Ryan Blaney was in the perfect position to capture his second crown jewel Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Instead, he watched Kyle Larson perform a massive burnout after two overtime attempts.
"It's Lady Luck I'm just pissed off at," Blaney told NBC Sports' Dustin Long after the race.
Blaney was in second place behind Brad Keselowski with three laps remaining. He was in a position to overtake the RFK Racing driver, who seemed to be short on fuel, but the race went to overtime after Kyle Busch crashed with three laps remaining.
Not an ideal situation for the Team Penske driver, but he was still ahead of Larson and on the front row for the first overtime attempt. The situation drastically changed as Keselowski ran out of fuel as the pace car pulled off the track for the restart.
Keselowski navigated onto pit road while Larson moved up to the front row. He beat Blaney in the restart zone and took the lead before a multi-car crash brought out the red flag and sent the race to double overtime.
The reigning Cup Series champion was livid on the radio after this restart, saying over the radio that NASCAR "Gave it to f------ golden boy." The replay made it appear that Larson had fired first in the restart zone.
.@keselowski runs out of fuel before the green!@dennyhamlin is caught in the pile-up on the restart! pic.twitter.com/bUHhZ0zzUP
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 21, 2024
NASCAR said after the race that Blaney became the control car for the restart after Keselowski pulled down pit road. The sanctioning body also said that Larson had not fired first in the restart zone.
"Yeah, call it off and rechoose," Blaney said about the restart. "Because now you promote the third-place guy before the second-place guy if the leader has problems. That isn't right. It is just dumb luck.
"At this race track where the bottom is preferred... I don't know. I am just upset. That is a heartbreaker. We did everything right today. We were in prime position to win and it just didn't work out for us. I just got unlucky."
While Blaney lost the lead at the start of the first overtime, he had another opportunity ahead of him. He lined up for double overtime on the front row next to Larson but could not take the lead on the final restart of the race.
This final sequence of the race is one that created some controversy among the racing fans. Larson was in the lead with Tyler Reddick in second and Blaney in third. They raced for the win while Ryan Preece spun further back in the field.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver remained on the apron, unable to get moving. NASCAR did not throw the caution until after Larson took the white flag, thus making him the winner of the crown jewel race. Reddick crossed the line second and then Blaney finished third at the track Roger Penske owns.
Ryan Preece spun with two laps remaining in the #Brickyard400.
The caution flew after Kyle Larson took the white. pic.twitter.com/AxGKMa6h4G
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 21, 2024
Fans were vocal on social media as they said that NASCAR had rigged the ending of the race for Larson's benefit. Some said that the win included an "asterisk" and that this was a "Mickey Mouse win."
A spokesperson from NASCAR told AltDriver that race control had every intention of completing the second overtime attempt. They said that by the time it became clear that Preece would not be able to get moving again, Larson had already taken the white flag.
Interestingly enough, a similar situation unfolded last season at Pocono Raceway. Preece spun with two laps remaining in the race and came to a stop on the apron of the 2.5-mile track. He remained there until Denny Hamlin took the white flag. NASCAR threw the caution and ended the race.
Controversial or not, this finish is one that Blaney will long remember as a missed opportunity to win his second crown jewel and put his name in the history books.
"I am not going to sleep very good tonight, I will tell you that," Blaney said.