“With NASCAR Behind Them..” Hendrick Favoritism Claims Refuse to Die After Kyle Larson Win

Kyle Larson drove an excellent trace at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday but his victory has been a matter of debate. NASCAR refused to bring out the yellow flag in the final overtime when Ryan Preece was stationary on the track. Instead, they brought out the white flag and then called the caution.

This gave the Hendrick Motorsports star an unopposed run to the checkered flag on the final lap. Not a lot of people were happy about the decision and they made their thoughts clear.

NASCAR recently released a video on X (formerly Twitter) of HMS vice chairman Jeff Gordon after the race. The four-time Cup Series champion stated that the Indy win was a defining moment of the season for the #5 team.

“Having this win under their belt really is going to kind of set the tone for the rest of the season,” he said. While Larson had a good year so far, even without Sunday’s race, the clamor around the organizers favoring him has not died down yet.

“NASCAR will do whatever they have to do to make sure an HMS driver wins this year, that’s for sure,” one fan commented under the video. “With NASCAR behind them I’m sure they have a pretty good chance,” quipped another. One user went as far as to say that NASCAR was fixing races to make it advantageous for Hendrick Motorsports.

Fans aren’t the only ones who believe in the favoritism debate of Yung Money’s victory. Title rivals Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney spoke along the same lines. The latter completely lost his calm inside the car as he failed to earn his third win of the season despite being so close to it.

Larson’s title rivals disappointed by Indianapolis result

Blaney was on the front row with Brad Keselowski when the RFK racing driver’s fuel ran out. He came into the pits and Larson restarted from the front row below the Team Penske star. The bottom lane is more advantageous than the top at Indy and the HMS star cleared the reigning champion with ease. “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,” he exclaimed on the team radio.

Hamlin shared his opinions on the matter in a recent Actions Detrimental episode. As per the Joe Gibbs Racing star, NASCAR had enough time to bring out the caution when Preece spun around. They just chose not to. “Through turn 4, he (Preece) stops. He says, “Alright, I’m not gonna go anywhere.” So they had roughly eight seconds to make a call there and they didn’t,” he explained.

Elton Sawyer had come up with explanations for both scenarios but it seems like nobody was buying them. For Yung Money, however, it is a result that will give him a lot of confidence heading into the playoffs. Favoritism or not, there is no doubt he is one of the most in-form drivers in the Cup Series at the moment.