INDIANAPOLIS: Ryan Blaney believed he was in an ideal position to win Sunday’s Brickyard 400.
He led the outside lane of vehicles to the second-to-last restart on the front straightaway of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, fully expecting to take over the lead when race leader Brad Keselowski ran out of gasoline.
Rather, Kyle Larson, who was racing third right behind Keselowski, came alongside Blaney on the preferred inside line, made the pass for the lead, then repeated the maneuver on the final restart to secure his first Brickyard victory when Keselowski’s slowing car slid off the track.
As Larson rejoiced by planting a kiss on Indianapolis’ renowned brick yard, Blaney was reflecting on the recent events and questioning whether NASCAR officials ought to have taken a different course of action.
“Yes, call it off and reselect the lanes because, in the event that the leader has issues, you now promote the third-place competitor before the second-place competitor,” Blaney remarked. That is incorrect. At this racecourse, where the bottom (line) is preferred, it’s all just plain old stupid luck. I’m just angry. That breaks my heart. Today, we performed flawlessly in every way.
Larson followed the rules exactly.
Observe
Even if the leader withdraws later, the cars were already in the restart zone or close to it when Keselowski pulled off, and Cup regulations prohibit altering the restart sequence. In fact, another driver probably would have followed Larson’s lead if the identical circumstance had arisen earlier in the running order.
In response, Blaney went on his radio in a furious and vulgar tirade, claiming that Cup officials “gave” Larson the win.
However, Blaney and Larson selected their positions in the queue for the same reason: they were aware that Keselowski was running short on gasoline and intended to profit when he did.
We were hoping that he would run out of gas before the restart zone, so Larson declared, “I was going to choose behind him no matter what lane he took.” “He was cleaning and warming up his tires while cycling his engine, and I was trying to pay attention to him. Then, he just walked off onto pit road, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is going exactly how we kind of hoped.'”
Larson admitted that the subsequent circumstances were unclear.
In addition to not knowing if Blaney could understand it, Larson stated he was unsure if his car or Blaney’s car was designated as the control car for the restart with the leader out of the race. So, Larson made his move, with what he believed two cars accelerating practically in unison.
NASCAR executive vice president of competition Elton Sawyer said afterward that if the race remained under caution for one more lap, current regulations would have made Blaney the control car but would not have permitted to change lanes.
Sawyer said to NASCAR’s digital platform, “We were coming to green because we had already completed the choose process when (Keselowski) pulled off, which allowed (Larson) to pull up and transferred control to (Blaney).” Everything goes by quite quickly. In retrospect, I believe we still would have allowed things to unfold as they did. We’ll talk more about it later.
Now that they have a rare two-week Olympic break, Sawyer and the others can think over their alternatives and decide what needs to be clarified or amended.
Blaney won’t feel much comforted even if NASCAR were to change the regulation.
Blaney said, “I don’t even know what to get mad about,” following his third-place result. “I am upset that we lost this race since I felt like we were in a great position. Naturally, I would have finished last if I had lost control of the race, but I believed that Keselowski would finish in the restart zone or in the rear. Losing it that way stinks.
Larson knew the rule, and he understood Blaney’s frustration.
When questioned about rearranging the cars by turning another lap under yellow, he replied, “If I were in his position, maybe.” “That’s not (possible) possible the way the rule is written.”
Now, the reigning Cup winner is left to wonder what could have been. He was going for his first Brickyard victory and wanted to give team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the two biggest races of the season at the storied Indianapolis track he controls.
Blaney remarked of Keselowski, “We came to the restart, and I couldn’t believe they stayed out; there was no way they were going to make it.” He might run out in the restart zone and end up reaching the green, in which case he gets to go to pit road and (naturally, I choose the top).
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