It took two months longer than he’d hoped, but Kyle Larson is a winner at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After finishing 18th in the Indy 500, Larson returned to the track for the Brickyard 400 in a car featuring the livery he was supposed to run in the Coca-Cola 600, before missing the start due to rain.
Larson qualified fifth for the Brickyard 400 and settled into the pack for most of the race, but came to life during the final 30 laps plus overtime.
Larson lined up 23rd for a restart on lap 130 and steadily made his way through the field until he was running third behind leader Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney.
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A yellow flag came out with three laps to go when Kyle Busch hit Denny Hamlin and ended up in the wall, setting up an overtime finish.
Keselowski lined up on the inside of the front row with Blaney next to him and Larson behind, but Keselowski ran out of fuel and pulled into the pits, giving his spot to Larson.
A first turn pileup behind the leaders brought out a yellow flag followed by a red to clean up the mess.
Larson was a nose ahead of Blaney and took the inside for the final restart, then pulled clear coming out of Turn One.
Ryan Preece spun out in Turn Two and couldn’t get going again, but NASCAR waited until Larson crossed the finish line before throwing the yellow flag to end the race.
The win was Larson’s first and Indianapolis and 27th of his career. He now has four wins this year and leads the regular season and playoffs standings with four races to go before the NASCAR Playoffs