Kyle Larson ‘could do nothing differently’ to beat Bubba Wallace for NASCAR Brickyard win

Kyle Larson says there was nothing he could have done differently to prevent Bubba Wallace from winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis.

The Brickyard 400 culminated in a straight fight between Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Wallace’s No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, with the pair dueling for the win in the closing laps.

Wallace led with four laps to go before a late rain shower pushed the race into overtime. That gave Larson two shots at snatching the victory, first on the initial restart and again after a multi-car crash triggered a second caution.

The 2021 Cup Series champion came close on both occasions but couldn’t find a way past, as Wallace held firm to win by just 0.222s.

Speaking afterwards, the 32-year-old Larson said the way Wallace positioned the car left him with no viable option to make a move.

“There’s nothing you can do here to pass, so, no, I don’t really think there was anything I could do differently,” he explained.

“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 frontstretch.

“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.”

He added: “The first one played out a little bit better. Kind of the same thing with me last year. Leaders got the inside. It’s really hard for me to beat that. Kind of just hoping for good fortune again with fuel and whatnot.”

Despite the defeat, Larson said he was pleased with the overall performance, as the result brought him within 11 points of second-placed William Byron in the standings.

“Regardless, proud of my team today,” he said. “We just executed. I don’t think we passed many cars on track, but our picker 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.”

Although a three-time race winner in 2025, Larson has also narrowly missed out on race victories a number of times this season.

Asked if near-misses ever get to him, he said: “Not really. Obviously I’d love to be one spot better. I would love to be kissing the bricks for a second year in a row. It’s been a rough stretch for us here lately. To get two top fives in a row is something I’m proud about.”