Independence Day weekend concluded Sunday afternoon at the Brickyard for the NASCAR Cup Series in the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Joey Logano was the pole-sitter, and next to him was Kurt Busch. The race was scheduled to get underway at 4 pm, but a lightning delay pushed the race back 45 minutes. Two drivers were sent to the rear of the field before the race started, and they were Justin Allgaier (driver change), substituting for Jimmie Johnson, and Timmy Hill (rear inspection failure). The race got underway at 5:15 pm.
The best way to end a weekend full of racing at @IMS. 👏 We're racing in the 27th running of the #Brickyard400! pic.twitter.com/ZJO8a6sLM2 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2020
Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney got together on the fourth lap, and both drivers kept going and didn’t lose positions. Martin Truex Jr.’s car had a loose spark plug, and he fell to the 29th position after starting 8th. With the first competition caution coming, Kevin Harvick elected to pit from the 9th position on lap 12. The competition caution would come out at lap 14.
Same song, different verse for these two? 👀@KyleBusch | @Blaney pic.twitter.com/Ds48Bg6wAp — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2020
Chaos erupted under caution as several cars were involved in a wreck entering pit road, including Justin Allgaier, Ryan Preece, Brennan Poole, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Corey LaJoie, and Chris Buescher. The incident started when the number 34 car driven by Michael McDowell was entering his pit stall slowed the field down behind him, causing a chain reaction that resulted in Ryan Preece hitting Christopher Bell and taking out other cars behind him. Unfortunately, during the pile-up, Ryan Blaney’s tire changer was hit by Brennan Poole’s car. The wreck caused the red flag to be displayed. Blaney’s tire changer Zachary Price was ok and taken to the hospital for treatment. Replacing Price was Cory LaJoie’s tire changer Curtis Thompson.
The red flag is out in the #Brickyard400 after a serious incident on pit road. 📺: NBC | @IMS pic.twitter.com/9ZmgGPSuw8 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2020
This pileup on pit road is unlike anything i've ever seen. The member of Ryan Blaney's crew that got struck here is going to be alright per the team's radio. Offered a thumbs up and a smile while being taken away on a stretcher. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/4oMC63If2I — Matt Mayer (@MatthewMayerCBS) July 5, 2020
A member of the No. 12 pit crew is receiving attention from the AMR Safety Team at @IMS after the multi-car incident on pit road. pic.twitter.com/WpX9RZzyQd — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2020
The red flag lasted over eleven minutes before being lifted, and the caution flag was back out. Kevin Harvick was the leader with Joey Logano next to him to get the race back underway at lap 20. The green flag lasted 21 laps before Ryan Newman had a vibration and got into the turn three wall bringing out the second caution.
No. 6 car, comin' right at ya. 😳 Heavy contact for @RyanJNewman brings out the caution in the #Brickyard400. pic.twitter.com/Si8RY5Wvfa — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2020
Under caution, William Bryon, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, and Ross Chastain stayed while the rest of the field pitted. Chastain did pit a lap later, and William Byron and Erik Jones were leading the field to the restart at lap 47 with three laps to go in stage one. Byron would go on to win stage one, and Joey Gase got the free pass.
Under caution, most of the drivers who pitted in the last caution stayed out while William Byron, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, and others came in for their stop. The race resumed at lap 56 with Chase Elliott in the lead. The green flag lasted nineteen laps before Erik Jones loses a tire and hits the outside wall of turn three hard to bring out the fourth caution.
Take another look at what happened to @Erik_Jones to bring out the caution. 📺: NBC | #Brickyard400 pic.twitter.com/WFA8cwonIK — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2020
Some teams went with different strategies at pit road. While most cars took four tires, William Byron, Austin Dillon, and Kurt Busch only took two tires. Because of that strategy, Byron won the race off of pit road with Austin Dillon behind him. The race got back underway at lap 83. Austin Dillon went into the lead, but for Bryon, he ended up with a flat left front tire to bring out another caution for the fifth time.
Win No. 1 will have to wait another day for @WilliamByron. A major issue for the No. 24 slows the action again at @IMS. pic.twitter.com/NLK527mN5x — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2020
Dillon led the field back to green on the 88th lap with Denny Hamlin inside of him. He would lose the lead in the backstretch to Kevin Harvick, who made it three-wide to take over the lead. Just as he got the lead, the caution would come for the sixth time when Ryan Blaney hit the outside wall off of turn three hard with a flat left rear tire.
Okay, @KevinHarvick … that was pretty impressive.#Brickyard400 | 📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/seIFwEkMhL — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2020
More trouble at @IMS! This time it's @Blaney who finds the outside wall. pic.twitter.com/oD9MNdVSC8 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2020
Only three cars pitted under caution, and they were Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Daniel Suarez. Harvick led the field back to green with nine laps to go in stage two. During the green flag, Alex Bowman made a scheduled pit stop, and he would go a lap down. Harvick went on to win stage two, and Alex Bowman got the free pass.
Most of the cars, including Kevin Harvick, stayed out while others pitted taking either two tires or four. Harvick led the field back to green to start the final stage on lap 106. Daylight was beginning to become a factor late in the race. Denny Hamlin got a great push from Christopher Bell and was able to get the lead from Harvick, but Harvick’s car was strong on the outside and took the lead right back.
Believe this is what they call a "strong car." 😳 But will it be a #Brickyard400-winning car for @KevinHarvick? pic.twitter.com/W9ZnwGbuaA — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2020
Hamlin was on Harvick’s bumper for three laps before making a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 122 trailing Harvick by 0.261 seconds. Harvick would pit a lap later, and once he was out of pit road, Hamlin was the new leader. Several more cars made scheduled green-flag stops along the way. On lap 133, Alex Bowman was running in the eighth position when the right front tire went down, and he hit the outside wall of turn one hard to bring out the eighth caution. Bowman got out of his car and headed to the infield care center.
Another hard hit at @IMS, this time by @AlexBowman88. He was able to climb from his car under his own power. pic.twitter.com/xLTp5x80Qd — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 6, 2020
Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Christopher Bell stayed out while others pitted under caution. Hamlin led the field back to green with 30 laps to go. Hamlin had the edge over Harvick in the turns; however, Harvick had the advantage in the straightaways. Hamlin was pulling away from Harvick when he suffered a flat right-front tire and slammed the outside wall off of turn four wall hard to bring out the ninth caution of the race sending the race to overtime.
THE LEADER CRASHES AT @IMS!@dennyhamlin has an issue and slams the wall while leading the #Brickyard400! pic.twitter.com/abqKtGnysZ — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 6, 2020
In overtime, Kevin Harvick led the field back to green with Matt Kenseth next to him. Harvick pulled away from Kenseth and went on to win the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records at the Brickyard for the second year in the row.
That's going to be one big celebration. 🍻 Retweet to congratulate @KevinHarvick on his fourth win of 2020! pic.twitter.com/2mUG2JOk9I — NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 6, 2020
Matt Kenseth came in second place, Aric Almirola finished third place, Brad Keselowski finished fourth, Cole Custer had his best career finish in fifth. Kyle Busch finished in sixth, Michael McDowell seventh, Tyler Reddick eighth, Bubba Wallace ninth, and Joey Logano finishes in tenth. After the race, Ryan Blaney’s tire changer Zachary Price was released from the hospital and was headed back to North Carolina for further evaluation.
There were eleven lead changes by nine drivers and nine cautions for 43 laps. Next stop the Cup Series is a trip to Kentucky Speedway for the Quaker State 400 Present by Walmart on Sunday, July 12th, at 2:30 pm on FS1.
Comments