Bubba Wallace wins Brickyard 400 in double overtime at Indianapolis – NBC Sports

Bubba Wallace made a risky fuel strategy pay off with some sterling driving, winning the Brickyard 400 in double overtime at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
With the fuel tank in his No. 23 Toyota nearly dry, Wallace held off Kyle Larson on two restarts after a late red flag for rain.
Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski.
With his first victory of the 2025 season and the third of his career, Wallace locked into the Cup Series playoffs after being on the bubble of a provisional points spot. He was ranked 16th in the playoff standings, 16 points above the cutline, before becoming the 13th winner in the 2025 season.
It also was the first crown jewel victory for 23XI Racing, the team co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin. The team has been embroiled in a lawsuit with NASCAR since last year.
“Oh my gosh, man, just so proud of this team,” Wallace, whose last win was 100 starts ago at Kansas Speedway, told Marty Snider on TNT. “That adrenaline rush is crazy because I’m coming off that right now, and I’m worn out. I just want to thank everybody behind me right here, all these guys, all these men and women at Airspeed for making this possible. To overcome so much and to put these people here in Victory Lane, that’s what it’s about. It’s about these people that continue to push at me, believe in me. Man, just so proud, and I appreciate all you guys.
“Unbelievable to win here at the Brickyard, knowing how big this race is. Knowing all the noise that’s been going on in the background. To set that all aside is a testament to these people on the 23 team. It’s been getting old right around the cutline.”
Per the Associated Press, Wallace, 31, became the first Black driver to win on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which opened in 1909.
Wallace led two times for 23 laps, including the final 15. He had about a 3-second lead on Larson when the race was stopped on Lap 156 because of a brief shower that dampened the south end of the racetrack.
The red flag to dry the racetrack lasted 18 minutes and pushed the race past the scheduled distance of 160 laps.
Despite being low on fuel, Wallace pulled away from Larson by a wide margin on the first restart on Lap 162, but the caution flew for a multicar crash. That set up another restart and raised concerns about whether Wallace had the fuel to reach the finish. With a playoff spot hanging in the balance, crew chief Charles Denike said the team nearly called Wallace into the pits before the second overtime.
But the 23XI Racing driver stayed on track and nailed the second of two impressive restarts in staving off Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion who won at Indy last year.
“There’s nothing you can do here to pass, so no, I don’t really think there was anything I could do differently,” Larson said. “I was second gear on the first restart, and honestly, that one worked out a little bit better, but he almost got clear of me down the front stretch. And then on the second restart, he brought the pace down a little bit slower, so I needed to be first gear. It was kind of the same thing with me last year. He had the preferred lane on the inside, and it’s really hard to beat that.
“Regardless, proud of my team today. We just executed. I don’t think we passed many cars on track, but our pit crew did a good job, and our team did a good job with strategy. Happy to get a good result like that. Wish it could have been one spot better, but congrats to Bubba. That’s so cool. This is a big race, and he’s a good dude.”
Capitalizing after making a two-tire stop on Lap 119, Wallace inherited the lead on Lap 143 when Ryan Blaney pitted from first. Larson, who had made a four-tire stop two laps after Wallace, had chopped the lead in half and was gaining by about a half-second per lap when the red flew at 5:04 p.m.
Ty Gibbs finished 21st to win the inaugural In Season Challenge and the $1 million prize, beating Ty Dillon, who finished three laps down in 28th.
“It’s super cool,” Gibbs said about winning the five-race bracket. “I didn’t really focus on it for the first three weeks. Our goal, of course, is to do the best we can. The last week and this week is kind of where I started to (think), ‘OK, well, if we beat these guys, we can go win a million dollars.’ It’s a really cool deal that they put on, and hopefully they keep doing it.”
Tire problems marred the race for multiple contenders.
After leading 40 of the first 83 laps, Austin Cindric’s No. 2 Ford suffered a right-rear failure while running first on Lap 84. Cindric was 42 laps into his stint and likely would have been pitting soon.
Team Penske teammate Joey Logano also suffered a right-rear failure on his No. 22 Ford on Lap 133 while trying to stretch his final tank of fuel to the finish.
Erik Jones, who had qualified third, finished 35th after crashing in Turn 3 on Lap 90 because his No. 43 Toyota lost its right-front tire at speed. The wheel was improperly secured on Jones’ prior pit stop.
Stage 1 winner: Chase Briscoe
Stage 2 winner: Ryan Blaney
Next: Sunday, Aug. 3, 3:30 p.m. at Iowa Speedway on USA Network
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