Did NASCAR really favor Kyle Larson over Ryan Blaney at the end of the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis?

Defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney wasn’t a big fan of NASCAR’s decision-making after Sunday’s race at Indianapolis. Victory had just slipped away before the green flag for the final restart and Brad Keselowski, who was next to him on the front row, pulled into pit road. Kyle Larson took the No. 6 car’s spot on the inside lane and catapulted to victory.

Blaney alleged, over his car’s radio and to the press in the aftermath, that NASCAR had shown favoritism to Larson by allowing him to take advantage of Keselowski’s situation. He expressed his displeasure, “There’s no f***ing way he’s gonna jump up a row and I’m gonna get f***ing screwed because somebody ran out of gas. That’s f***ing bullshit NASCAR and you fucking know it and something better has to change. They just gave it to him.”

Such comments from the driver forced NASCAR Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer to explain his analysis, turning a blind eye to what had happened. “We had already gone through the selection process,” he told NASCAR. “We got the green light when the #6 pulled off, allowing the #5 to stop, handing the control vehicle over to the #12.”

“In hindsight, I think we still let it play out that way. We’ll go over that again. If we had given the warning, hypothetically we wouldn’t have gone through a lane selection process. The No. 12 would have been the control vehicle, but he wouldn’t have been given a lane choice. That’s the way the rule was written.” Sawyer’s breakdown won’t take the bitterness out of Blaney’s mouth, but it does provide some relief.

Kyle Larson responds to Blaney’s accusations of favoritism

Blaney has never been one to hold back his words when he’s in his car. And he wasn’t in Indianapolis either, throwing a string of insults at Larson, angry at him for missing out on a potential win. “That is ridiculous,” he said. “They just GAVE it to him (Larson). It’s f*cking over, I’m at the top. I ain’t gonna beat the top. Gave it to f*cking golden boy. Son of ab*tch.”

The Hendrick Motorsports star, however, chose to respond to these words more calmly. He responded to a tweet about Blaney’s comments by sarcastically thanking NASCAR for favoring him.

The win was Larson’s fourth of the season and he now moves back to the top of the standings. Blaney will now have plenty of time to cool down as the sport takes a two-week break before he returns to racing in Richmond next month.