NASCAR legend reacts to CONTROVERSIAL Brickyard 400 restart

NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick has offered his verdict on the controversial restart which saw Kyle Larson snatch the lead from Ryan Blaney.

The moment occurred after Brad Keselowski ran out of gas from first, allowing the No 5 car - originally running third - to inherit the ideal restart position on the inside.

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Blaney was incensed that Larson was allowed to take advantage, claiming that the restart should have been re-done with new lanes to prevent the car behind gaining the advantage.

The move ultimately won Larson the race, and Blaney called it 'dumb luck' and a 'heartbreaker', but Cup Series rules do not allow for a re-do if a driver drops out late.

Harvick has no problems with Larson move

Harvick, who won the Cup Series in 2014, had no issues with what he termed a 'unique' situation.

“Brad must’ve saved a ton of gas, at some point, when he was in the middle of that pack, at the beginning of that run, and how all of that shook out," he explained on the Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast.

"This is a very unique situation, and I think that we said it earlier, Kyle Larson had a lot of things fall his way, in order to win the race,” he admitted.

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

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When the race did go green again, Larson was accused of jumping the restart as he took the lead, though officials did not penalize the driver and have since argued he did not technically jump the start, which they described as 'unprecedented'.

"Blaney was the control car," continued Harvick. "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, on Larson jumping the start.

"I think he just, they 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 wound up ultimately being the thing that won him the race.”

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