INDIANAPOLIS – After almost three seasons of close calls, Carson Kvapil won the Pennzoil 250, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS) race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first NOAPS win of his career. The emotional victory led Kvapil to do something that is looked upon poorly at the iconic speedway.
In his celebration of the win, the JR Motorsports driver did a burnout on the Yard of Bricks, leaving a tire skid on the bricks. NASCAR’s in-car communications reminded Kvapil and his crew not to do so, although he still did.
Whether drivers should be allowed to do a burnout on the bricks has been a hotly debated topic for years, most recently after Justin Allgaier did one following this same race in 2018. When Allgaier did it in 2018, IMS president Doug Boles said it took “too much” effort to remove the burnout rubber from the bricks in reply to an X post.
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When Kyle Busch did a burnout after winning the NOAPS (then Xfinity Series) race in 2015, IMS officials reached out to him with their displeasure, and Boles said, “There’s three feet of racetrack there that we ask ‘don’t do it’ on.” Busch won the Brickyard 400, NASCAR’s Cup Series race, the next day, and did his burnout away from the Yard of Bricks.
IMS does what it can to preserve the current strip of bricks, which have acted as the track’s start/finish line since 1961, and burnouts make that mission more difficult. Kvapil’s burnout surely won’t please the track officials.
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: NASCAR’s Carson Kvapil was told not to do a burnout on IMS bricks; he did it anyway
