Bubba Wallace persevered through two overtime shootouts and a late fuel-mileage battle with Kyle Larson to win the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 27.
The 31-year-old Wallace from Mobile, Alabama, led twice for 23 of 268 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started alongside pole-sitter Chase Briscoe for his career-best starting spot at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. After spending a majority of the event racing upfront and leading four laps through the event’s first two stage periods, Wallace’s key moment to victory occurred when he pitted during a late cycle of green flag pit stops with nearly 40 laps remaining. Following the pit stops, Wallace cycled into the lead with 18 laps remaining.
Then, despite having his steady advantage stalled due to a late caution for precipitation followed by a brief red flag delay period, Wallace proceeded to fend off Kyle Larson at the start of two overtime shootouts. Despite enduring concerns of not having enough fuel to retain the lead, Wallace had enough horsepower and fuel within his tank to cycle his way around Indianapolis during the two overtime shootouts. He beat Larson to score his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in nearly three years and achieve his first crown-jewel victory at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 26, Chase Briscoe notched his seventh Cup pole position of the 2025 season and his third in a crown-jewel event with a pole-winning lap at 183.165 mph in 49.136 seconds. Joining Briscoe on the front row was Bubba Wallace, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 183.117 mph in 49.149 seconds.
Prior to the event, Denny Hamlin dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during Saturday’s qualifying session. The following names which included Michael McDowell, John Hunter Nemechek, Zane Smith and Jesse Love also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter Chase Briscoe launched his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE entry ahead of Bubba Wallace and the field through the frontstretch as he proceeded to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field behind jostled for early spots, Briscoe proceeded to lead through the remaining two turns before he cycled back to the frontstretch and led the first lap over Wallace while Tyler Reddick, William Byron and Erik Jones were scored in the top five, respectively.
Over the next four laps, Briscoe maintained a steady advantage over Wallace while Reddick, Byron and Erik Jones continued to follow suit in the top five, respectively. By then, the top-10 spots were occupied by Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, Carson Hocevar, Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger, respectively, while Kyle Busch, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson were racing in the top 15 ahead of Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon and Alex Bowman, respectively. While Denny Hamlin was battling to crack the top-30 mark after starting in 39th place in a back-up car, his driver, Reddick, overtook his other driver, Wallace, for the runner-up spot while teammate Briscoe retained the lead by three-tenths of a second at the Lap 10 mark.
Just past the Lap 15 mark, Briscoe led a 10-car breakaway, with the pack running within four seconds of the leader Briscoe and racing in a single-line formation. Behind Briscoe were Reddick, Wallace, Byron, Jones, Ty Gibbs, Buescher, Hocevar, Cindric and Allmendinger, respectively, while the next two competitors in the running order (Kyle Busch and van Gisbergen) trailed by more than seven seconds.
A lap later, the event’s first caution flew when Ross Chastain, who was mired in 34th place, was bumped by Michael McDowell and sent sideways through Turn 3 before he made contact against the outside wall and was left with a wrecked No. 1 Busch Light Lime Chevrolet entry. The incident occurred after Chastain had blocked McDowell entering the turn.
During the event’s first caution period, a majority of the field led by Briscoe peeled off the racetrack to pit their respective entries for the first time while Austin Cindric, teammate Joey Logano and Josh Berry remained on the track. Following the pit stops, where most of the front-runners opted for a two-tire pit service, Briscoe exited pit road first and he was followed by Wallace, Reddick, Erik Jones, Byron, Buescher, Kyle Busch, Allmendinger, Hocevar and Larson, respectively.
The start of the next restart on Lap 22 featured teammates Cindric and Logano dueling for the lead exiting the frontstretch before Cindric muscled his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry ahead through the first turn. As the field fanned out, from the frontstretch through the backstretch, Cindric led the next lap over Logano, Briscoe, Wallace, Berry and Jones while Reddick tried, but was overtaken by Byron amid a bold block through the frontstretch for seventh place. With a series of on-track battles ensuing within the field through every turn and straightaway, Cindric led Logano by eight-tenths of a second at the Lap 25 mark.
Through the first 35 laps, Cindric extended his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Logano while third-place Briscoe trailed by more than four seconds. Behind, Wallace occupied fourth place ahead of Berry while Jones, Byron, Reddick, Buescher and Kyle Busch trailed in the top 10.
During the next five laps, Wallace lost fourth place to Berry and Jones would pressure him for fifth place. Meanwhile, Cindric stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over Logano before the latter pitted his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry for the first time a lap later. Cindric then surrendered the lead to pit another lap later, which allowed Briscoe to cycle back into the lead, before Berry pitted during the next lap.
Then, with five laps remaining in the first stage period, Erik Jones pitted his No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE entry for four fresh tires and fuel from fourth place under green. By the time Jones exited pit road and blended back on the racing surface in 35th place, he managed to remain ahead of the leader, Briscoe, and on the lead lap category. Meanwhile, Briscoe led by more than a second over both Wallace and Byron while Reddick and Buescher followed suit in the top five, respectively.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 50, Briscoe captured his second Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Wallace followed suit in second place along with Byron, Reddick and Buescher while Kyle Busch, Carson Hocevar, Larson, Austin Dillon and Allmendinger were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, In-Season Challenge competitors Ty Gibbs and Ty Dillon were scored in 14th and 29th, respectively, while Cindric, Berry, Logano and Jones were mired in 31st, 33rd, 34th and 35th, respectively.
Under the first stage break period, a majority of the field led by Briscoe returned to pit road for service. The rest, that included Ryan Preece, Alex Bowman, Justin Haley, Cindric, Bery, Logano and Jones, remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed pit strategies, Hocecar, who opted for a two-tire pit service, exited pit road ahead of Briscoe, the latter of whom was the first to opt for a four-tire pit service. Byron, Reddick, Wallace, Kyle Busch, Larson, Suarez and Buescher exited pit road in the top 10, respectively.
The second stage period started on Lap 55 as Preece and Bowman occupied the front row. At the start, a big check-up within the middle of the pack ensued that resulted in Ricky Stenhouse Jr. making hard contact against the frontstretch’s outside wall while some, including the Dillon brothers, were left with damage to their respective entries. Amid the chaos, the field fanned out and a bevy of on-track shuffling of positions ensued, from the first two turns to the backstretch, while Preece maintained the lead over Bowman. Preece proceeded to lead the next lap over Bowman, Haley, Hocevar and Cindric while Byron, Wallace, Logano, Buescher and Berry were in the top 10.
By Lap 60, Preece was leading by four-tenths of a second over Bowman while Haley, Cindric, Byron, Hocevar, Wallace, Logano, Buescher and Berry were up in the top 10 ahead of Larson, Gibbs, Briscoe, Hamlin, Jones, Reddick, Todd Gilliland, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Zane Smith, respectively.
Three laps later, Preece surrendered the lead to pit his No. 60 Castrol Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry under green, which allowed Bowman to cycle into the lead. Bowman and Haley then both pitted under green two laps later while Cindric assumed the lead. Amid the pit stops, Haley and Preece, the latter of whom endured a slow pit service, lost a lap to Cindric while Bowman managed to remain on the lead lap. Meanwhile, Cindric continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second by Lap 70 while Byron, Hocevar, Wallace and Logano trailed in the top five.
At the halfway mark on Lap 80, Cindric continued to lead by more than six seconds over teammate Logano, Wallace and Buescher while Berry trailed by seven seconds in fifth place. By then, teammates Larson and Byron pitted their Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet entries over the previous two laps while Cole Custer, who had a flat right-rear tire, managed to limp his No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry back to pit road without drawing a caution. In addition, Hocevar pitted his Spire Motorsports entry at the halfway mark before Berry, Elliott and Busch pitted their respective entries during the next lap.
Then on Lap 83, the leader Cindric fell off the pace after he blew a right-rear tire exiting the frontstretch. As Cindric continued to limp his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry for a full lap before he pitted, his teammate Logano, Buescher and Ty Gibbs pitted their respective entries under green while Wallace cycled into the lead. As Cindric managed to pit his entry, Hamlin also pitted while Wallace proceeded to lead by the Lap 87 mark. Wallace then pitted on Lap 87 along with Jones, which enabled Briscoe to cycle into the lead.
Then on Lap 89, the caution flew when Jones, who had pitted, had the right-front center wheel pop out and he went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 3, which left him with severe right-side damage and a broken right-front hub to his No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE entry. During the caution period, some led by Briscoe and including Redick, Zane Smith, Shane van Gisbergen, Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, Katherine Legge, Preece and Haley pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.
With the race restarting with four laps remaining in the second stage period, Blaney muscled ahead with the lead through the first turn while Byron, Larson and Keselowski went three-wide in a battle for the runner-up spot. Larson proceeded to claim the runner-up spot and Hamlin would navigate his way into third place while Byron and Keselowski dropped to fourth and fifth in front of a stacked field. As the field continued to jostle for spots, Blaney led the following lap.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 100, Blaney captured his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Larson followed suit in second ahead of Hamlin, Byron and Keselowski while Bowman, Hocevar, Logano, Buescher and Wallace were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, 23 of 39 starters were scored on the lead lap.
During the latest stage break period, Blaney pitted for fuel prior to pit road being accessible for the field. Once pit road became accessible for the field, some like Bowman, Keselowski, Ty Gibbs, Todd Gilliland and Legge pitted their respective entries while the rest, led by Larson, remained on the track.
With 55 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Larson and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to three lanes as Larson managed to muscle ahead of Hamlin through the first two turns to retain the lead. Larson proceeded to lead Hamlin and teammate Byron through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4 before he cycled back to the frontstretch and led the following lap. As Larson led, a bevy of on-track battles with the field fanning out continued to ensue as Hamlin, Byron, Hocevar, Logano, Wallace, Briscoe, Buescher, Reddick and Preece followed suit in the top 10.
Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Larson was leading by half a second over Hamlin while Byron, Hocevar and Wallace continued to trail in the top five ahead of Wallace, Reddick, Buescher, Preece and Bell, respectively. Behind, John Hunter Nemechek was scored in 11th place ahead of Briscoe, Berry, Haley and Zane Smith, while Chase Elliott, van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs, Bowman and Keselowski were mired in the top 20 ahead of Gilliland, Cindric, Blaney, Legge and Cole Custer.
Seven laps later, a late cycle of green flag pit stops and pit strategies ensued. Berry pitted his No. 21 PPG Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry from the top-13 mark. His Penske-aligned teammate, Logano, pitted a lap later before Byron and Briscoe strategically pitted under green with 42 laps remaining. Shortly after, Wallace and Buescher also pitted while Larson continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin with 40 laps remaining.
As the laps dwindled, teammates Bell and Ty Gibbs pitted their respective Toyotas with 40 laps remaining before the leaders Larson, Hamlin, Hocevar, Reddick, Preece and Bowman all pitted their respective entries under green. As the pit stops amongst the field continued, Haley, who has yet to pit, was leading with 38 laps remaining ahead of van Gisbergen, Keselowski, Gilliland and Blaney while Logano, who pitted five laps earlier, was racing ahead of Wallace, Reddick, Larson, Berry, Byron, Hamlin, Briscoe and Bell on the track.
With 30 laps remaining, Haley continued to lead by more than a second over Keselowski while Gilliland, Blaney and Legge, all of whom have yet to pit, raced in the top five. Meanwhile, Logano occupied sixth place in front of a hard-charging Wallace while Reddick, Larson, Berry, Byron, Hamlin, Briscoe, Bell and Buescher trailed in the top 15, respectively.
Then four races later, Logano blew a right-rear tire going through the backstretch and he limped his entry back to pit road without drawing a caution. This allowed Wallace to move into a prime position for the lead in sixth place while Haley, Keselowski, Gilliland, Blaney and Legge continued to race in the top five. As Logano pitted to have the flat tire changed, his event went from bad to worse when he struggled to launch due to a loss of power. Eventually, Logano proceeded under power while the leaders Haley and Keselowski pitted under green with 23 laps remaining. This allowed Blaney to cycle into the lead and Legge was in second place while Wallace trailed by more than 22 seconds.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Blaney retained the lead by more than 18 seconds over Legge while Wallace reeled in on Legge for the runner-up spot. A lap later, Wallace overtook Legge for the runner-up spot while Reddick and Larson trailed Wallace by four seconds. Then, with 18 laps remaining, Blaney pitted his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry from the lead. This allowed Wallace to cycle to the lead while teammate Reddick, Larson, Berry and Byron moved up the leaderboard in the top five.
With 15 laps remaining, Larson, who overtook Reddick for the runner-up spot two laps earlier, trailed the leader, Wallace, by more than five seconds. As Reddick, Byron and Hamlin occupied the remaining top-five spots ahead of Berry, Briscoe, Bell, Buescher and Hocevar, Wallace, who was racing on fumes with his fuel tank, continued to lead by more than four seconds over a hard-charging Larson with 10 laps remaining.
Then, with six laps remaining, the caution flew due to on-track precipitation. At the time of caution, Wallace was leading by more than three seconds over Larson while Byron, Hamlin and Berry were racing in the top five. Not long after, the field led by Wallace was navigated to pit road and the event was placed in a red flag period. Once the red flag lifted and the field led by Wallace returned to the track under a cautious pace, some, including Reddick, Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric, Kyle Busch, Allmendinger, Herbst and Ty Dillon pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Wallace remained on the track. By then, the event was set to restart in overtime.
At the start of the first overtime attempt, Larson, who restarted alongside Wallace on the front row and the outside lane, dueled with Wallace exiting the frontstretch, but Wallace used the inside lane to side-draft Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet entry through the first two turns. This allowed Wallace to retain the lead as the field fanned out through the backstretch. Then as Wallace continued to lead Larson, the caution returned and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt when Bell turned and sent Zane Smith sideways exiting the backstretch. Smith would then get hit by Reddick before his wrecked No. 38 Aaron’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry received more on-track hits from Logano and Jesse Love.
During the second overtime attempt, Wallace managed to muscle ahead of Larson for a second time from the inside lane and he retained the lead for a full lap as the rest of the field behind fanned out and jostled for late spots. When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Wallace remained in the lead over Larson.
Amid concerns of not having enough fuel to make it through double overtime attempts, Wallace was able to keep his No. 23 Chumba Casino Toyota Camry XSE entry under power for a full lap and in front of a hard-charging Larson through every turn and straightaway. When Wallace returned to the frontstretch, he was able to beat Larson by two-tenths of a second to achieve his first checkered flag in nearly three years.
With the victory, Wallace notched his third career win in the NASCAR Cup Series division and his first since he won at Kansas Speedway in September 2022, which snapped a 100-race winless drought. In addition, Wallace became the 17th competitor overall and the first African-American competitor to achieve a NASCAR victory at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing in Indianapolis.
The victory was also the first for rookie Cup crew chief Charles Denike, the ninth of the 2025 season for the Toyota nameplate and the first elusive for 23XI Racing. The victory comes as 23XI Racing is currently competing as a non-chartered team amid their off-track, antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR due to a dispute over NASCAR’s Charter Agreement.
Above all, Wallace, who came into Indianapolis 16 points above the Playoff cutline, officially became the 13th competitor to be guaranteed a spot to the 2025 Playoffs based on winning a race through 22 scheduled events.
“I’m wore out,” Wallace said on the frontstretch on TNT. “I thought about every which way to Sunday besides driving a race car under that red flag. Oh my gosh. [I’m] Just so proud of this team. That adrenaline rush is crazy because I’m coming off that right now, and I’m wore out. I just want to thank everybody behind me right here, all these [No. 23] guys, all these men and women at AirSpeed for making this possible. Welcome to Victory Lane, [son] Becks. That’s pretty cool. Officially.”
“To overcome so much and to put these people here in Victory Lane, that’s what it’s all about,” Wallace added. “It’s about these people that continue to pushing me, believe in me and man, just so proud. I appreciate all you guys. To win here at the Brickyard, knowing how big this race is. Knowing all the noise that’s going on in the background. To set that all aside is a testament to these people here on this No. 23 team. It’s been getting old runing on the [Playoff] cutline.”
Finally, Wallace took a moment to evoke a shoutout to his skeptics by stating, “I’m already winning at life. I got the best wife, best life, the best kid. People are always gonna say something. I am excited to see how fast the goalpost has moved, so I get to go and chase that now.”
As Wallace celebrated his first Brickyard 400 victory both in Victory Lane and the frontstretch by kissing the bricks, Ty Gibbs also emerged victorious as he claimed the inaugural In-Season Challenge championship by finishing in 21st place. Gibbs’ lone In-Season Challenge rival, Ty Dillon, ended up in 28th place on the track. Gibbs’ bonus for the title: $1 million.
“It’s great!” Gibbs said. “[I] Want to first say, all glory to God. One million dollars is a lot of money, so I’m going to donate $10,000 to whichever charity Ty Dillon wants to give to. It’s his choice, but we had a fast SAIA Toyota Camry. It’s awesome to win it!”
Kyle Larson, who led 19 laps and was striving to become the fourth competitor to win back-to-back Brickyard 400s, settled in second place while Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace’s co-owner at 23XI Racing, settled in third place after the latter rallied from starting at the rear of the field in a back-up car.
Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski navigated their way to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. Todd Gilliland, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Chase Elliott settled in 13th place while William Byron, who ran out of fuel on the final lap, fell back to 16th place. In addition, pole-sitter Chase Briscoe, who pitted prior to the second overtime restart, ended up in 18th place behind Katherine Legge.
There were 15 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 28 laps. In addition, 22 of 39 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 22nd event of the 2025 Cup Series season, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by four points over teammate William Byron, 15 over teammate Kyle Larson, 20 over Denny Hamlin, 62 over Christopher Bell and 71 over Tyler Reddick.
Results:
1. Bubba Wallace, 23 laps led
2. Kyle Larson, 19 laps led
3. Denny Hamlin, one lap led
4. Ryan Preece, 12 laps led
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Todd Gilliland
7. Ryan Blaney, 14 laps led, Stage 2 winner
8. Christopher Bell
9. Alex Bowman, two laps led
10. Carson Hocevar
11. Justin Haley, 15 laps led
12. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap led
13. Chase Elliott
14. Chris Buescher
15. Austin Cindric, 40 laps led
16. William Byron
17. Katherine Legge
18. Chase Briscoe, 34 laps led, Stage 1 winner
19. Shane van Gisbergen
20. Cole Custer
21. Ty Gibbs
22. Josh Berry
23. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down
24. Jesse Love, one lap down
25. Kyle Busch, two laps down
26. Riley Herbst, two laps down
27. Daniel Suarez, three laps down
28. Ty Dillon, three laps down
29. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident
30. Michael McDowell, six laps down
31. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident
32. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident
33. Noha Gragson, 15 laps down
34. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Electrical
35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 67 laps down
36. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident
37. Cody Ware – OUT, Fatigue
38. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident
39. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, for the second annual Iowa Corn 350. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, August 3, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
