At Brickyard 400, restart rule leaves Ryan Blaney wondering what could've been

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Losing the Brickyard 400 is tough to digest regardless. When you feel like circumstances beyond your control took away a victory in what is a NASCAR crown-jewel race, it’s even more difficult.

It’s understandable then that Ryan Blaney was mad following a third-place finish in Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The defending Cup Series champion’s problem, though, was that he was uncertain where his anger should be directed.

He suffered a tough beat on a track at which every driver wants to kiss the bricks in celebration. To win here is a significant accomplishment. And Blaney had come oh so close.

“I’m ticked off, but I don’t know who to be ticked off at. Like there’s no one to be ticked off at,” Blaney said. “It’s just racing luck.

“I’m just pissed off. Just sucks, man.”

The sequence that initiated Blaney’s frustration began when Kyle Busch spun and crashed underneath Denny Hamlin as they entered Turn 3, sending the race into overtime while also further pushing limits on fuel mileage that many were already up against.

Among those in danger of running out was leader Brad Keselowski, who opted for an improbable Hail Mary, hoping he could make it to the finish, so he opted not to pit for fuel during the caution period. Sure enough, just as Keselowski was coming to the start-finish line with the race about to resume, his fuel tank ran dry, prompting him to dart into the pits just as the field came off Turn 4.

This moved Blaney into the lead, with Kyle Larson sliding into second. But Blaney had already chosen the less favorable outside lane while Larson now was positioned on the inside. NASCAR prohibits drivers from getting a do-over on lane selection, thereby giving Larson the advantage because, had he been able to re-choose, Blaney would’ve picked the inside lane.

Instead, even though Blaney was the race leader, he felt like he was effectively a sitting duck.

“I can easily say, if the leader runs out coming to the restart, wave off the green, re-choose because you’re promoting the third-place guy now to where I get screwed,” Blaney said. “I’m the one getting screwed. So the third-place guy is benefitting, the guy behind me is benefitting.

“If it was any other place, it’s not going to be as bad because the second lane, you can kind of at all the other places, you can maintain. Here, it’s just a death sentence. You’re not maintaining the lead from the top on the front row.”

As Blaney anticipated, Larson capitalized and got the lead as they sped into Turn 1. It was a lead he wouldn’t relinquish. Larson later noted he specifically chose to restart directly behind Keselowski with the hope that he’d move up to the front should Keselowski run out of fuel.

“We had a lot of communication on our radio about (how) Brad was going to be really close on fuel, he may run out of fuel under these cautions,” Larson said. “I was going to choose behind him no matter what lane he took just in hopes that he would run out before we got to the restart zone.

“Yeah, he just ducked off onto pit road. I was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this is going exactly how we had kind of hoped and had thought about.’”

Some wondered post-race whether NASCAR should allow a re-choose in those situations. It’s not a question with a straightforward solution.

A notable hurdle on a 2.5-mile track like Indianapolis is the amount of time it might take to permit the field to reselect which lanes. The circumstances that arose Sunday are also not common enough to necessitate NASCAR reevaluating the rule.

“I understand it being highlighted because of it being this race, the situation, because it was front row,” said Cliff Daniels, Larson’s crew chief. “There’s been so many times in Cup races where we’ve seen that from fifth, 10th, 20th. (Today is no different.) Everybody knows that’s the rule.

“Every other racing series, you fill the row, you take the green flag and move on. I just don’t see it as that big of a concern.”

On Sunday, though, Blaney was impacted to some degree. That is indisputable. Even Larson acknowledged after the race that he benefited from Keselowski’s misfortune.

“With the way the strategy was working out, Brad running out of fuel, me inheriting the front row, a lot had to fall into place,” Larson said. “Thankfully it did.”

The victory was Larson’s first at Indianapolis, setting off a euphoric celebration that saw himself, Daniels, team owner Rick Hendrick and team executive Jeff Gordon go into the frontstretch grandstands to celebrate with fans. Larson now has won three of NASCAR’s crown-jewel races.

Meanwhile, down pit road, things were decidedly less festive. After getting out of his car, Blaney needed a moment to decompress, opting to go sit on the pit wall to gather himself.

“We should’ve won the race,” he said. “… Just disappointed. That just stinks. That’s just dumb luck. We did everything right to win and he got a break, pretty good.”

(Top photo of Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney during Sunday’s Brickyard 400: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)