Did Kyle Larson jump that last restart on Ryan Blaney at Indy? Well, according to Bob Pockrass, NASCAR themselves said that he didn’t. But did Brad Keselowski’s fuel mismanagement hand Larson an advantage when he needed it the most for his first Brickyard 400 victory? Most would say it did. However, one of the drivers involved in the wreck that brought out the second overtime caution before that opportune restart would like to add more to that sentiment.

His name is Denny Hamlin. And on the most recent episode of Actions Detrimental, Joe Gibbs Racing’s controversially blunt playoff contender had some tough feedback to throw on the whole restart situation at Indy. 

Does Ryan Blaney have every right to be mad at Kyle Larson after Indy?

Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney & Brad Keselowski. The one thing these 4 have in common 4 races away from the 2024 playoffs is that they’re all locked in for a chance at a shot at the NASCAR Cup Series championship this year. Hence, a win on Sunday would not have meant as much as it probably would have for someone like Bubba Wallace or Ross Chastain, winless and wandering around the post-season bubble.

But then again, we’re talking about a win at the NASCAR crown jewel – Brickyard 400, that too on its 30th anniversary. With only a handful of laps to go, Keselowski leading for the last 34 circuits looked like the strongest contender for a win at Indy. It would have been Brad’s second on the racetrack, and his second overall this season, once again on a layout that’s a minimum of 2.5 miles in length.

Only seconds away from an RFK victory on Lap 159 of the 160-lapper, Denny Hamlin helped send the race into overtime after making contact with his former teammate Kyle Busch on Turn 3. At this moment Keselowski and his #6 team crew chief Matt McCall decided they wouldn’t have enough in the tank to make it past the Lap 160 mark. And as Hamlin’s co-host Jared Allen said on their podcast, “At the end of this race, coming to second to last green flag, Brad Keselowski pulls off the racing surface when he realizes that his car is presumably not gonna fire.”

According to Denny Hamlin, this allowed Kyle Larson a welcome “break”, and a temper tantrum for Ryan Blaney. In his own words: “The #5 got a break. The #12 got an awful break. Because the #12 was in control to win the race. I didn’t care whether they went green, whether we had cautions or whatever. The #12 was in position to win the race. And then he obviously lost his s*** when he saw that the #5 pulled up, and then not only pulled up, but they left the same time-ish. And then the #5 cleared him into Turn 1… It was an unhinged moment…” 

Denny concurs, “This is one where you gotta give Blaney a by on this one because he goes from controlling the race to not only not controlling the race… when the #6 pulls off to then relinquishing the spot that he had, which was, he goes from second to now still second. And now we got a new player in the game. So it was very unfortunate for the #12 that the #5 got the inside lane there. I mean, what do you do about it? I’m not sure.” Denny explains by ‘controlling the race’ he referred to the initial leader on the preferred and faster inside line that was Keselowski before the final restart. But after Keselowski hit the pits, Larson moved up to take his frontrunner spot from a P3 running position behind him.

As for that, this is what Hamlin had to say: “I mean, I think that the #6 could have not pulled off at a worse time. I don’t know how the #6 felt they were gonna make it, anyway. Again, if we wouldn’t have these stupid f***** fuel mileage races, we wouldn’t have this problem. But I guess that could happen anytime there in that lap of caution with one to go.”

“So the rule is, is the #6 chooses the bottom. And then in Turn 1 he runs out. So they still gotta go all the way around the racetrack,” he explained. However, while putting his thoughts forward, he also talked about what could have spurred Ryan Blaney’s ‘Golden Boy’ outburst over the radio toward Kyle Larson after the race. “Blaney could’ve at least had the time to gripe. He would’ve not gotten anywhere because the rule says that the lane just slides up. But damn, he would’ve chosen the bottom… Could you imagine how unhinged he would’ve been if he had to go the entire yellow flag, one lap to go, seeing the #5 beside him, knowing that he’s done?” – Hamlin let out a rhetorical question for all his listeners to ponder about in the initial days of the 2-week Olympics break putting a pause on NASCAR’s double-edged excitements.

Denny Hamlin says Brad Keselowski’s decision changed everything

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Speaking of double-edged excitements, Keselowski’s crew chief, McCall told the IndyStar that it’s “sort of a double-edged sword stabbing you in both sides,” when talking about the decision of having to pull his #6 driver from the jaws of a potential Brickyard triumph. Keselowski himself admitted “We were going to run out coming off of four, to the checkered,” but it just wasn’t meant to be with his Ford Mustang’s fuel cell running on literal fumes. Keselowski added, “We didn’t get yellows, when we needed yellows, to win today.”

Maybe a few more yellows may have helped the RFK owner/driver save some fuel under caution. Nevertheless, Jared Allen raised an intriguing question that aimed to delve into the unexplored with a commendable inquiry into Brad’s situation. He asked Hamlin about the credibility of Brad heading down pit road right before the green flag and potentially giving up a race win: “But is that borderline unsportsmanlike for Brad to do that? Like, come on did you really think you were gonna take the green with your fuel situation? Why not just pit under yellow?”

To this Denny agreed, “Yeah, I don’t love it. For sure, that’s what I’m saying.” He elaborated, “It almost benefits you to just run out in front of the field. Or just run your car out of gas because it wreaks havoc on everything else. And then at least you don’t get wrecked… So I don’t know…”

He then brought up Joey Logano’s genius fuel-saving strategy from Nashville which somewhat helped the #22 team pull a win out of thin air to highlight the contrast in the fuel strategy to Keselowski’s #6 team’s at Indy. “I mean there was no physics of math that would’ve said that he would’ve made it, that I understand. But I don’t know. I mean, we never thought Joey was gonna make it. But when you look at where Joey was running, he was running 15th at Nashville. The pace he was running was significantly slower than the leaders. Brad was the leader and stretched it to an unknown amount. And so it does. It certainly changed the outcome of the race. It was very unfortunate.” – concluded Denny Hamlin. 

So was it Brad Keselowski not wanting to take a risk? Or did NASCAR not issuing a restart violation on Kyle Larson truly set the results for the return of the 30th annual Brickyard 400? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.