NASCAR Indianapolis results: Kyle Larson second, Alex Bowman ninth in Brickyard 400

SPEEDWAY, Ind. - Kyle Larson narrowly missed on yet another remarkable #H1100 redemption story at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

His consolation prize, however, wass more needed momentum toward a looming NASCAR Cup Series playoff push. 

Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team found themselves on the right side of strategy calls nearly all day and survived a rain delay and a pair of overtime restarts to come home second on Sunday in the Brickyard 400. Larson entered the event as the defending winner. 

From the outset of Sunday's race, strategy was the name of the game. That ramped up further when the day's first caution flew with 18 laps remaining for a Ross Chastain crash, sending teams in a variety of different directions with a few drivers staying out while most pitted. 

William Byron qualified the best among the Hendrick Motorsports contingent, rolling off sixth to begin the event and he quickly moved forward. Larson started a little deeper in the field in 13th but jumped into the top 10 during that initial pit sequence. Once the green flag flew, the three cars that chose to stay out led the way until pitting late in the segment. Erik Jones also short-pitted the break allowing several cars to climb the scoring pylon including Larson, who made it up to eighth by stage's end. Byron, meanwhile, came home third, scoring eight bonus markers. 

At that point, crew chief Blake Harris took a swing with the No. 48 Ally Chevy team, keeping his driver, Alex Bowman, out during the segment break, inheriting the second position. Bowman ran a few laps at the front of the field before pitting early in the stage, yet he stayed in front of the leader to remain on the lead lap after exiting pit lane. So, when Jones crashed with 11 circuits remaining in the stage, Bowman was able to stay out and he finished the segment in sixth to pick up five extra markers on the Cup Series playoff cut line. Larson and Byron, meanwhile, continued to stockpile points as well, finishing the stage second and fourth respectively. 

Larson inherited the lead as stage three commenced with Byron slotting in third place. Not far into the final segment, teams began to short pit. That included Byron at lap 119 of 160. No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels called Larson in on the following lap. 

Larson blended back in behind a few cars that pitted laps before. One of those, Joey Logano, blew a tire with 26 laps to go, leaving only eventual-winner Bubba Wallace at Tyler Reddick ahead. By the time Larson dove to the bottom of Reddick, Wallace had built a sizable lead. 

As the laps dwindled, it appeared the race would come down to Larson's pace versus Wallace's track position. But Mother Nature had other ideas, as rain began to fall in turn one, bringing out a caution with just six circuits still showing on the board. 

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The pause was brief, however, and the field soon geared up for an overtime restart. Larson, on Wallace's outside, powered into turn one side-by-side but Wallace cleared coming out of turn two. Yet, a crash involving Zane Smith and Reddick broke out on the backstretch, necessitating another yellow flag. 

Several cars, including Wallace, found themselves on the edge of their fuel capabilities. However, Wallace soldiered on and had just enough to hold off Larson to the checkered flag. Bowman took advantage of the late restarts to come home ninth with Chase Elliott finishing 13th. Byron ran out of fuel on the backstretch of the final lap and faded to 16th. 

The NASCAR Cup Series will return next Sunday with a race at Iowa Speedway. The event is slated for a 3:30 p.m. start and will air on NBC. 

NASCAR finishing order today 

1. Bubba Wallace, No. 23
2. Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
3. Denny Hamlin, No. 11
4. Ryan Preece, No. 60
5. Brad Keselowski, No. 6
6. Todd Gilliland, No. 38
7. Ryan Blaney, No. 12
8. Christopher Bell, No. 20
9. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet
10. Carson Hocevar, No. 77
11. Justin Haley, No. 7
12. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42
13. Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
14. Chris Buescher, No. 17
15. Austin Cindric, No. 2
16. William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University, Chevrolet
17. Katherine Legge, No. 78
18. Chase Briscoe, No. 19
19. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88
20. Cole Custer, No. 41
21. Ty Gibbs, No. 54
22. Josh Berry, No. 21
23. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16
24. Jesse Love, No. 62
25. Kyle Busch, No. 8
26. Riley Herbst, No. 35
27. Daniel Suarez, No. 99
28. Ty Dillon, No. 10
29. Tyler Reddick, No. 45
30. Michael McDowell, No. 71
31. Zane Smith, No. 38
32. Joey Logano, No. 22
33. Noah Gragson, No. 4
34. Josh Bilicki, No. 66
35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47
36. Erik Jones, No. 43
37. Cody Ware, No. 51
38. Austin Dillon, No. 3
39. Ross Chastain, No. 1

NASCAR playoff standings today