Ryan Blaney says they gave to ‘golden boy’; Kyle Larson thanks NASCAR

Ryan Blaney said the restart at Indianapolis gave the controversial overtime win to NASCAR’s “golden boy”; Kyle Larson responds by thanking NASCAR

For the first time in years, NASCAR raced on the oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Naturally, the Brickyard 400 went into overtime and ended in drama.

A late race caution put the race in overtime. Brad Keselowski picked the inside lane at the choose cone, Ryan Blaney picked the outside front row.

Coming to the green flag, race leader Brad Keselowski ran out of fuel. He pulled to the pit lane with the pace car.

That moved 3rd place runner Kyle Larson to the front row. Specially, the inside front row. However, Blaney would still be the control car on the restart, from the outside row.

Larson was still handed a golden ticket with the front row and the inside lane. And when they went green, he quickly took advantage of it, grabbing the race lead and then the Brickyard 400 win.

Ryan Blaney: Team Radio

Blaney was pissed.

“There’s no way they should’ve let that go green. That’s ridiculous,” Blaney stated over the team radio.

“They just gave it to him. 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.”

Kyle Larson has since responded to that saying, “Thanks NASCAR.”

😎 thanks @NASCAR 🤝 https://t.co/8ffMfAtgzd

— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) July 22, 2024

Ryan Blaney reflects on the race

After climbing from the car, Blaney was frustrated with the situation.

“It’s no fun,” Blaney told NBC.

“Had a really good shot to win today. Our car was fast. Thought we had really good strategy. Kind of was the front guy having to save a little bit of gas. I thought we put ourselves in a great spot.”

“I know the 6 was probably going to run out if it went green. Came to the restart, I couldn’t believe they stayed out. I knew there was no way they were going to make it.”

“So, I obviously chose the top because he might run out in the restart zone. He runs out coming to the green, so he has to go to pit road, and the 5 gets promoted.”

“Luck of the day right there, I guess,” Blaney added.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what to be mad about. Mad at losing this race, because I thought we were in the perfect position. Once I lost control of the race, obviously I would have been on the bottom, but I thought the 6 would run out in the restart zone or down the back.”

He added, “I don’t know. Stinks to lose in that way.”

Watch the video of the race finish

NASCAR comments

“We’d already gone through the choose process and were coming to green when the No. 6 pulled off,” Senior VP of Competition Elton Sawyer told NASCAR.com.

“It transferred the control vehicle to the No. 12. This all happens fairly quick.”

“Hindsight, I think we still let it play out the way it did. We’ll discuss that more.”

“If we had thrown the caution, hypothetically we wouldn’t have gone through the choose process again. The No. 12 would have been the control vehicle but we wouldn’t have got lane choice. That’s the way the rule is written.”

Indianapolis Results: July 21, 2024 (NASCAR Cup Series)

Links

Kyle Larson | Ryan Blaney | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | NASCAR