Within 10 laps of the final stage restart, Byron had faded outside the top 20, while Bowyer opened up a one-second lead over Denny Hamlin. However, the apparent move of the race came when Hamlin dove to pit road two laps sooner than Bowyer, making his final stop with 34 to go.
That two-lap difference game Hamlin just under a second’s advantage over Bowyer when they cycled back onto the race track. The duo came out at the tail of the top 10, but they picked off positions one by one until they moved to second and third behind leader Brad Keselowski inside of 20 laps remaining.
When Keselowski ducked to pit road for his final stop with 18 to go, Hamlin reassumed command moments before the caution flag waved for debris on the frontstretch, right under the flagstand.
That split the strategy and led to Keselowski’s race-winning move, with third-running Kyle Larson bringing part of the lead-lap cars down pit road while Hamlin and Bowyer lined up on the front row for the final dozen laps that ultimately flipped the script.
Hamlin’s jump through the gearbox with 12 to go, combined with contact between Jamie McMurray and Bowyer in turn one while racing for second, would likely have the difference if it hadn’t been for the crash between Cassill and Earnhardt.
He held a one second lead over Bowyer at that point, even with Keselowski charging from behind, but Hamlin was furious after the race with the circumstance that caused a potential Brickyard 400 win to slip through his fingertips.
“I don’t know what they’re doing, crashing with a couple of laps to go, multiple laps down. It’s meaningless,” fumed Hamlin. “All those cautions gave those guys who took tires a chance to save their strategy and allowed them to come back up … and it obviously allowed the No. 2 (Keselowski) to rough us up there at the end. It’s very unfortunate, but that’s what happens sometimes.
“Everyone was flawless on pit lane and the strategy was good; we had a fast car. Cautions killed us at the end and allowed those guys to come up there.”
Behind Keselowski, Jones and Hamlin, Kevin Harvick finished fourth and Bowyer trailed in fifth after fading late.
Jamie McMurray was the highest-finishing driver who would have advanced to the playoffs if he could have won the race, coming home in seventh. It may have also been his final Brickyard 400 with Chip Ganassi Racing as well, after reports surfaced just before the race that McMurray will not return in 2019.
Kyle Busch had an off day and finished eighth after leading 27 laps in the first half of the race, but still locked up the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship as a result.
Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman locked up the final two playoff berths by virtue of a top-16 driver winning Monday’s event. Only a new winner from outside the top 16 would have been enough to knock either Hendrick Motorsports driver out of the postseason field.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin Sept. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
