A look at the winners and losers from Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
WINNERS
Kyle Larson — He took the lead with seven laps to go and went on to score his series-high fourth win of the season and retake the points lead from teammate Chase Elliott. Larson is now a Daytona 500 win away from having won each of the sport’s crown jewels — Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500, Brickyard 400 and Daytona 500.
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He outduels Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick for first victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Double — Kyle Larson said after the win that he’s ready to do the double next year, racing in both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600. Larson tried it this year but ran only in the rain-delayed Indy 500. By the time he got to Charlotte, rain had stopped the race and it was not continued. Nothing is set yet for next year, but it seems likely to happen.
Tyler Reddick — His runner-up finish marked his fifth consecutive finish of sixth or better. He has a series-high 15 top-10 results in 22 starts.
Ryan Blaney — His third-place finish followed his Pocono win the week before. He has four consecutive top-10 finishes. Blaney moved two spots from seventh to fifth in the points.
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Bubba Wallace — His fifth-place finish is his third top 10 in the last four races. Wallace also won the first stage. He remains outside a playoff spot but gained 20 points on the playoff cutline. He is seven points behind Ross Chastain for the final playoff spot with four races left in the regular season.
LOSERS
Chase Elliott — For the second week in a row, a penalty hurt his chances to win. This time it was a blend line violation early in the race.
Penalty hinders Chase Elliott’s chances at Brickyard 400 victory
For the second week in a row, a penalty hurt Chase Elliott’s chances of winning.
Kyle Busch — Incident with Denny Hamlin to set up overtime damaged Busch’s car. He was running sixth at the time of the incident. Busch finished 25th. He has one top 10 in the last 10 races. It is the seventh time in that stretch he has finished 25th or worse.
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Ryan Blaney — Blaney was upset after leader Brad Keselowski pulled in to pit just before the first overtime restart. That allowed Kyle Larson to move into Keselowski’s spot on the inside of the front row. Blaney felt that all but cost him the race. He wanted the lineup redone so he, as the second-place car at the time, got the advantage of moving to the inside line with Keselowski pulling off instead of Larson, who was third at the time.
Source Agencies
