Kasey Kahne kissed the bricks Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, capturing one of NASCAR’s “Majors,” the Brickyard 400 despite a track-record 14 cautions.
As Trevor Bayne was attempting to save fuel and hold off Matt Kenseth to steal a win, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch wrecked with 11 laps remaining, dashing Bayne’s hopes at a second career win.
The red flag was shown with 10 laps remaining to clean the track, setting up a shootout for the win. Leader Brad Keselowski and four-time Indianapolis winner Jimmie Johnson, among others pitted for fuel and tires, while Kahne and Ryan Newman elected to stay out, hoping to hold off fresher cars on older tires.
The seven-lap shootout turned into a wreck-filled sprint as Kyle Larson was involved in a single-car wreck. His car caught fire and leaked oil on the track, causing another delay in a race which started at 2:45 p.m. ET.
After Johnson brought out the 12th caution of the night, Bayne wrecked from the third position, causing a big wreck in NASCAR’s first attempt of overtime and bringing out the red flag once again.
On the final restart, Kahne reached the overtime line on the backstretch ahead of Keselowski before another huge wreck from Denny Hamlin brought out the 14th caution flag in the waning hours of daylight.
With the win, Kahne punched his ticket to the playoffs and ended a 102-race losing streak, dating back to August 31, 2014 in Atlanta.
Keselowski finished second followed by Newman, Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth.
Kyle Busch’s reign at Indy came to an end with a fiery wreck with Martin Truex Jr. with 49 laps remaining.
Looking for a record three consecutive wins at Indy, and his first victory since winning last year’s Brickyard 400, Busch was turned sideways by Truex in Turn 1 as neither driver was willing to give an inch.
Restarting on the bottom, Truex got loose under Busch, colliding with the No. 18 car and sending both into the wall. Truex, who had to quickly exit after his car caught fire, took blame for the accident.
A lightning warning interrupted Sunday’s race after 12 laps of the 160-lap race had been completed. After a 1 hour, 47 minute delay to dry the track, Busch led 87 of 111 laps until his wreck with Truex knocked him out of the race.
Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. saw his hopes of winning his first career Cup race at Indy go up in smoke on Lap 75 due to radiator damage. Junior was involved in a log-jam after a restart late in Stage 2 and was forced into the rear of Bayne’s car. The collision knocked Junior’s radiator out of place, causing his car to leak fluid over the 2.5-mile track.
Results from the NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indy
- Kasey Kahne
- Brad Keselowski
- Ryan Newman
- Joey Logano
- Matt Kenseth
- Kevin Harvick
- Daniel Suarez
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Chris Buescher
- AJ Allmendinger
- Danica Patrick
- Cole Whitt
- Aric Almirola
- Timmy Hill
- Jamie McMurray
- Paul Menard
- Denny Hamlin
- Michael McDowell
- Ty Dillon
- Trevor Bayne
- Austin Dillon
- Landon Cassill
- Ryan Blaney
- Gray Gaulding
- Joey Gase
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kyle Larson
- Kurt Busch
- Clint Bowyer
- Erik Jones
- BJ McLeod
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Kyle Busch
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- JJ Yeley
- David Ragan
- Chase Elliott
- Corey LaJoie
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Stage 1 winner: Kyle Busch
Stage 2 winner: Kyle Busch