#brickyard 2024

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Flat Kyle made his debut at the Brickyard in 2018. Still kickin’!!!

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[HendrickCars.Com #5, driven by Kyle Larson. Special Coke 600 scheme, revived for the Brickyard 400.]

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Brickyard 400 (2024)

[Hero shot! Brickyard 400 Cup Qualifying, Turn 4 into frontstretch, 7/20/2024]

When I take race photos, I have a strong bias towards cars I like, but I do try to shoot anyone who seems like they might be part of the race narrative. This is actually the first NASCAR race I've ever attended where the 5, a car I like, was also plot-relevant--which might seem statistically unlikely, but oh, it is not. At last, the stars align!

During the race, a full third of the field was relegated to the DNF trash-heap as a result of several cascading restart conflagrations in the second half of the race. Tire falloff wasn't a factor and teams struggled to find multiple grooves, making this primarily a track position race--and then a fuel-saving race, for much of the field. (JHN was also a factor for an alarming amount of this race, and not just for pit cycle reasons.)

About halfway through Stage 2 during a caution for cause, the 5 had a loose RR and had to come back to the pits and restart P35, which I think somehow... helped? I mean, they were competitive the whole time. But that put them so far back in the field that they could avoid the great Hocevar->Blaney->JJ->Logano domino, and also come back in again for more fuel during the subsequent caution, since they were already restarting at the back. Which may have had a role in shifting the rest of their race strategy such that the 5 (along with the 45) ended up having a lot more fuel than the rest of the leaders at the end of the race. I don't know if these causalities actually line up.

However the cookie crumbled, we ended up here, the most fun and most stressful part of the race for me:

[Turn 4, several laps from disaster (Brad's POV)]

Unlike the cars needing to save fuel, the 5 was free to go full tilt, and after being mired behind the 4 for some time began a wild march up the field. Even though he had the advantage for sure, these weren't easy cars to pass, and wow. It was so much fun to watch I would have been completely happy with a Brad win afterward, and I say this as someone who has never truly recovered from Brad winning the world's coldest 2018 Brickyard.

And then, Controversy #1: Like Joe Biden, an out-of-gas Brad Keselowski suddenly exited the final laps of the race. This was to Larson's benefit and Blaney's classical misfortune, as Larson took Brad's spot on the bottom and there were some questions about who fired when, where.

[the start/finish line from afar with a 500mm lens]

Following Brad's exit, Larson takes the lead. There's another caution, a red, and a second overtime. (I think this is the 48 16 14 42 wreck? Idk I'm not going to look this up.) After restarting once more, Larson clears Blaney for the lead. Then the 41 spins onto the apron toward the back of the field, NASCAR flies a delayed yellow after the white, and Larson coasts to a win under caution, with Reddick behind, and Blaney third.

I think Blaney is justified in his upset (I always think Blaney is justified in his upset); and I agree that NASCAR is not 100% consistent with its yellows (Controversy #2). I get why they didn't fly it immediately; whether they could have flown it before the white is probably 50/50. But I also think with the field re-racked on that first overtime restart, the stars were already aligning for the 5, and I don't think that either of these things ultimately impacted the race's what-ifs. I think the 5 and 45 were probably going to do what they were going to do. As someone who has reffed youth soccer, when you're in medias res and have a flag in your hand/a whistle in your mouth, sometimes you just need to make a decision and commit to it. That's the messiness of a live event. I know, bold words coming from me, who benefited--this time!

Despite Internet grumblings, I do not think NASCAR has Hendrick favoritism, nor 5 favoritism; stupid things happen that don't work in their favor all the time, too. If NASCAR really liked Hendrick that much, Jimmie would have 8 championships and they would have thrown a caution for every one of the 48's spins that did not result in any caution/therefore required pitting under green. THEY'RE NOT SEARED INTO MY MEMORY WHAT'RE YOU TALKING ABOUT HAHA.

Stupid things will continue to happen that won't work in their favor, at even more pivotal moments (I would wager oh, somewhere around the Round of 12). And honestly, if NASCAR really wanted ~storylines, it really had its pick here, given who owns IMS and also the 12 and given who the defending Champion is.

I do think NASCAR probably really wanted the race to end vs. stacking overtimes on overtimes (having exceeded their NBC window), and also because of the fuel situation and having already had recent experience with how messy that could get. Live events be live event-ing.

Regardless, I finally got to see a top fave win in person, and even if I hadn't, the march up to P3 was still my favorite part! <3