Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson reached victory lane six times in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. The most memorable of these victories ought to be the one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Winning at the famed racing venue is one of the highest honors in global motorsports. But Larson wouldn’t have been nearly as pleased if he had done it in 2023.
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2024 marked the return of the Brickyard 400 after a brief hiatus. The Cup Series event in Indianapolis was held on the infield road course from 2021 to 2023 instead of on the traditional 2.5-mile oval. Drivers and fans were both not pleased with the change and officials had to bring the crown jewel event back this season. This presented Larson with a great opportunity.
He drove extremely well and secured the win. In a recent discussion with SpeedFreaks, he admitted that winning on the road course would not have felt as good as winning on the oval. He said, “I never won on the road course so I don’t know how my feelings would have been but I would imagine it wouldn’t have felt the same like winning on the oval. It just means so much more.”
Charging through the field. Pushing his competitors on fuel.@KyleLarsonRacin gave us quite the show during the #Brickyard400 presented by @PPG, and @IndyCarRadio and @Riceman61 captured it perfectly 😍 pic.twitter.com/ohef1GtSmF
— Indianapolis Motor Speedway (@IMS) December 5, 2024
He elaborated that he wouldn’t have properly kissed the bricks if he had won on the road course. “I would have probably bent down and made myself look like I was kissing it but I don’t think I would have just because I think you should have to win on the oval to kiss the bricks. So, thankfully NASCAR brought it back.” Larson is not the only one who appreciates the return.
Cup Series stars were left pleased with the return of the Brickyard 400
The 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney doesn’t consider the road course worthy enough to be called ‘The Brickyard.’ He revealed earlier this year that he doesn’t tell people that he will be racing at the Brickyard unless the event is on the oval. Instead, he says that he will be racing at Indianapolis.
He also funnily noted that he would be licking the bricks instead of kissing them if he won the race. Brad Keselowski said, “I don’t think anyone really considered the road course a crown jewel race, so it kind of returns back to that status. I think that’s huge for our sport and it means a lot to me as a driver and I’m assuming it does for the other drivers as well. So, a welcome return.”
Others like Chase Briscoe and Ross Chastain welcomed the change as well. The one hope is that NASCAR doesn’t revert to racing on the road course. It is beyond clear that neither the drivers nor the fans are fond of it.
