AJ Allmendinger wins at Indy after a Crazy Ending

2021 continues to be a season of many firsts, as the NASCAR Cup Series makes a return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but for the first time, the race will be running on the road course configuration and not the oval, for the Verizon 200. Kyle Larson comes off winning at Watkins Glen last weekend, but he didn’t stop there, as just the night before, he won the Knoxville Nationals up in Iowa.

The race started off calmly as William Byron got the pole for the start of the race. Byron went on to lead lap one, but after that Chase Briscoe took the charge for most of stage one with three Hendrick cars trailing him. Martin Truex Jr had a tire rub early and had to pit on lap four. Then on lap seven, Austin Cindric locked up going into turn one and spun. He was able to keep going, as he was making his last cup start of the season before his rookie campaign in 2022. Things stayed calm as near the end of stage one, many leaders pit before the end of the stage. Tyler Reddick ended up staying out to get all of the stage points that he can get, in order to inch him closer to the playoffs. Reddick went on to score the stage win by passing Michael McDowell on the final lap of the stage.

Stage 1 Top 10:

1. Tyler Reddick
2. Michael McDowell
3. Austin Dillon
4. Erik Jones
5. Ryan Preece
6. Brad Keselowski
7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
8. Justin Haley
9. Chase Briscoe
10. Chase Elliott

As for Stage Two, Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott led the field into turn one to start things off. William Byron nearly took the lead shortly after the restart, but Chase Elliott was able to take advantage and take the lead. On lap 23, Matt DiBenedetto and Christopher Bell made contact and went off the track for a moment, but both drivers kept going. One lap later, Ross Chastain went spinning in turn one after driving in too hard into the turn. Then Brad Keselowski spun coming off of turn 11 and his back end smacked the wall hard, giving him damage. His #2 Ford had to go down pit road to be repaired. Towards the end of the stage, many leaders went to pit again, and Tyler Reddick would stay out again, giving him the sweep of Stage One and Stage Two at Indianapolis.

Stage 2 Top 10:

1. Tyler Reddick
2. Austin Dillon
3. Ryan Preece
4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
5. Matt DiBenedetto
6. Justin Haley
7. Corey Lajoie
8. Andy Lally
9. Kyle Larson
10. Chase Elliott

Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott led the field at the restart to begin the final stage, as both drivers have been the class of road course racing this season. Things settled and it was a Hendrick 1-2-3 with Larson, Elliott, and Byron. On lap 51, Austin Cindric goes spinning for the second time in the race and would keep it going. Later on, after green flag pit stops, Denny Hamlin stayed out as long as he could to have the freshest tires at the end. After pitting, Hamlin began to push hard with ten laps left in the race. But this is when the insanity begins…

A piece of debris flew off after hitting the turn five curb, in which safety crews had already worked on twice earlier on, thanks to splitters and radiator pans getting stuck in it. The caution came out with ten laps to go, changing everything. Everyone went to pit with the exception of Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Chase Briscoe, and Matt DiBenedetto. The race restarted with six laps to go and the leaders went three-wide going into turn one as Denny Hamlin was able to get out in front of Chase Briscoe and Kurt Busch. Then as the field was coming off of the treacherous turn-five curb and chaos broke out. Martin Truex Jr went spinning but was able to keep rolling. Briscoe and Hamlin battled side-by-side with five to go heading into turn one, but Hamlin still had the advantage. Coming back to turn five, William Byron hit the metal curb aggressively, causing him to spin as well as damaging the curb and making it come up, catching a lot of cars, which caused a huge wreck. Joey Logano went hard into the tire wall and then several cars went spinning into the same spot that involved Ryan Preece, Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, Justin Haley, and others. From a fan’s perspective and of the now 17 years I’ve followed NASCAR, this was one of the bizarre things I’ve ever seen in a race. This would bring out a red flag, and safety crews would take out the curb in the process.

This leads to a green-white-checkered attempt for the finish as Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson were on the front row for the restart. Larson lost a few spots as Hamlin and Briscoe would clear the field. Coming through turn five again, Bubba Wallace was pushed down the track and had to cut the corner through the grass, then Michael McDowell went for a huge jump and was sent spinning, hitting the wall hard. Austin Dillon, Cole Custer, Martin Truex Jr, and Josh Bilicki were some of the drivers involved. Yet another pileup!

“I hoped everyone liked the carnage,” Austin Dillon said after exiting the race with a DNF, “I made the corners, they didn’t, and now I’m out.”

Dillon described it as turning the Brickyard into a “demolition derby” and stated that it is more on the drivers than anything else.

We try again with Hamlin and Briscoe on the front row, Hamlin went up high going into turn one, sending Briscoe through the grass, and ended up rejoining the track without at first being told he would be penalized for cutting a corner. Then right as Briscoe was given the penalty, he bumps and turns the #11 FedEx Toyota of Denny Hamlin, taking him out of contention, and Briscoe had to park it off the track. This gave the lead to AJ ALLMENDINGER! It had been seven years since his lone cup series win with JTG Daughtry Racing at Watkins Glen, and now in 2021, AJ Allmendinger has given Kaulig Racing, a team that will run Full-Time in the Cup Series next season, its first-ever win in the NASCAR Cup Series and it comes at Indianapolis. A huge upset and this was also the first win by a non-chartered team since the charter system was introduced in 2016.

2021 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard Final Results:

1. AJ Allmendinger
2. Ryan Blaney
3. Kyle Larson
4. Chase Elliott
5. Matt DiBenedetto
6. Kurt Busch
7. Erik Jones
8. Justin Haley
9. Austin Cindric
10. Ryan Newman
11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
12. Chirs Buescher
13. Bubba Wallace
14. Kevin Harvick
15. Martin Truex Jr
16. Corey Lajoie
17. Alex Bowman
18. Josh Bilicki
19. Aric Almirola
20. Kyle Busch
21. Tyler Reddick
22. Quin Houff
23. Denny Hamlin
24. Brad Keselowski
25. Cole Custer
26. Chase Briscoe
27. Timmy Hill
28. Garrett Smithley
29. Ross Chastain
30. Michael McDowell
31. Austin Dillon
32. James Davison
33. William Byron
34. Joey Logano
35. Ryan Preece
36. Christopher Bell
37. Daniel Suarez
38. Anthony Alfredo
39. Andy Lally
40. Cody Ware