Why did Kyle Larson crash into Ty Dillon at Indy? Theories emerge as Hendrick Motorsports denies mechanical failure

Sunday’s Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw the dangerous wreck of the day on Lap 61 of 82 when Kyle Larson slammed into Ty Dillon from behind in Turn 1, sending both cars off into the infield grass.

After watching the incident from the commentary box, the NASCAR community and NBC’s broadcasters assumed that there was some type of mechanical failure on Larson’s #5 Chevrolet Camaro.

According to some reports, however, Larson crashing into Dillon was actually the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s mistake and not some kind of problem in his car.

NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass dismissed claims of mechanical brake failure on Monday when he tweeted that Hendrick Motorsports didn’t find any such problem in the car.

See the tweet below:

“Checked with Hendrick Motorsports and they didn’t see any sign of brake failure in the Larson car following the wreck.”

This response gave rise to questions from a fan who wondered if the #5 car was stuck in the throttle, if not the brakes failure, to which Pockrass repeated what HMS officials had told him.

See the tweet below:

“they didn’t see any mechanical failures.”

Now a question has to be asked: if there wasn’t any mechanical issue with Larson’s car, was it the driver's mistake? There has been discussion since the incident about whether or not Larson misplaced his brakes before hitting Dillon.

Only Kyle Larson and his team officials know exactly what led to the incident. Larson also skipped the interviews after leaving the infield while his team claimed that it wasn’t a mechanical failure. Several questions remain and only Hendrick Motorsports can end the discussion with a simple explanation of what happened on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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Where does Kyle Larson stand in the Cup Series points table?

Kyle Larson's crash during Stage 2 made for an early exit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, but it didn’t affect him much in the Cup Series points table. With the fifth DNF of the season adding just 6 points to his total, the season has been filled with topsy-turvy for the Hendrick Motorsports driver so far.

Since the conclusion of the race, the California-native now stands in fifth place with 667 points, one win, and nine top-five finishes in the latest Cup Series standings.

Kyle Larson will be back in action next weekend at the Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, August 7, 2022.