Did Kyle Larson get away with the same violation Chase Elliott committed in the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway? NASCAR’s recent Brickyard 400 race was nothing short of a whirlwind of controversy. Hendrick Motorsports star, Larson, snagged a victory amid a chaotic restart that has had everyone buzzing. But there was debate over whether he jumped the restart. This has prompted veteran insider Brett Griffin to take to his podcast to dissect the drama and give his two cents on the situation

The Kyle Larson incident that unfolded at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was enough to draw attention, but not enough to warrant a penalty. This ignited a fiery debate about NASCAR’s restart rules and whether the officials made the right call or not.

Is Kyle Larson NASCAR’s ‘Golden Boy?’

Bret Griffin and his co-hosts discussed on the ‘Door Bumper Clear’ podcast the implications of Larson’s supposed jump on the restart during the Brickyard 400 race, with Freddie Kraft stating that Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 car had clearly fired first. They pondered whether it would have made a difference, suggesting that even without the jump, it seemed that Kyle Larson‘s lead was likely safe.

But the confusion over the control car added to the chaos, even though the No. 5 Chevrolet driver has admitted that he wasn’t sure if he was in charge of the restart. It was in the heat of the moment that he decided to make a move, knowing he had nothing to lose with 3 wins already under his belt.

“When you’re Kyle Larson and you’ve already got wins in the bank, I mean what do you got to lose?” Brett Griffin said this while talking about the situation on the DBC podcast. “If I’m Kyle Larson, I’d do it too! I mean, I would put them in a position to make an uncomfortable call, it’s the wrong call to not call it. But he put them in a pickle and said, ‘call it.’ and guess what? They didn’t call it.”

As the race was reaching its peak, chaos ensued when Brad Keselowski ran out of fuel just before the restart, leaving Larson to sneak into the lead. There was a moment of confusion over who had control of the restart, which added to the drama. At the restart, it appeared that Larson Larson took off first despite not being the control car, however, NASCAR claimed that he played by the rules. All in all, Larson’s quick reflexes put him ahead while others debated the legality of it all.

Ryan Blaney, who was in a prime position before the restart, was not amused for obvious reasons. He voiced his frustrations on the radio, calling out NASCAR for letting the race go green under questionable circumstances. His anger boiled over as he felt the HMS driver was simply handed the win on a silver platter, dubbing him NASCAR’s “golden boy,” in an expletive-filled rant.

“That’s ridiculous. They just GAVE it to him (Larson). It’s f*****g over, I’m on the top. I ain’t gonna win from the top. Gave it to f*****g golden boy. Son of a b***h,” an irate Blaney was heard saying over the radio as he finished third.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was among those who defended NASCAR’s decision. Sharing his views, he said, “That was right on top of the restart zone. I think if you waived it off, you could also have the potential of an accordion effect or some mistake happening by a driver not getting that information and having some damage created by some contact midfield … So if I’m personally in the booth in that moment, I would fear that and say, Let’s just let this happen.”

NASCAR official echoed the same sentiment as well. Speaking on the controversy, NASCAR’s Senior VP of Competition, Elton Sawyer said “There’s no doubt he rolled early, but added, “it’s a bang-bang call, it’s at the end of the race. We’re a live sporting event. We don’t have the luxury of a timeout and go to the sideline and review it and make that call. If this happens at lap 10 or 50 or 300, the call could have been different.”

But what about Chase Elliott? Elliott was penalized for going above the white line while entering pit road earlier in the race. The two incidents were pretty similar but only Elliott ended up bearing the brunt. However, Denny Hamlin, whose own outing ending in disappointment said Larson was in the clear and he understood why NASCAR didn’t penalize him.

Speaking on his Actions Detrimental podcast, he said, “I didn’t see anything wrong with Kyle’s. Yeah, he was on the line, he wasn’t above it though, so I didn’t see anything wrong with Kyle’s merge there, onto the surface.”

In the end, Kyle Larson celebrated his victory, but the aftermath of the race left a sour taste in the mouths of many, especially Blaney. The controversy surrounding the restart rules and the officials’ decisions will likely linger, sparking debates about fairness and strategy in the high-stakes world of NASCAR racing.

NASCAR’s restart rules are under fire

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The officials defended their decision to allow Larson’s restart and argued that he did not technically jump the start. Explaining that the situation was unprecedented due to Brad Keselowski running out of fuel just before the green flag. According to NASCAR’s interpretation, once Keselowski exited the race, Ryan Blaney became the control car, but Larson’s positioning allowed him to take advantage of the situation.

Even NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition, Elton Sawyer, stated that the rules dictate that once the race is in motion, the control car cannot change lanes. This led to Larson’s decision to move up, a choice that ultimately granted him the lead. However, the ambiguity surrounding the control car’s identity during the restart has left many questioning whether the officials made the right call. And as Griffin pointed out, the wrong call is to call it and slam him with a penalty.

So right now, as the sport looks ahead to its final races, the call for clearer guidelines and consistent enforcement of rules will be essential in preserving the integrity of NASCAR racing and ensuring that all drivers compete on a level playing field. Will this affect Larson and the Hendrick Motorsports team going into the playoffs?