"He just beat Blaney through the gear" - Kevin Harvick on Kyle Larson's controversial restart move at Indy

Former Cup champion Kevin Harvick reviewed the sequence of events that led to Kyle Larson's victory in the Brickyard 400. Harvick assessed the pivotal moment when Brad Keselowski pulled into the pits, leaving Larson and Ryan Blaney on the front row for the overtime restart.

Larson, the #5 Hendrick Motorsports driver had charged through the field in the final stage and lined up on the second row, behind Keselowski for the first overtime restart. The RFK Racing driver pulled into the pits before the start-finish line, gifting Larson the advantageous inside line on the front row.

In the ensuing restart, Ryan Blaney was the control car, however, Kyle Larson got a better launch, which led to speculation that he might have jumped the start. Fox Sports analyst, Kevin Harvick reviewed the restart and opined that both the drivers on the front row took off at the same time, but Larson beat Blaney with the momentum.

In a recent episode of his Happy Hour podcast, the former Cup Series champion said:

"The restart was tight. I went back and watched it a couple of times. I don't see anything that I would call a penalty or Larson jumping the start. I think they just took off about the same time, and he just beat Blaney through the gears, it looked like to me. So, a very unique scenario that ultimately ended up being the thing that won him the race." [from 15:30]

Kevin Harvick added that Larson wasn't aware of who controlled the restart. He added:

"The restart situation with Brad pulling off the racetrack and Kyle assuming the front row on the inside on the restart—I'm not sure that, well, I know, I'm sure that Kyle Larson didn't know whether he was in control or not in control."

Although Larson drove through the field, Harvick reckoned that many factors aligned perfectly for the #5 HMS Chevy driver to win the race.

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Kyle Larson discusses overtime restart with Kevin Harvick

The 2021 Cup champion, Kyle Larson, reflected on his Brickyard 400 win with Kevin Harvick. Larson also provided insights on the overtime restart and the thought process that went into their decision to line up behind Brad Keselowski.

The #5 Chevy driver mentioned that he lined up behind Keselowski with the expectation that the #6 Ford Mustang might run out of fuel before the restart. However, when he took over Keselowski's position on the front row, he wasn't sure about who was in control of the restart.

Speaking to Kevin Harvick on Fox Sports, Larson said:

"I had no clue at that point, like who was the control car. I had assumed it was Blaney, but both of our paces were kind of up and I feel like we both eased into the throttle at the same time. I think we both didn't really quite know who was the control car... So we kind of both just went at the same time." [from 7:03]

With his fourth win of the season at the Brickyard, Larson regained the top spot in the drivers standings.