The Cup Series returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to run the Verizon 200 on the road course and cap off a weekend filled with racing with both NASCAR and IndyCar running races at the popular track.

William Byron’s weekend got off to a rough start when his number 24 car failed the inspection process three times.  As a result, he will not be allowed to make a qualifying run, has lost the ability to choose a pit stall, has had a crew member ejected for the weekend, and will have to serve a pass through penalty down pit road once the race begins.  NASCAR did not specify what exactly the infractions were on the Hendricks Motorsports car.  NBC broadcaster Steve Letarte revealed that the issue was related to body tolerances.

Thirty-nine teams brought cars to Indianapolis including Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi, Supercars and Chicago Street race champion Shane van Gisbergen, Supercar driver Brodie Kostecki, and Mike Rockenfeller in the number 42 car for the Legacy Motor Club after the suspension of Noah Gragson.

A total of seven drivers born outside the United States are a part of the field of racers this weekend – New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Germany, England, Mexico, and the United States.

NASCAR has moved the start/finish line for restarts in the races in an attempt to eliminate some of the bottle neck racing at turn one that caused so much havoc and cautions las year.

After the Group A practice, the top 10 drivers posted a time of less than 90 seconds.  Once both groups have had their practice sessions, over half the field has posted sub 90 second laps.

Kevin Harvick revealed that for the past several weeks he has been racing with some broken ribs.

Todd Gilliland gets into the gravel pit and has to be pulled out but there is no major damage to the car.

The drivers will qualify in two groups with group qualifying.  They have 15 minutes to make the best times possible with the top five from each group moving on to a second round of qualifying to set the pole.  Round two of qualifying is only 10 minutes.

Admittedly not a good road course racer, Bubba Wallace posted a sub 90 second lap.

Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Busch will move on to round two of qualifying.

After some mechanical issues, Brodie Kostecki only got to run two practice laps and has laid down a qualifying lap of 88.619 seconds.

Group B drivers are running laps faster than the Group A cars. 

Brodie Kostecki gets into the wall making a qualifying run.  He reports that he bottomed out and lost control.

Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson, and Shane van Gisbergen will move on to round two of qualifying form Group B.

Christopher Bell is the first driver from the top 10 to make a qualifying run and sets a time of 98.516 seconds

After a 10 minute qualifying session, Daniel Suarez puts his number 99 car on the pole with a time of 97.968 seconds.

The starting lineup for the Verizon 200:
Daniel Suarez
Tyler Reddick
Chase Elliott
Michael McDowell
Kyle Busch
Kyle Larson
Christopher Bell
Shane van Gisbergen
Alex Bowman
Ty Gibbs
Brodie Kostecki
Martin Truex Jr
Chase Briscoe
Corey LaJoie
Justin Haley
Ryan Blaney
Chris Buescher
Joey Logano
Bubba Wallace
Austin Cindric
Ross Chastain
Brad Keselowski
Todd Gilliland
Harrison Burton
Denny Hamlin
AJ Allmendinger
Austin Dillon
Kamui Koayaski
Andy Lally
Ryan Preece
Jenson Button
Josh Bilicki
Aric Almirola
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Ty Dillon
Erik Jones
Mike Rockenfeller
Kevin Harvick
William Byron

Brodie Kostecki will have to start the race from the back of the field after a crash during qualifying with a backup car.

Stage one of the race is 15 laps, stage two is 20 laps, and stage three is 47 laps for a total of 82 laps around the two and a half mile track.  The drivers can run around 30 laps on a single load of fuel.

Daniel Suarez brings the field down for the green flag start of the race and jumps out nin front for the lead.  Drivers are spread out three and four wide going into turn one.

Daniel Suarez leads laps one with Tyler Reddick in second; Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.

Kamui Kobayashi gets turned around after some contact from Andy Lally.  Running in a NASCAR race was a dream for Kobayashi since he was a small boy in Japan.

Justin Haley makes contact with Joey Logan and Haley gets in the grass and hits the tire barrier hard to bring out the first caution flag of the race on lap two.  Haley was able to drive away.

Daniel Suarez brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap six with Tyler Reddick alongside and again gets out in front to hold on to the lead.

Joey Logano gets turned around after contact with Ryan Blaney.  Logano gets going again and the track stays green.

Lap six, the top five are Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, and Kyl Larson.

Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell battle for the lead with McDowell taking the lead on the turn.

Aric Almirola is on pit road.

Ty Gibbs spins out after some contact from Shane van Gisbergen.

Lap eight, Michael McDowell has a lead of nearly a second on Daniel Suarez; Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Larson.

Justin Haley is the only driver not on the lead lap.

Lap 10, Alex Bowman and Shane van Gisbergen battle for eighth.  Chase Briscoe passes Gisbergen for ninth.

Andy Lally and Ty Gibbs make repeated contact in a battle for positon.

Lap 12, Michael McDowell has a half second lead on Daniel Suarez; Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.

Kevin Harvick makes a green flag pit stop.

Drivers all through the field are getting aggressive with their fellow drivers.

Shane van Gisbergen is reporting throttle pedal issues.

Drivers begin making green flag pits tops.

Michael McDowell wins stage one for his first ever stage win.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Michael McDowell
Daniel Suarez
Chase Elliott
Tyler Reddick
Kyle Larson
Kyle Busch
Christopher Bell
Alex Bowman
Shane van Gisbergen
Martin Truex Jr

Leaders stay out on the track but more drivers come down pit road for service.

Lap 17, leaders are among drivers who pit with Daniel Suarez beating out Michael McDowell off of pit road.

Mike Rockenfeller, Jenson Button, and Corey LaJoie were caught speeding on pit road and will have to serve a pass through penalty.

Christopher Bell is the new leader with Shane van Gisbergen in second.

Lap 20, the top five are Christopher Bell, Shane van Gisbergen, Martin Truex Jr, Bubba Wallace, and Austin Dillon.  The top seven drivers have yet to make a pit stop.

Martin Truex Jr reports major handling issues with his car.

Admittedly not a road course expert, Bubba Wallace’s crew chief Booty Barker plans on doing the opposite of the other drivers.

Lap 27, there are 36 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 28, Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin have yet to make a pit stop; Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suarez, and Michael McDowell round out the top five.

Kyle Larson locks up the tires and had to come to a complete stop before moving on but the track stays green.

Lap 28, Austin Dillon makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Denny Hamlin.

Kyle Larson reported that he has flat spotted one of his tires.

Lap 31, AJ Allmendinger spins out with a smoking car after contact with Ryan Blaney.  He finally gets it moving again.

With two laps remaining in stage two, Denny Hamlin has yet to make a pit stop and is looking to win the stage.

Denny Hamlin wins stage two for his fifth stage win of the season.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Denny Hamlin
Michael McDowell
Chase Elliott
Daniel Suarez
Brad Keselowski
Kyle Busch
Tyler Reddick
Alex Bowman
Chase Briscoe
Christopher Bell

Lap 36, Michael McDowell passes Denny Hamlin for the lead.

Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski finally make their pit stops.

Lap 37, the top five are Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, and Tyler Reddick.

Erik Jones has reported some possible transmission issues.

Lap 42, Michael McDowell has a lead of over half a second on Chase Elliott; Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.  Indiana racer Chase Briscoe is in seventh place.

Kyle Busch is reporting a lot of drag and says that he thinks he may have broken a valve spring.  His time is off about a second.

Lap 42, Michael McDowell has a one second lead on Chase Elliott; Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.

Lap 45, Josh Bilicki spins out.

Shane van Gisbergen and Christopher Bell passes Kyle Larson.  Van Gisbergen is back in the top 10.

Lap 47, the top five are Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, and Kyle Busch.

Lap 48, Daniel Suarez begins to challenge Chase Elliott for second; Michel McDowell is leading by over a second and a half.

Lap 48 Daniel Suarez bumps Chase Elliott and passes for second.

Lap 49, the next cycle of green flag pit stops begin.

Leaders come down pit road for service; Kyle Busch is the new leader.

Lateral grip is the biggest complaint from the drivers.

Daniel Suarez has a slow stop and loses several spots.  The air hose was stuck under the tire.

Lap 51, Shane van Gisbergen leads the race with Christopher Bell in second.

Lap 52, Shane van Gisbergen makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Christopher Bell with Bubba Wallace in second.

Christopher Bell makes his pit stop on lap 53 and gives the lead over to Bubba Wallace with Michael McDowell in second.

Bubba Wallace comes down pit road and gives the lead back to Michael McDowell.

Lap 54, the top five are Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, and Denny Hamlin.

With 27 laps remaining in the race, all 39 of the cars are still on the track with just three cars not on the lead lap.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Jenson Button battle it out and sends Button spinning; the track stays green.

With 25 laps to go Michael McDowell has a near three second lead on Chase Elliott; Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, and Brad Keselowski round out the top five.

Todd Gilliland comes down pit road for tires after spinning out and getting into the wall.

Just 22 laps remain in the race with Michael McDowell leading the way; Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, and Brad Keselowski. Rounding out the top five.

Alex Bowman passes Brad Keselowski for fifth.

With 19 laps to go, Denny Hamlin comes down pit road for service.

Michael McDowell holds on to a three second lead over Chase Elliott; Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, and Alex Bowman round out the top five.

Brad Keselowski makes his pit stop.

Kyle Busch is the last car on the lead lap in 33rd.

Michael McDowell passes Kyle Busch to put Busch a lap down.

Jenson Button and Ricky Stenhouse Jr continue their bumper car battle.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr bumps Kamui Kobayashi hard and sends Kobayashi spinning but the track stays green.

Lap 68, Mike Rockenfeller comes down pit road for service.

Just 14 laps remain, Michael McDowell continues to dominate the race and is nearly three seconds in front of Chase Elliott; Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, and Alex Bowman round out the top five.

Ty Gibbs and Austin Cindric battle for 13th with Gibbs taking the spot.

There are 30 cars on the lead lap.

Six and a half seconds back in third place, Daniel Suarez is slowly closing the gap on Chase Elliott.

Leaders have encountered some slower traffic.

Ten to go! Michael McDowell has a lead of over two and a half seconds on Chase Elliott; Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, and Alex Bowman round out the top five.  Shane van Gisbergen challenges Christopher Bell for ninth.

Nine to go, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez battle for third.

Eight to go, Michael McDowell has a two second lead on Chase Elliott; Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, and Alex Bowman round out  the top five.

With seven laps to go, fuel may become an issue for some of the drivers.

Mike Rockenfeller makes contact with Andy Lally/

AJ Allmendinger gets off into the gravel but keeps the car moving and gets back out on the course.

Five to go, Michael McDowell is just five laps from becoming the 13th different driver to win a race this season.  He has a lead of over two seconds on Chase Elliott.

Three to go, Michael McDowell holds on to a two second lead on Chase Elliott; Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, and Alex Bowman round out the top five with 24 cars on the lead lap.

Michael McDowell takes the white flag.

With just his second career race win, Michael McDowell becomes the 13th different driver to win a race in the 2023 Cup Series season!

Chase Elliott closed the gap to just a second on the leader to come in second.

Many of the drivers are passing by McDowell to congratulate him on the win.  With a win at Daytona and now at Indianapolis, Michael McDowell has won at the two most famous tracks in racing. 

The track clear, McDowell does a burn out all down the front stretch ad stop in front of the family on the pit wall to continue the burnout.  He has now earned a spot in the playoffs after leading 54 of the 82 laps in the race.

McDowell called the win a dream come true.

The unofficial results of the Version 200:
Michael McDowell
Chase Elliott
Daniel Suarez
Tyler Reddick
Alex Bowman
Chase Briscoe
Martin Truex Jr
Kyle Larson
Christopher Bell
Shane van Gisbergen
Chris Buescher
Austin Cindric
Ryan Blaney
Ty Gibbs
Austin Dillon
William Byron
Brodie Kostecki
Ross Chastain
Bubba Wallace
Brad Keselowski
Denny Hamlin
Aric Almirola
AJ Allmendinger
Harrison Burton
Kevin Harvick
Andy Lally
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Jenson Button
Kamui Kobayashi
Ty Dillon
Corey LaJoie
Mike Rockeneller
Kyle Busch
Josh Bilicki
Ryan Preece
Joey Logano
Erik Jones
Todd Gilliland
Justin Haley