CUP: Kyle Larson’s perplexing streak of bad luck continues with hard crash at Indianapolis
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
Kyle Larson picked up the 12th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when his #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet crashed after 43 of 160 laps.
The finish, which came in Larson’s 423rd series start, was his second of the season and first since April 26th at Talladega, 12 races ago. In the Cup Series last-place rankings, it was the 25th for the #5, the 712th from a crash, and the 893th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 44th for the #5, the 1,468th from a crash, and the 2,057th for Chevrolet.
Since he was last featured on this site, Larson has continued to endure a perplexing losing streak. He’s led laps in eight of these last 12 races, including 56 in Nashville, but has time and again suffered bad luck, most often spins off Turn 4 sending him through the infield grass. While he did score four consecutive top-five finishes through the month of June, he then finished 34th in back-to-back races at Chicagoland and Atlanta, then last week in North Wilkesboro scrounged for an 18th-place run after a pit road accident with Connor Zilisch damaged his right-front wheel.
Larson looked to turn things around at Indianapolis, where he won in 2024, and arrived as one of 39 entrants for the 40-car field. In opening practice, his was the fastest Chevrolet, ranking 6th overall behind five Toyotas with a speed of 49.279 seconds (182.634mph). His was the 27th car to take time in qualifying, where he earned the 10th starting spot with a lap of 48.566 seconds (185.315mph).
Securing the 39th and final starting spot was Daniel Dye, back behind the wheel of Live Fast Motorsports’ #78 Champion Container Corporation Chevrolet. Since no drivers incurred tail-end penalties, Dye remained last when the green flag dropped, 3.577 seconds back of the lead behind 38th-place Cody Ware in the #51 Sky Fund Aviation Chevrolet (3.345). Heading into Turn 1, Dye looked under the #62 The Gracie Foundation Chevrolet of Casey Mears, who slid up the track off Turn 2, letting Dye make the pass and dropping Mears to last place. Mears was 7.424 seconds back of the leader at the start of Lap 2, now about a tenth behind Dye.
Over the next few laps, Mears reported his car was still tight in traffic, and his nose pushed up the track whenever he closed in on Dye. This caused the interval between the two to fluctuate between two-tenths and a half a second, and Mears tried to keep the nose of his car in clean air. The pair also lost ground to the leaders. Mears was 12.160 seconds back of the lead on Lap 3, then 15.239 on Lap 4, 17.531 on Lap 5, and 19.655 on Lap 6. That time by, the pair were themselves losing touch with 37th-place Ware, who was now eight-tenths of a second ahead of them. Mears reported his car was tight from the center off. On Lap 10, when Mears was 24.536 seconds back of the lead, he and Dye were two seconds back of Ware, who was barely visible ahead of him.
On Lap 17, Austin Dillon suddenly plummeted to 37th in his #3 Breztri Chevrolet, feeling like he had a tire going down. Dillon tried to ride it out, but dropped to 38th on Lap 18, splitting Dye from Mears. Dillon held up Mears, who pulled to his inside off Turn 4 and dropped the #3 to last place as they crossed the yard of bricks. Dillon then came in to pit on Lap 19, calling for fresh tires and to “tighten me up no matter what.” Dillon returned to the track a lap down, only to report that his car was still as loose as it was during the previous run. The crew responded, telling him to back up his entry into Turns 1 and 3 so he could make it to the end of Stage 1.
As Dillon came up to speed on Lap 23, Chase Elliott pitted his #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, complaining of a similar handling issue due to too much pressure in one of his tires. His stop also dropped him off the lead lap in 38th, moving Mears up to 37th, 42.436 seconds back of the lead. Ware then made his stop on Lap 26 along with the #10 Breztri Chevrolet of Ty Dillon, dropping Ty to 36th and allowing Elliott to climb past Ware into 37th, leaving Ware in 38th ahead of the still 39th-place Austin Dillon. But seconds later, Ty Dillon incurred a penalty for improperly moving up the blend line, forcing him to serve a pass-through penalty. While Ty’s crew tried to figure out how they failed to blend properly, he served the penalty. Already one lap down at the time, Ty now lost a second lap. At that very instant, Austin Dillon dropped Ware to last place, but Ware then slipped past Ty, dropping the #10 to the 39th spot.
As differing pit strategies continued to unfold, Mears fell a second lap down on Lap 35, moving him to 38th as he joined the same lap as Ty Dillon. Ty was now saving fuel, trying to run 70% on the short chute, and was told by his team that he was doing a good job of conserving. When the next group of drivers pitted, Ty was again scored just one lap down, but still one spot behind Mears. Then over the radio, his spotter said, “Got one in the wall hard, Frank.” It was still another few moments before the caution fell for the first on-track incident.
Working his own strategy, Larson was running in the 2nd spot behind the #67 Field & Stream Toyota of Corey Heim. Heading through Turns 3 and 4, Larson’s left-rear tire blew without warning, sending his car spinning into the outside wall, which he struck hard with the left-rear corner. Larson climbed from his car without serious injury, and his #5 took the last spot from Ty Dillon on Lap 46. By then, a tow truck had arrived to bring Larson’s car backwards through an opening on the inside of the short chute. Due to the massive size of the Indianapolis infield, it didn’t arrive in the garage area until Lap 48. The truck towed it past the haulers and behind pit road past the scoring pylon. The car was dropped off in the “Damaged Vehicle Policy” Zone, which was an open garage stall on the frontstretch. By then, Larson had been checked and released from the infield care center, then interviewed by TNT. His car’s onboard camera was shut off on Lap 50, and on Lap 62, NASCAR declared his car the first out of the race.
On Lap 60, moments before Larson was declared out, Chase Elliott pulled his #9 on pit road with a flat right-rear tire. He’d crossed the nose of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Brazier Lumber Company Chevrolet as the two raced side-by-side off Turn 2, steering Elliott into the outside wall. Elliott came in for fresh tires and a new toe link on his right-rear, but his right-rear tire remained down as he rolled down the pits. He then turned into the garage for further repairs, which the team completed on Lap 102. Elliott returned to the track 41 laps down and finished in 37th, passing Dye’s #78, which wrecked in Turn 3 just before the end of Stage 2. He came up just short of catching and passing four other drivers eliminated in the day’s biggest accident on the Lap 120 restart, including Mears, who finished 35th with right-front damage, and 36th-place Riley Herbst in the #35 Monster Energy Toyota.
Heim stuns again with second series victory
While passing seemed particularly difficult on Sunday, Corey Heim managed to earn his second win in his first 15 career starts, joining A.J. Foyt as the only drivers to do so. Heim led four times for 58 laps and earned his second victory in just over a month. He again piloted the #67, the number made famous by the late Buddy Arrington. After scoring the number’s first-ever Cup win in San Diego, he this time won on what would have been Arrington’s 88th birthday.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for both the #5 and Hendrick Motorsports in a Cup race at Indianapolis – both the Brickyard 400 and on the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
39) #5-Kyle Larson / 43 laps / crash
38) #78-Daniel Dye / 93 laps / crash
37) #9-Chase Elliott / 119 laps / running
36) #35-Riley Herbst / 120 laps / crash
35) #62-Casey Mears / 121 laps / crash
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Trackhouse Racing (5)
2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (4)
3rd) Hendrick Motorsports (3)
4th) Kaulig Racing, Live Fast Motorsports (2)
5th) 23XI Racing, Garage 66, RFK Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (13)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (4)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
