SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Losing the Brickyard 400 is tough to accept under any circumstances, but it's even tougher when you feel like you were robbed of victory in NASCAR's premier race because of circumstances beyond your control.
Ryan Blaney was understandably furious after finishing third in Sunday's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but the defending Cup Series champion's problem was that he didn't know where to direct his anger.
He suffered a tough defeat on a track that would make any driver want to kiss the bricks in joy — a win here is a big accomplishment — and Blaney was so close.
“I'm pissed, but I don't know who I'm pissed at. It's like there's no one to be pissed at,” Blaney said. “It's just the luck of the race.”
“It just pisses me off. It's the worst.”
Blaney's frustration began when Kyle Busch spun entering Turn 3 and crashed under Denny Hamlin, sending the race into overtime and pushing even further the fuel economy limits that many were already facing.
One of the drivers who was on the verge of running out of fuel, leader Brad Keselowski, opted for an unlikely Hail Mary and decided not to pit for fuel during the caution period in the hopes of still making it to the finish line. Sure enough, as Keselowski approached the start-finish line with the race about to restart, his fuel tank was empty and he dove into the pits just as the field was exiting Turn 4.
This gave Blaney the lead and dropped Kyle Larson to second, but Blaney had already chosen the unfavorable outside lane, forcing Larson to be positioned on the inside. Because NASCAR prohibits drivers from redoing their lane selections, if Larson had been able to reselect, Blaney would have chosen the inside lane, giving Larson the advantage.
Instead, Blaney felt effectively vulnerable, even though he was the race leader.
“If the top guy goes off the track on the restart, I can easily say get off the green and reselect, because now the guy in third place is promoted and I'm at a disadvantage,” Blaney said. “So the guy in third place benefits and the guy behind me benefits.”
“Anywhere else, in the second lane, it wouldn't be so bad because anywhere else you can maintain it. Here, it's a death sentence. You can't maintain a lead from the top of the front row.”
As Blaney predicted, Larson took advantage of his opportunity and took the lead entering turn 1. Larson never relinquished the lead, later stating that he had chosen to restart just behind Keselowski so that he would be able to get ahead if Keselowski ran out of fuel.
“We had been communicating on the radio a lot that Brad was low on fuel and might run out of fuel during this caution,” Larson said. “My plan was to get behind him no matter what lane he was in, hoping that I'd run out of fuel before we got to the restart.”
“Yeah, he ran off to pit road and I was like, 'Wow, I can't believe this is exactly how we expected and thought it would play out.'”
Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson finished 1-2-3 before Keselowski ran out of fuel and pitted, after which Larson slid up the inside to win the race. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
After the race, some wondered whether NASCAR should allow reselections in these circumstances, which is not an easy problem to solve.
A notable hurdle on a 2.5-mile track like Indianapolis is the time it takes to allow the field to reselect lanes, and the situation that occurred Sunday is not common enough that NASCAR would need to reconsider the rules.
“I understand the attention given in this race, in this situation and being on the front row,” Larson's crew chief Cliff Daniels said. “We've seen that happen so many times in Cup races from fifth, 10th, 20th place, and (today was no exception). Everybody knows that's the rule.”
“In other racing series, you just fill up the line, get the green flag and move on. I don't see it as being that big a concern.”
But Blaney was affected to some degree on Sunday, that's indisputable, and even Larson acknowledged after the race that he benefited from Keselowski's misfortune.
“A lot of things had to fall into place, including the strategy working, Brad running out of fuel and me taking over the front row,” Larson said. “Thankfully, it worked out that way.”
The win was Larson's first at Indianapolis and sparked a wild celebration with fans in the frontstretch grandstands, including Larson, Daniels, team owner Rick Hendrick and team executive Jeff Gordon. It was Larson's third victory in NASCAR's premier race.
Meanwhile, on pit road, the celebrations were noticeably less intense, with Blaney needing a moment to cool off after exiting his car and choosing to sit on the pit wall to calm himself down.
“We could have won the race,” he said. “It's just disappointing. It's really unfortunate. It's just bad luck. We did everything we could to win and he got lucky, so that's pretty good.”
(Top photo of Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney at Sunday's Brickyard 400: Justin Castaline/Getty Images)
