Kasey Kahne edged ahead of Brad Keselowski on the second of two Overtime restarts to get the lead, and when a crash broke out behind him to end the race, he scored the victory in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It’s Kahne’s first Indianapolis win, and the tenth for Hendrick Motorsports at the historic Brickyard.
“To win at this track is unreal,” said an obviously exhausted Kahne. “We used to always be really close. We lost to Jeff (Gordon) and we lost to Tony (Stewart), just some fast cars back then. Today’s strategy got us here. This Farmers Insurance Chevrolet was great once I got out front. I just had to get there.
“I’m exhausted. But, an unbelievable win. The team just kept working. We had great pit stops.”
Kahne took the lead for the first time after making a late pit stop. As his car exited pit road with 11 laps to go, a multi-car crash broke out on the front stretch.
When the leaders hit pit road, Kahne moved to the front. On the restart, Kahne moved to the lead. He held the top spot through two more cautions, including one that saw him racing three wide with Keselowski and a smoking Jimmie Johnson. Johnson came out the loser on that one, spinning out and crashing into the turn three wall.
Kahne lost the top spot to Brad Keselowski on the first Overtime restart when a crash broke out behind the leaders. But on the final restart, Kahne got the edge and was where he needed to be when the final caution flew, ending the race.
Kahne said the previous restart just didn’t work.
“Everything went wrong,” he said. “On the final one, everything went right. And once I got to turn 1, I had good power and was able to clear him off (turn) 1. I’m exhausted. And, it’s pretty crazy. I wish my little boy was here.”
For Keselowski, it was a near-miss at giving his team owner, Roger Penske, his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory at a track where he has a record 17 wins in the Indianapolis 500.
“We had a good, solid day,” Keselowski said. “Anytime that you’re that close (to winning) you can certainly taste it. I had a taste of it in my mouth, I didn’t get to eat it.”
Ryan Newman finished in third, with Joey Logano in fourth and Matt Kenseth in fifth.
It was a race slowed by a record 14 caution flags, and three red flags – the first for rain on lap 12 that delayed the race by an hour and 14 minutes.
Once the race was back underway, pole sitter Kyle Busch put on a dominating show, leading two times for 87 laps as he won the first two segments of the race, and appeared to be en route to his third straight Brickyard 400 win.
The only driver that appeared to have anything for the No. 18 Toyota was his corporate teammate, fellow Toyota driver Martin Truex, Jr.
Following the end of the second segment, Truex, Jr. was able to beat the field off pit road, and then held the lead through a caution two laps later when Rick Stenhouse, Jr. spun on the backstretch.
The next restart would be the first major turning point of the race. As Truex, Jr. and Busch raced down into turn one, Truex’s car broke loose, making contact with Busch’s car and sending both crashing into the outside wall.
Despite a ball of flame coming from under Truex’s car, both drivers were uninjured. But the two dominant cars on the day were out of the race.
“I guess we could have continued to play the teammate game and try to settle it on a green flag pit stop, but he could be that much faster than me and yard me by three seconds on a run with the clean air then I would never be able to get the opportunity to pass him back even if we had to settle it on a pit stop,” Busch said. “That’s the way it goes, just chalk it up to another one that we figure out how to lose these things by. It’s very frustrating and I hate it for my guys, they build such fast Toyota Camrys and the Skittles Camry was really good again today.
“Had wanted to go out there and put ourselves in the record books for three in a row, but not happening.”
“I just got loose and wrecked him I guess, totally my fault.” said Truex. “Didn’t really know what to expect in that position and didn’t really realize that he was going to drive in that deep and suck me around. I will take the blame for that and obviously it was my fault. I hate it for Kyle (Busch), he had a great car and we did as well, but that’s racing.
“Glad I was able to get out, fire was bad. I had no brakes and I had to run into the wall a second time just to get it to stop so I could get out. Fortunately I’m okay and we’ll live to race another day.”
That opened the door for Kenseth to take the lead over Kevin Harvick, a spot he would hold for the next 13 laps until he and Harvick both hit pit road for gas and fuel to take them to the finish.
As many of the leaders cycle through green flag pit stops, Keselowski moved to the lead, followed by Johnson and Kahne. As several teams worked fuel strategy, the three leaders knew they would have to stop again for fuel.
With 11 laps to go, Kahne hit pit road for his final stop. As he exited the pits, the car of Clint Bowyer slipped off turn four, making contact with Erik Jones before spinning to the inside. Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray would also become involved, bringing out the second red flag of the day to allow for track clean up.
When the red flag was lifted, the leaders hit pit road, with Kahne and Ryan Newman choosing to stay out.
The race restarted with seven laps to go, with Kahne jumping to the lead while blocking a run on the inside by Keselowski.
The caution flew again on lap 154 after Kyle Larson, who had been shoved into the inside wall by Ty Dillon, pounded the outside wall. His car erupted in flames, but he got out unharmed after it rolled to a stop.
On the ensuing restart, Kahne again had the lead, but Keselowski powered to the outside to try to take the spot away. Behind them, the third place car of Johnson was trailing smoke, but did not slow down.
When the leaders slipped coming off turn two, Johnson powered to the inside, stacking the leaders three-wide as they drove down into turn three.
It didn’t work out for Johnson, as the four-time Brickyard 400 winner spun, making contact with the outside wall and bringing out the caution flag again.
“I’m not sure I was blowing up,” Johnson said. “I was definitely smoking and it was definitely engine oil smoke, I could smell that. I didn’t know where it was coming from and I had decent grip through (turns) 1 and 2, and so I went into turn 3. I had a shot to win the Brickyard 400 for the fifth time, and I was hoping one, the engine would live, and two, we would make it through turns 3 and 4. And I got really loose going into the corner, so I don’t know if I spun out in my own oil or if it was an aero situation, but I was so close to my fifth win here at the Brickyard.”
That set up the first Overtime restart. As the field came down to the green flag, the cars of Denny Hamlin and Trevor Bayne made contact, with Bayne spinning after contact from the car of Michael McDowell triggering another multi-car crash. In all, seven cars were gathered up, including Ryan Blaney, Bayne, Austin Dillon and Aric Almirola.
That brought out the third red flag of the day, again to allow for clean up on the fronstretch.
Kahne was able to get the edge on the final restart, and just as the leaders crossed the overtime line, another multi-car crash broke out on the backstretch, effectively ending the race.
Kevin Harvick, Daniel Suarez, Matt DiBenedetto, Chris Buescher and A.J. Allmendinger rounded out the top ten finishers.
Earlier in the race, fan favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – in his final start as a Cup Series driver at Indianapolis – saw his race go away with a damaged radiator on a lap 76 restart.
“There were just a bunch of cars slowing down and stopping and it was a chain reaction and we got into the back of the No. 6 (Trevor Bayne) and I guess they were all kind of running into each other and it just knocked the radiator out of it,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “We hit the No. 2 car (Brad Keselowski) earlier in the race kind of doing the same thing and it damaged the front end and I think it knocked the bumper bar out of it then, so we really had no protection after that. But, we had a great car and I was having a lot of fun.”
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Speedway, IN
Brickyard 400 – July 23, 2017
1. (19) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 167.
2. (11) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 167.
3. (8) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 167.
4. (7) Joey Logano, Ford, 167.
5. (14) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 167.
6. (2) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 167.
7. (15) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 167.
8. (27) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 167.
9. (26) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 167.
10. (39) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 167.
11. (23) Danica Patrick, Ford, 167.
12. (34) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 167.
13. (29) Aric Almirola, Ford, 167.
14. (37) * Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, 167.
15. (3) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 167.
16. (17) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 167.
17. (5) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 166.
18. (24) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 166.
19. (28) Ty Dillon #, Chevrolet, 165.
20. (22) Trevor Bayne, Ford, Accident, 162.
21. (20) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 162.
22. (31) Landon Cassill, Ford, Parked, 162.
23. (10) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 162.
24. (35) * Gray Gaulding #, Chevrolet, Accident, 162.
25. (38) Joey Gase(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 162.
26. (36) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 162.
27. (4) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, Accident, 158.
28. (25) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 154.
29. (12) Kurt Busch, Ford, Accident, 149.
30. (18) Clint Bowyer, Ford, Accident, 148.
31. (9) Erik Jones #, Toyota, Accident, 148.
32. (40) * B.J. McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 135.
33. (6) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, Accident, 110.
34. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Accident, 110.
35. (21) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, Accident, 106.
36. (13) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 76.
37. (33) * J.J. Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 70.
38. (30) David Ragan, Ford, Accident, 56.
39. (16) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, Engine, 43.
40. (32) Corey LaJoie #, Toyota, Accident, 9.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 114.384 mph.
Time of Race: 03 Hrs, 39 Mins, 00 Secs. Margin of Victory: Caution.
Caution Flags: 14 for 55 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Kyle Busch 1-71; E. Jones # 72-80; R. Blaney 81-86; Kyle Busch 87-102; M. Truex Jr. 103-110; M. Kenseth 111-131; E. Jones # 132; B. Keselowski 133-151; K. Kahne 152-161; B. Keselowski 162-165; K. Kahne 166-167.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Busch 2 times for 87 laps; B. Keselowski 2 times for 23 laps; M. Kenseth 1 time for 21 laps; K. Kahne 2 times for 12 laps; E. Jones # 2 times for 10 laps; M. Truex Jr. 1 time for 8 laps; R. Blaney 1 time for 6 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 18,78,21,4,22,20,1,42,48,88
Stage #2 Top Ten: 18,78,21,77,4,20,22,11,2,1
Top 10 in Points: 1. Martin Truex, Jr. – 780 (3 Wins); 2. Kyle Larson – 732 (2 Wins); 3. Kevin Harvick – 683 (1 Win); 4. Kyle Busch – 673; 5. Denny Hamlin – 612 (1 Win); 6. Brad Keselowski – 601 (2 Wins); 7. Jamie McMurray – 599; 8. Chase Elliott – 588; 9. Matt Kenseth – 566; 10. Jimmie Johnson – 564 (3 Wins).
