NASCAR at Indy road course live updates: AJ Allmendinger wins chaotic Cup race in OT

The NASCAR Cup Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course is today. The race is at 1 p.m. on NBC.

The race is 200 miles (82 laps) with stages ending on laps 15, 35 and 82. All times are Eastern.

Follow NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev on Twitter at @AndrejevAlex.

NASCAR Cup race results

Final Stage

5:05 p.m., Lap 95: A.J. Allmendinger WINS at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course after Denny Hamlin spins from the lead off contact by Chase Briscoe. Briscoe went through the grass after the restart and received a penalty, but he got back on course, then made contact with Hamlin.

“To me just lack of situational awareness,” Hamlin says on NBCSN of the contact. “...I’m not like furious. It just sucks. Turned our day upside down.”

They discuss the situation on pit road after the race, and Briscoe tells reporters that he understands Hamlin’s frustration. Briscoe says. “At that moment in time, I was going for the win.” He adds that it wasn’t retaliation for Hamlin racing him hard.

4:57 p.m., Lap 92: YELLOW FLAG: Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, A.J. Allmendinger, Matt DiBenedetto, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace will lead the field to green the next time by. Getting ready for the next overtime restart.

4:44 p.m., Lap 88: RED FLAG: Michael McDowell does airborne over the Turn 6 curb, sending him spinning through the middle of the track then into the wall to bring out the flag. Wrecking behind him! Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick spin into the wall and it’s another mess.

4:44 p.m., Lap 88: GREEN FLAG: The race goes green with Hamlin in the lead, but that won’t last long. Trouble further back. The caution comes back out.

4:32 p.m., Lap 85: YELLOW FLAG: Denny Hamlin is lining up in the lead with Kyle Larson in the front row as the drivers battle for points. Chase Briscoe and Matt DiBenedetto follow in the next row, then it’s Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch, A.J. Allmendinger and Chase Elliott follow. But the race is still stalled with speedy dry on the track in Turn 1. NASCAR sends a jet out to blow the speedy dry off, and Hamlin says it need to be blown off in Turns 3 and 4.

4:16 p.m., Lap 80: YELLOW FLAG: Team mention oil on the track leaking from the No. 15 car of James Davison. The race is still under yellow and will go into overtime for the finish.

4:11 p.m., Lap 79: YELLOW FLAG: Engines are re-fired and the race goes back under caution, with just part of the curb remaining perpendicular to the course, which would create a jump if cars go over it. “You better stay left of the big curb,” Joey Logano warns on the NBC broadcast after exiting his car. “’Cause that’s a launch pad.”

3:54 p.m., Lap 78: RED FLAG: NASCAR sends a crew out to work on the Turn 6 curbing, eventually removing the strip completely, which receives a loud cheer from the crowd. William Byron explains on NBC that it felt like hitting a “wall” when the curbing blew out. It evidently became looser over the course of the race. Christopher Bell says that he also didn’t feel any issue going over it earlier in the race.

3:48 p.m., Lap 77: BUT A MASSIVE WRECK! The caution comes out when William Byron, Joey Logano, Daniel Suárez and Ryan Preece go flying over the curbing. Logano spins into the tire barrier, but reports he’s OK.

3:43 p.m., Lap 76: The field goes three wide with six laps to go! Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe battle for the lead as Martin Truex Jr. spins further back without bringing out a caution.

3:39 p.m., Lap 73: Leader Kyle Larson pits from the lead along with Chase Elliott and William Byron. Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Matt DiBenedetto stay out. And Elliott’s car goes off the jack while on pit road. He drops to 16th place for the restart after contending for the lead.

3:29 p.m., Lap 72: Martin Truex Jr. locks his breaks up and loses pace. He’s sitting in fourth behind Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron. BUT A CAUTION comes out with 10 laps to go for debris in Turn 6. Matt DiBenedetto was on pit road during the flag, so he’ll restart up front.

3:18 p.m., Lap 64: Kyle Larson is back to the lead. Anyone know this guy? He already has two road course wins this year, and a win today would give him one more road course win than Chase Elliott this year. But Elliott is in second place and five seconds behind Larson. We’ll see if he can catch him.

3:14 p.m., Lap 62: Denny Hamlin pits from the lead and, although Matt DiBenedetto is up to first, it looks like Kyle Larson will soon lead followed by the Hendrick fleet of Chase Elliott and William Byron.

3:08 p.m., Lap 58: Leader Denny Hamlin goes through the grass! He appears to lock up around Turn 12, but gets back on track without losing the lead. He just loses time, and will come down pit road shortly. He said there was “no issue” with grass on his grille when his team asks.

3:02 p.m., Lap 53: Martin Truex Jr. pits slightly earlier than planned with a loose wheel, sparking green flag pit stops. Chase Elliott pits one lap before leader Kyle Larson, but gains just one spot over William Byron. Denny Hamlin becomes the new leader on old tires.

2:57 p.m., Lap 52: Chase Briscoe pits for tires after flat spotting his and losing pace. Austin Cindric goes for a spin off contact with Kurt Busch. The race stays green with pit stops expected soon.

2:53 p.m., Lap 48: Martin Truex Jr. moves ahead of Kyle Busch as Chase Briscoe flat spots his tire, then loses a position to Christopher Bell. Denny Hamlin has also moved ahead of Cole Custer without having to “punt him,” as Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart suggested.

2:44 p.m., Lap 43: On the restart, Kyle Larson again jumps back to the lead, but Chase Elliott loses his spot as teammate William Byron gets around him. Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. follow. Further back, Cole Custer races Denny Hamlin hard and gains the position in eighth.

2:35 p.m., Lap 40: Kyle Larson holds onto the lead after the stage break, battling for position with Chase Elliott. But the caution comes out a lap in after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Aric Almirola go for a spin around Turn 6. NASCAR halts the race for course repair under the curbing, and removes a massive piece of a car radiator pan, which reportedly belongs to Almirola’s car.

Stage 2

2:21 p.m., Lap 35: Tyler Reddick clinches another stage win, which he badly needs entering the race with just a 15-point advantage over teammate Austin Dillon on playoff cutline. The only problem for Reddick is that Dillon finishes the stage right on his tail in second. That means Dillon shrinks Reddick’s points lead to three heading into the final stage.

Further back, it’s a drag race between another set of teammates: Kyle Larson takes the lead from Chase Elliott coming to the green-and-white checkered. Larson finishes ninth. Elliott is in 10th. The rest of the top-10 includes Ryan Preece, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Matt DiBenedetto, Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie and Andy Lally.

2:16 p.m., Lap 33: Martin Truex Jr. pits, followed by a group that includes William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suárez and Ryan Blaney. Then, leaders Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Cole Custer, Denny Hamlin, A.J. Allmendinger pit on their heels, giving the lead to...Tyler Reddick. He’s back in first. Allmendinger gets a speeding penalty on pit road and will drop to the rear for the next restart.

2:10 p.m., Lap 28: Chase Elliott continues to lead with Kyle Larson behind him. Kyle Busch, Cole Custer and William Byron follow.

2:02 p.m., Lap 24: Ross Chastain goes for a spin around a turn, but gets back on course. He tells his team he locked up the right front. Brad Keselowski, meanwhile, gets into the wall and has decklid damage. He pits under green, then comes back to pit road with left rear smoke. Logano wheel-hopped and slowed as well, for a rough start for Penske cars.

1:56 p.m., Lap 22: Brad Keselowski leads the field at the green, but his older tires won’t hold up for long. Within a matter of laps, he’s out of the top 10 as Chase Elliott, then Joey Logano, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch move to the front of the pack. Elliott is the new leader.

Stage 1

1:48 p.m., Lap 15: Tyler Reddick swings around Michael McDowell before the end of the stage to gain a slight points advantage on teammate Austin Dillon, who finishes the stage in third. McDowell finishes second. Rounding out the top-10 for stage points is Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley, Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott.

1:42 p.m., Lap 13: Leaders Chase Briscoe, William Byron Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson pit before the end of the stage, relinquishing position. Larson says on his radio that Briscoe doesn’t maintain speed on pit road.

1:32 p.m., Lap 8: Aric Almirola pits with tire rub and drops to the bottom half. Chase Briscoe continues to lead and has already

1:30 p.m., Lap 6: Austin Cindric spins in Turn 1, but gets his car corrected and gets back on track. “All good here, man, plenty of ways to get it back on strategy,” he’s told. He’s in 30th and relays to his team to, “Tell the 20 (Bell) my bad.”

1:26 p.m., Lap 4: Martin Truex Jr. pits with front tire rub after earlier contact. Anthony Alfredo also pitted with a sway bar issue. Chase Briscoe continues to lead with a fleet of Hendrick Motorsports cars in his mirrow. William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson follow.

1:19 p.m., Lap 2: Green flag! (After an unplanned extra pace lap.) William Byron gets an early jump as the field goes four-wide through Turn 7, but Chase Briscoe takes the lead on the second lap. Briscoe, a Cup rookie, is an Indiana native who gets a big cheer from the crowd after surging to the lead.

Pre-race ceremonies

1:03 p.m.: Engines are fired at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the command coming from Verizon VP of Enterprise Sales Michael Ruhnke. Verizon is the title sponsor for today’s race.

12:55 p.m.: Pre-race ceremonies are underway with Bruce Smith of College Park Church delivering the pre-race invocation and NBC’s “The Voice” winner Danielle Bradbery performing the national anthem. Indiana Pacer Justin Holiday is driving the pace car.

Larson’s whirlwind weekend

Kyle Larson won Saturday’s Knoxville Nationals race in a sprint car in Iowa, then jetted over to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for another green flag 12 hours later. He told reporters Sunday morning that he got about four hours of sleep before Cup qualifying, in which he finished fourth, and that he planned to take a nap before the start of the race.

“It’s all honestly a blur so far,” Larson said of achieving his dream of winning the famed sprint car event. “I haven’t really got to think about it much. I only got to see my crew for a couple minutes and had to leave for the airport.”

Larson won last weekend’s race at Watkins Glen and his No. 5 team is a favorite again today, along with HMS teammate Chase Elliott. Another win for Larson today would be an impressive statement after a busy 24 hours for the driver.

William Byron wins the pole

Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron will start on the pole for today’s race on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile paved asphalt road course. Byron posted the fastest qualifying lap (1 minute 27.765 seconds). Chase Briscoe will also start in the front row followed by Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suárez, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, A.J. Allmendinger, Ross Chastain, Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick and Michael McDowell. Those 12 drivers advanced to the second qualifying round this morning.

“I felt like I put a decent lap down,” Byron said. “The car is fast and I feel like we’ve got good speed and good horsepower. It was a good session for us.”

“Overall, really happy with it,” he commented about his No. 24 Chevrolet.

This is Byron’s second pole start this season. He also won the Busch Pole at Road America.

Note: NASCAR completed pre-race technical inspection prior to qualifying with no issues.

NASCAR at Indy RC starting order

This story was originally published August 15, 2021 at 12:00 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription