Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis' oval
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bubba Wallace became the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval, surviving a late rain delay, two overtimes, concerns over running out of fuel and a hard-charging Kyle Larson on Sunday in the Brickyard 400.
The third NASCAR Cup victory of Wallace's career was also his most significant — his first win at one of the series' four crown jewel races.
It snapped a 100-race winless streak that dated to 2022 at Kansas. He also won at Talladega in 2021, but this milestone victory also gave him a playoff spot. No Black driver has won the Indianapolis 500, and Formula 1 raced on the track's road course.
'Unbelievable,' Wallace shouted on his radio after crossing the yard of bricks.
And while the final gap was 0.222 seconds, he didn't reach victory lane without some consternation.
Larson trailed by 5.057 seconds with 14 laps to go but the gap was down to about three seconds with six remaining when the yellow flag came out because of rain. The cars rolled to a stop on pit lane with four to go, giving Wallace about 20 additional minutes to think and rethink his restart strategy.
But after beating Larson through the second turn, a crash behind the leaders forced a second overtime, extending the race even more laps as Wallace's team thought he might run out of gas.
Wallace risked everything by staying on the track then beat the defending race winner off the restart again to prevent Larson from becoming the fourth back-to-back winner of the Brickyard.
It also alleviated the frustration Wallace felt Saturday when he spent most of the qualifying session on the provisional pole only to see Chase Briscoe surpass with one of the last runs in the session.
He made sure there was no repeat Sunday, giving an added boost to the 23XI Racing co-owned by basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and last week's race winner, Denny Hamlin, as it continues to battle NASCAR in court over its charter status.
The race inside the race — the In-Season Challenge — went to Ty Gibbs, who had a better car than Ty Dillon in qualifying and on race day. Gibbs finished 21st o win the inaugural March Madness-like single-elimination tournament and collect the $1 million prize.
Dillon, a surprise championship round entrant after making the field as the 32nd and final driver, finished 28th.
Three-time series champ Joey Logano appeared to have the edge with 26 laps to go until his right rear tire went flat. Though he was able to drive it into pit lane for a tire change, he lost power and struggled to get back on the track, knocking him out of contention.
Ryan Blaney held off Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin to win the second stage, giving Blaney his fifth stage win of the year. Pole winner Chase Briscoe won the first stage, finishing ahead of Bubba Wallace and William Byron. It was Briscoe's second stage win of the season, his first since Pocono. Up next
Cup drivers will continue their brief Midwestern tour next Sunday when they race at Iowa.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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