselowski) was probably going to run out if it went green,” Blaney shared with NBC Sports. “Came to the restart, I couldn’t believe they stayed out. I knew 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. He runs out coming to the green, so he gets to do to pit road and the 5 (Larson) gets promoted.
“Luck of the day right there, I guess. I don’t know what to be mad about. Mad at 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 down the back, I don’t know. Stinks to lose in that way.”
Among the controversy, Blaney proposed a solution during his interview on pit road.
“Call it off and rechoose because now you’re promoting the third-place guy before the second-place guy if the leader has problems. That’s not right. It’s dumb luck of where Brad ran out and stuff like this.”
Blaney ended the race third after a second overtime attempt was needed when the caution flew after Larson took the white flag when Ryan Preece spun on the backstretch and was not able to continue. He now sits fifth in the standings, 73 points behind the regular season championship lead with just four races remaining.
“Appreciate the effort,” continued Blaney after gaining two spots in the championship standings. “I hate we don’t get to celebrate with Mr. Penske and everyone at Penske here. That stings a lot. Just try to keep going. That’s all you can do.”
Blaney’s two victories at Iowa and Pocono have locked him into the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs to defend his championship. After the two-week Olympic break, the Cup Series makes its annual stop at Richmond Raceway for the Cook Out 400 on Sunday, August 11 at 6:00 p.m. ET on USA Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.