Last weekend delivered yet another fantastic running of the Brickyard 400, but it wasn’t without controversy. Kyle Larson added another victory after a bizarre restart, which gave him an edge over third-place Ryan Blaney. While the wild finish made for an exciting watch, it also highlighted a major controversy around NASCAR’s re-start rules.
Below, we will delve into the controversy and how it affected the outcome of the last weekend’s race. We’ll discuss the details of the league’s re-start rules, why they left Ryan Blaney and Team Pensky crying foul, and if we should expect any changes from NASCAR.
The Brickyard 400 Controversy
The NASCAR controversy centered on the race’s final laps when Kyle Busch spun Denny Hamlin out in Turn 3. The crash resulted in the yellow flag, sending the race into overtime.
Each time a restart is needed, drivers can pick where to line up based on their current position. Brad Keselowski was leading the race at the time of the wreck, so he chose to restart on the favorable inside line in the front row. Blaney was in second and chose the outside spot in the first row, while third-place Larson lined up behind Keselowski.
The problem was Keselowski was so low on fuel that teams weren’t sure he could even make it to the green flag. Sure enough, he ran out of fuel right before the race was restarted, pulling off the track and allowing Larson to take over his spot. The inside track gave Larson the edge during the restart, allowing him to easily overtake Larson en route to a victory.
Ryan Blaney’s Complaint
While Larson was kissing the famous Indianapolis bricks, Blaney and company were fuming in the pits. They complained that Keselowski’s inability to make it to the restart zone resulted in Larson getting the top spot despite being in third place. The young driver did not shy away from sharing his thoughts on the controversial move.
“Yeah, call it off and rechoose (the lanes) because now you promote the third-place guy before the second-place guy if the leader has problems,” Blaney said in an interview after the race. “That isn’t right. It is just dumb luck at this racetrack where the bottom (line) is preferred. I am just upset. That is a heartbreaker. We did everything right today.”
When Keselowski went off the track, Blaney and his team were adamant that NASCAR officials should have stopped the race again. While the race leader could get completely off the track before the restart, Blaney had insisted that the remaining racers should have been allowed to re-pick their starting position, given that the standings changed before the restart began.
Unfortunately for Blaney, NASCAR’s restart rules do not allow drivers to pick new spots in a situation like Sunday’s.
Sports Bettors Left Fuming
Ryan Blaney was not the only one upset about Sunday’s Brickyard 400’s finish.
Many bet on Blaney to win the race at sports betting sites, both before and during the race. The controversial finish led to angry social media posts, with bettors complaining that NASCAR cost them money. As controversial as the restart was, the fact that NASCAR’s rules were followed meant that sportsbooks did not issue refunds or voided bets.
Is Blaney’s Complaint Justified?
As we have mentioned several times, Sunday’s race restart followed NASCAR’s rules for restarts. The league and even Kyle Larson were sympathetic to Ryan Blaney’s frustration with how the race ended, but they did agree that the rules cost him the race.
The problem with Blaney’s argument is that he and his team had the same as Larson when they chose their restart position. That means they knew Keselowski would likely run out of fuel quickly and could have chosen to start behind the race leader on the inside track. According to Larson, strategy was more to blame for Blaney’s loss than NASCAR’s restart rules.
“I was going to choose behind him no matter what lane he took just because we hoped he would run out before the restart zone,” Kyle Larson said of the controversial finish. “I was trying to pay attention to him, and he was cycling his engine, trying to clean and warm up his tires, and then, yeah, he just dumped off onto pit road, and I was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this is going exactly how we kind of hoped.’”
Should Another Caution Lap Have Been Added?
Some fans and bettors believe that another caution lap should have been added before the restart once Keselowski went off the track. That would have allowed the cars to be re-ordered. However, NASCAR officials said an additional caution would not have benefited Blaney.
According to NASCAR senior VP Elton Sawyer, an additional lap would have made Blaney the lead car but would not have allowed him to change lanes. That means his starting position would have remained the best available.
Sawyer told NASCAR.com that the league will review its restart rules during the next two weeks as it is on a break.