Larson, who ran in the Indianapolis 500 earlier this season as part of an aborted attempt to do ‘the Double,’ picked up an anticlimactic win under caution in an otherwise drama-filled race on Sunday.
Larson, one of the few cars who stayed on the safest fuel strategy, grabbed the lead on the start to the first overtime after then-leader Brad Keselowski dove on pit road at the last moment out of fuel.
A multi-car wreck erupted behind the leaders, which required a 17-minute red flag to fix part of the retaining wall, and sent the race into a second overtime.
Larson again quickly cleared for the lead, but Ryan Preece hit the wall. NASCAR held the caution flag as it appeared Preece would get rolling, but he ended up coming to a stop on the track, which brought out the caution on the final lap and secured Larson’s win.
The win is Larson’s fourth of the 2024 season and 27th of his career.
"This is just such a prestigious place, such hallowed ground. Pretty neat to get an opportunity to race here on the oval again," Larson said. "What a job by our team. I mean, we never gave up at all. We had the pit stop issue there early on. Just fought and dug and had things work out.
"I love you, Indiana fans. I know you guys love me, too. How about we come back next May and try to kiss these bricks in an IndyCar?"
Asked if his win Sunday made up for his 'Double' attempt that ended with a pit road speeding penalty in the 500 and missing the Coke 600, Larson said, "It does. I guess a little bit. I wish we could have got to do both and run the 600. We had a phenomenal car for that race, too.
"I think everything just comes full circle. Everything is meant to be. Today definitely meant to be for us. 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. Thankfully it did.
"I can't believe it. It's surreal, the win here. Can't wait to kiss the bricks."
Tyler Reddick ended up second, reigning series champion Ryan Blaney was third, Christopher Bell was fourth and Bubba Wallace completed the top five.
Completing the top 10 were Todd Gilliland, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Sunday’s race was the first for the Cup Series on the IMS oval course since 2020. NASCAR debuted at the track in 1994 and ran one Cup race for 26 consecutive seasons until moving to the Indy Road Course layout the past three years.
Stage 1
Denny Hamlin cycled to the lead after a round of green flag pit stops with nine laps to go and held off Larson by 0.282 seconds to take the Stage 1 win. Blaney was third, William Byron fourth and Reddick fifth.
Stage 2
Trying a different pit strategy, Wallace stayed out and inherited the lead then held Chase off Elliott by 0.723 seconds to win Stage 2. Hamlin ended up third, Blaney fourth and John Hunter Nemechek was fifth.
On lap 74, several cars banged off each other exiting Turn 2, with Preece turning Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet into the outside wall. Byron went back down the track, was hit by A.J. Allmendinger and then slammed head-on into the inside SAFER barrier.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, several lead lap cars pitted but Hamlin was among more than a dozen that remained on the track and inherited the lead when the race resumed with 56 laps remaining.
Shortly after the restart, Larson got into Martin Truex Jr., who cut a tire and hit the wall. Further back in the field, Josh Berry got turned on the same lap and also hit the wall, which brought out a caution.
In almost a replay on the next restart on lap 110, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano wrecked as the field raced three-wide entering Turn 1, and both were knocked out of the race.
Trouble for the guys with nine combined #NASCAR Cup Series titles.
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) J uly 21, 2024
Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson get caught up in the restart. pic.twitter.com/gPOwSylawT
Several teams elected to pit during the caution, but Nemechek remained on the track and inherited the lead. He led Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman on the restart with 46 laps to go. Chastain powered quickly to the lead after the green flag.
On Lap 121, Nemechek and Bowman were among the first to hit pit road to make their final green flag stop of the race to take on new tires and fuel to make it to the finish.
Truex blew a left-rear tire, spun and wrecked in Turn 3 in the middle of the stops to bring out a caution. Those who had not yet pit did so, which left Keselowski in the lead on the restart with 31 laps to go.
With 20 laps remaining, Keselowski remained out front but was likely several laps short on fuel. Larson and Reddick appeared to be in the best position to run hard to the finish without fuel concerns.
Kyle Busch wrecked in Turn 3 after contact with Hamlin with three laps to go, which sent the race into a two-lap overtime. Several car pit for fuel but Keselowski, Blaney, Larson and Reddick remained on the track.
Just as the field was about to take the green, Keselowski peeled off onto the pit road out of fuel. Larson powered to the lead past Blaney on the restart as a multi-car wreck erupted behind them in Turn 1 which brought out a 17-minute red flag to clean the track of debris.
Larson led Blaney, Reddick and Gilliland to start the second two-lap overtime.
| CLA | DRIVER | # | MANUFACTURER | LAPS | TIME | INTERVAL | PITS | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 5 | Chevrolet | 167 |
3:29'08.414 |
8 | 49 | ||
| 2 | T. Reddick23XI RACING | 45 | Toyota | 167 |
+0.282 3:29'08.696 |
0.282 | 9 | 46 | |
| 3 | R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE | 12 | Ford | 167 |
+9.494 3:29'17.908 |
9.212 | 8 | 49 | |
| 4 | C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING | 20 | Toyota | 167 |
+11.457 3:29'19.871 |
1.963 | 8 | 35 | |
| 5 | B. Wallace23XI RACING | 23 | Toyota | 167 |
+11.458 3:29'19.872 |
0.001 | 8 | 42 | |
| 6 | T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS | 38 | Ford | 167 |
+11.458 3:29'19.872 |
0.000 | 8 | 31 | |
| 7 | A. CindricTEAM PENSKE | 2 | Ford | 167 |
+11.459 3:29'19.873 |
0.001 | 10 | 30 | |
| 8 | D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING | 99 | Chevrolet | 167 |
+11.461 3:29'19.875 |
0.002 | 7 | 29 | |
| 9 | N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING | 10 | Ford | 167 |
+11.462 3:29'19.876 |
0.001 | 8 | 29 | |
| 10 | C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 9 | Chevrolet | 167 |
+12.888 3:29'21.302 |
1.426 | 8 | 36 | |
| 11 | R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING | 47 | Chevrolet | 167 |
+12.889 3:29'21.303 |
0.001 | 7 | 32 | |
| 12 |
C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
|
77 | Chevrolet | 167 |
+14.408 3:29'22.822 |
1.519 | 8 | 25 | |
| 13 | A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING | 3 | Chevrolet | 167 |
+15.177 3:29'23.591 |
0.769 | 10 | 24 | |
| 14 | C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS | 7 | Chevrolet | 167 |
+15.178 3:29'23.592 |
0.001 | 8 | 23 | |
| 15 | R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING | 1 | Chevrolet | 167 |
+15.469 3:29'23.883 |
0.291 | 9 | 22 | |
| 16 | M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS | 34 | Ford | 167 |
+18.794 3:29'27.208 |
3.325 | 9 | 26 | |
| 17 |
Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
|
71 | Chevrolet | 167 |
+20.247 3:29'28.661 |
1.453 | 9 | 20 | |
| 18 | C. WareRICK WARE RACING | 15 | Ford | 167 |
+20.923 3:29'29.337 |
0.676 | 12 | 19 | |
| 19 | T. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING | 33 | Chevrolet | 167 |
+20.924 3:29'29.338 |
0.001 | 11 | ||
| 20 | J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING | 51 | Ford | 167 |
+21.349 3:29'29.763 |
0.425 | 11 | 17 | |
| 21 | B. KeselowskiRFK RACING | 6 | Ford | 167 |
+26.191 3:29'34.605 |
4.842 | 10 | 16 | |
| 22 | C. BuescherRFK RACING | 17 | Ford | 167 |
+26.615 3:29'35.029 |
0.424 | 15 | 15 | |
| 23 |
T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING
|
54 | Toyota | 167 |
+26.805 3:29'35.219 |
0.190 | 10 | 17 | |
| 24 | C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING | 14 | Ford | 167 |
+29.698 3:29'38.112 |
2.893 | 9 | 14 | |
| 25 | K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING | 8 | Chevrolet | 166 |
+1 Lap 3:29'44.455 |
1 Lap | 8 | 12 | |
| 26 | R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING | 41 | Ford | 165 |
+2 Laps 3:27'13.300 |
1 Lap | 8 | 11 | |
| 27 | M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING | 19 | Toyota | 165 |
+2 Laps 3:29'36.225 |
2'22.925 | 12 | 13 | |
| 28 | E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB | 43 | Toyota | 165 |
+2 Laps 3:29'40.163 |
3.938 | 15 | 9 | |
| 29 | J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB | 42 | Toyota | 161 |
+6 Laps 3:16'25.031 |
4 Laps | 5 | 14 | |
| 30 | D. HemricKAULIG RACING | 31 | Chevrolet | 161 |
+6 Laps 3:16'25.158 |
0.127 | 8 | 7 | |
| 31 | A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 48 | Chevrolet | 161 |
+6 Laps 3:16'25.378 |
0.220 | 6 | 10 | |
| 32 | D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING | 11 | Toyota | 161 |
+6 Laps 3:16'25.394 |
0.016 | 7 | 23 | |
| 33 | J. JohnsonLEGACY MOTOR CLUB | 84 | Toyota | 110 |
+57 Laps 2:13'50.820 |
51 Laps | 7 | 4 | |
| 34 | J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE | 22 | Ford | 109 |
+58 Laps 2:10'32.245 |
1 Lap | 5 | 3 | |
| 35 | J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING | 4 | Ford | 104 |
+63 Laps 1:58'33.914 |
5 Laps | 6 | 2 | |
| 36 | H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING | 21 | Ford | 74 |
+93 Laps 1:20'05.585 |
30 Laps | 6 | 1 | |
| 37 | A. AllmendingerKAULIG RACING | 16 | Chevrolet | 74 |
+93 Laps 1:23'02.085 |
2'56.500 | 6 | ||
| 38 | W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS | 24 | Chevrolet | 73 |
+94 Laps 1:18'24.812 |
1 Lap | 5 | 8 | |
| 39 | B. McLeodMBM | 66 | Ford | 15 |
+152 Laps 15'05.774 |
58 Laps | 3 |
