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INDIANAPOLIS — Ryan Blaney thought he was perfectly positioned to win the Brickyard 400 on Sunday.
He drove down Indianapolis Motor Speedway's front straightaway leading the outside lane of cars to the second-to-last restart, fully expecting to inherit the lead when race leader Brad Keselowski ran out of fuel.
Instead, as Keselowski's slowing car pulled off the track, Kyle Larson, who was running third directly behind Keselowski, pulled next to Blaney on the preferred inside line, made the pass for the lead and did it again on the final restart to seal his first Brickyard victory.
While Larson celebrated by kissing Indy's famed yard of bricks, Blaney was lamenting what just happened and whether NASCAR officials should have done something different.
"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. "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."
Larson played it by the book.
The cars were already near or in the restart zone when Keselowski pulled off and Cup rules don't allow for changing the restart order, even if the leader drops out late. In fact, had the same situation occurred further back in the running order, another driver likely would have done exactly the same thing as Larson.
Blaney responded on his radio with an angry, profane rant, saying Cup officials "gave" Larson the victory.
But Blaney and Larson both chose their place in line for the same reason — each knew Keselowski was low on fuel and each wanted to take advantage when he ran out.
"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," Larson said. "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.'"
Larson acknowledged the ensuing situation was confusing.
With the leader out, Larson said he wasn't sure whether his car or Blaney's car was considered the control car on the restart and he didn't know if Blaney could decipher it, either. So, Larson made his move, with what he believed two cars accelerating nearly in unison.
NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer explained afterward that if the race remained under caution for one more lap, current rules would have made Blaney the control car but would not have allowed to change lanes.
"We had already gone through the choose process, so we were coming to green when (Keselowski) pulled off, which allowed (Larson) to pull up and transferred control to (Blaney)," Sawyer told NASCAR's digital platform. "This all happens fairly quick. Hindsight, I think we still would have let that play out the way we did. We'll discuss that more."
Sawyer and others now have a rare two-week Olympic break to consider their options and whether anything needs to be changed or clarified.
But even if NASCAR modified the rule, it will be of little solace to Blaney.
"I don't even know what to get mad about," Blaney said after finishing third. "I am mad about losing this race because I thought we were in the perfect position. Once I lost control of the race, obviously I would have been on the bottom, but I thought (Keselowski) would run out in the restart zone or on the back. It stinks to lose it that way."
While Larson understood why Blaney was upset, he also knew the rule.
"If I was in his position, maybe," he said when asked about turning another lap under yellow to reorder the cars. "The way the rule is written, it's not (possible)."
And now the defending Cup champion, who was seeking his first Brickyard win and wanted to give team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the season's two biggest races on the revered track he owns in Indianapolis, is left to contemplate what could have been.
"We came to the restart, and I couldn't believe they stayed out, there was no way they were going to make it," Blaney said, referring to Keselowski. "I, obviously, chose the top because he might run out in the restart zone and he winds up coming to the green, so he gets to go to pit road and (Larson) gets promoted. Luck of the day right there, I guess."
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