Kyle Larson weighs in on complicated Chase Elliott penalty at Brickyard 400
While Chase Elliott rallied for P10, a controversial penalty early in the race cost him. Kyle Larson has now weighed in. The two NASCAR teammates left pit road together, Elliott in front of Larson, when the penalty was assessed.
Coming out of pit road, Indianapolis Motor Speedway has two “acceleration lanes.” There was confusion about how far if at all, you could go over the white line on the outside of the acceleration lanes.
NASCAR deemed that Chase Elliott went too far over, showing on a replay where his right side tires and left side tires passed over that far line. Officials found that he had gone onto what is deemed as the “racing surface.” So, he was assessed a pass-through penalty.
Kyle Larson knew ahead of the race that it was a confusing rule. He stuck to what he knew from his Indy 500 experience earlier this year.
“We kind of as a team communicated, or tried to, on Friday of, ‘What is the rule?’” Larson said in his postrace press conference. “None of us knew what the rule was. I don’t think NASCAR initially knew what the rule was because then we started kind of getting communication with them.
“Afterwards, I think Chad Knaus [vice president of competition at Hendrick Motorsports] was getting our opinion. Drivers on a group text were in, all that. When I was here for the [Indianapolis] 500, you’re allowed to kind of straddle that first white line. You’re not allowed to get your lefts over it. I was kind of used to that and did that on Friday.”
Larson confirmed that NASCAR released the rule prior to the Xfinity Series race on Saturday.
Kyle Larson avoids penalty, saw Chase Elliott mistake
Of course, being right behind Chase Elliott leaving pit road, Kyle Larson had a front-row view of the infraction. Even though Elliott felt it was an egregious penalty, letting off a number of f-bombs on the radio, his teammate knew he was going to be dinged.
“The way I understood the rule was that you couldn’t get your right sides over the far white line because then you would be deemed on the racing surface. That’s what I did.
“Yeah I was following Chase. He swung way out. Yeah, I was like, ‘Man, that’s got to be a penalty.’ If it’s not, at least I know how much further I can swing out. I think it took them a couple [of] laps to find a replay of it. Ultimately he got a penalty and I didn’t. I knew what I did was legal.”
Kyle Larson walked away with a Brickyard 400 trophy and ring. A third crown jewel to his name, joining his wins at the Southern 500 and Coca-Cola 600. Good thing he didn’t follow his teammate up the track.