Controversial officiating marred NASCAR's return to the Brickyard 400

Let's set the stage: NASCAR is returning to the oval configuration at the most famous racetrack in the world. A crown jewel event is back on the schedule for the first time in four years. The field is stacked up for a race-deciding, overtime restart.

And then, in one of the biggest races of the season, NASCAR's officiating crew manages to fumble not one, but two potential race-changing calls.

The officiating controversy began way before the race's final laps, however, as both Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski fell victim to penalties for merging back onto the racing surface after making green flag pit stops. The problem? Written out, NASCAR's rule is extremely confusing.

The part of the track that both drivers pulled onto — near the bottom of the straightaway in between turns one and two — is far from the racing groove, and the rule supposedly permits drivers to "swing wide" beyond the white line of the track.

Unfortunately for NASCAR, frustrated fans had already forgotten about the pit-road penalties by the time the checkered flag fell.

Coming to the first overtime restart, the No. 6 car of Brad Keselowski was the race leader. With an empty fuel cell, Keselowski was forced to pull onto pit road as the field took the green, leaving second-place driver Ryan Blaney as the control car for the restart.

Kyle Larson, however, saw an opportunity, seeming to accelerate before Blaney into the restart zone and taking the race lead when the caution came out seconds later.

The move ended up putting Larson in the lead and in the preferred inside line for the race's final restart. After pulling away from Blaney, Larson seemed to be well on his way to a Brickyard 400 victory.

However, the No. 41 of Ryan Preece was seen spinning down the backstretch. With four flat tires, Preece's No. 41 Ford Mustang was beached on the backstretch of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with no help in sight.

With Larson only being in turn three when Preece's car — which was clearly going to be unable to move — came to rest, the logical thing to do would be to throw a caution flag. As chaotic as NASCAR overtime is, the purpose of the additional laps are to give fans a green flag finish.

NASCAR instead decided to do the opposite, letting the field fly under the white flag while Preece's car stayed stalled on the backstretch. As Larson went into turn two, race control threw the caution flag, ending the race and giving Larson another crown jewel victory.

It isn't unprecedented for NASCAR to wait and throw the yellow when a car is stopped on the track, but they had plenty of time to re-rack the field and attempt to give fans the green flag finish they desired.

In the end, one thing is true — if NASCAR wants to be taken seriously as the world's leading motorsport, officiating blunders of this magnitude are simply unacceptable.