The 2024 Brickyard 400 turned out to be a battle between Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, and Brad Keselowski as the laps trickled down in the final stage. Keselowski led the field with two laps to go but was running dangerously sparse on fuel. This put Blaney in a prime position to conquer the oval. However, a Kyle Busch crash intervened in the racing and Blaney ended up being the victim.
Advertisement
The late wreck pushed the race into overtime and drivers lined up in the choose zone. Blaney chose to go to the outside of Keselowski and Larson lined up behind the RFK Racing driver in the second row. In the fractional moments before the green flag waved, Keselowski drove to the pit road for refueling and this allowed Larson to take his spot in the front row.
.@keselowski runs out of fuel before the green!@dennyhamlin is caught in the pile-up on the restart! pic.twitter.com/bUHhZ0zzUP
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 21, 2024
Why this frustrated Blaney is because he would’ve chosen to restart on the inside had Keselowski pitted a lap earlier. With the more advantageous inside line aiding him, Larson quickly took the lead from Blaney and went on to be crowned with his first Brickyard 400 trophy. The defending Cup Series champion finished in a commendable third place but was left with a bitter taste in his mouth.
He threw a string of profanity-laced words, “There’s no way they should’ve let that go green. That’s ridiculous. They just GAVE it to him (Larson). It’s f*cking over, I’m on the top. I ain’t gonna win from the top. Gave it to f*cking golden boy. Son of a b*tch.” Had Keselowski run out of fuel after the restart or in the caution period before the restart zone, the race might just have had a different winner.
Blaney explains why missing out on victory stings
Talking to the press in the aftermath, Blaney detailed his problem with what transpired in those tense moments. “Call it off and rechoose, because now you’re promoting the third-place guy before the second-place guy if the leader has problems,” he said. “That’s not right. It’s dumb luck where Brad ran out and stuff like this, at this racetrack where the bottom is preferred.”
He continued to admit that he was heartbroken and that he wasn’t going to get a good sleep. “We did everything right today,” he added. “I mean, I was in a prime position to win, and it just didn’t work out for us. Just got unlucky.”
There is not much else to do for the No. 12 Team Penske group to do now but wait for the next race. Winning at a track that their benefactor owns might have been a peak moment but it just wasn’t meant to be.
