The Cup Series comes to the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 with a nearly full field of 39 drivers in the race.
Katherine Legge is “doing the double” this weekend driving in both the Xfinity and Cup Series races. When the green flag drops she will join Danica Patrick as the only female drivers to run both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.
Even before the drivers can get out on the track, NASCAR throws a red flag for lightening in the area and is delayed for at least 30 minutes.
When the track was first built, the race control tower was a pagoda – a sacred place in Japanese culture. After the pagoda was destroyed by fire, the new tower was built to symbolize the pagoda – an homage to the original and a symbol to the IMS being a sacred place in the world of racing.
After two years of trying to “do the double” of racing the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, Kyle Larson said that it is not on his radar anytime soon; however, some day he would like to run the Indy 500 again one day…but not the double.
It has started raining again at IMS. Both Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson have noted that they would not be upset if practice ended up being cancelled due to the weather. Larson noted that he prefers to just lineup and race with no practice or qualifying; like they did during Covid.
The Brickyard 400 is the final race in the In Series Challenge and it comes down to Ty Dillon and Ty Gibbs competing for the million dollar prize.
This is also the final race for TNT; next week NBC takes over broadcasting the races for the remainder of the season.
The rains have come in earnest to IMS and they have lost the track. Track activities have been cancelled for today.
After practice was cancelled on Friday afternoon, the Cup Series will have a 25 minute practice session before making a qualifying run.
Denny Hamlin announced that he has signed a two year contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin said that he still feels competitive and wants to keep racing as long as he feels competitive.
Jesse Love, Katherine Legge, Josh Bilicki, and Kyle Larson are all running the double this weekend in the Xfinity and Cup Series. Ross Chastain ran the Truck Series race on Friday night and will be in the Cup Series Sunday for a doubleheader weekend.
After a lot of movement in the leaderboard, Denny Hamlin topped practice with a sub 50 second lap.
Jesse Love is the first driver on the track and posted a time of 50.801 seconds around the 2.5 mile track.
Noah Gragson is the first driver on the track to break the 50 second mark with a time of 49,894 seconds.
Several of the drivers have made contact with the wall during their qualifying runs.
Denny Hamlin gets into the wall on his qualifying run and has a heavily damaged front end. He cannot drive the car back to the pits and has to have the car towed.
With a time of 49.136 seconds, Chase Briscoe put his number 19 car on the pole with Buba Wallace alongside on the front row. The top five drivers are in Toyotas.
Bubba Wallace said that he thought he had a horrible lap in qualifying.
The starting lineup for the Brickyard 400:
Chase Briscoe
Bubba Wallace
Erik Jones
Tyler Reddick
Ty Gibbs
William Byron
Chris Buescher
Carson Hocevar
AJ Allmendinger
Austin Cindric
Shane van Gisbergen
Kyle Busch
Kyle Larson
Brad Keselowski
Joey Logano
Christopher Bell
Josh Berry
Noah Gragson
Todd Gilliland
Austin Dillon
Alex Bowman
Michael McDowell
Ryan Preece
Ryan Blaney
Riley Herbst
Ty Dillon
Zane Smith
Justin Haley
Cole Custer
Chase Elliott
Daniel Suarez
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Ross Chastain
Cody Ware
Jesse Love
John Hunter Nemechek
Josh Bilicki
Katherine Legge
Denny Hamlin
Stages one and two of the race are 50 laps each with stage three lasting 60 laps for a total of 160 laps around the 2.5 mile track – 400 miles. The drivers can run about 41 laps on a single load of fuel and will have to make a pit stop in every stage.
Growing up sitting in the stands, Chase Briscoe dreamed of running at IMS; today he not only gets his wish, he leads the field with the pole position.
There was a special guest at IMS for today’s race…
And the NASCAR Nation crew got Muppetfied…
On a hot Sunday afternoon, Chase Briscoe brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Bubba Wallace alongside. Briscoe quickly jumps out in front for the lead with Wallace in second.
Lap one and the drivers are already blocking.
Lap two, the top five are Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, and Erik Jones. In his best not road course start, Shane van Gisbergen is in 12th place.
Denny Hamlin started last in a backup car after wrecking during qualifying on Saturday and has already moved up nine spots on lap four.
Lap five, Chase Briscoe has just a third of a second lead on Bubba Wallace; Tyler Reddick, William Byron, and Erik Jones round out the top five.
Lap seven, Chase Briscoe has edged out to a near half second lead on Tyler Reddic; Bubba Wallace, William Byron, and Erik Jones round out the top five.
Lap 13, Chase Briscoe has a half second lead on Tyler Reddick; Bubba Wallace, William Byron, and Erik Jones round out the top five. There has been very little movement among the driver as they work to save as much fuel as possible.
Lap 17, Tyler Reddick has closed the gap on leader Chase Briscoe to just a quarter of a second.
Ross Chastain spins out and gets into the wall to brings out the first caution flag of the race on lap 17 after some contact with Michael McDowell. After an assist to air up the shocks, Chastain drives the car back to pit road.
Drivers come down pit road for service with the Team Penske cars staying out on the track. Chase Briscoe wins the race off of pit road with Bubba Wallace coming out in second.
After staying out on the track, Austin Cindric brings the field down for the green flag restart with Joey Logano alongside on lap 23. Cindric and Logano battle for the lead with Austin Cindric taking the lead. With plenty of fuel to make it to the end of the stage, the drivers are getting aggressive and blocking each other.
The top five are Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, and Josh Berry.
Lap 25, Austin Cindric has a near one second lead on Joey Logano.
Michael McDowell gets into the wall and has a flat tire but the track stays green. McDowell works his way to pit road.
Noah Gragson makes an unscheduled pit stop.
Lap 29, Austin Cindric has pulled out to a lead of over a second and a half on Joey Logano; Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, and Josh Berry round out the top five.
There are 36 cars on the lead lap.
With 16 laps remaining in stage one, Austin Cindric leads the race with Joey Logano in second; both drivers have yet to make a pit stop. Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, and Josh Berry round out the top five.
After pit stops, Shane van Gisbergen has dropped in the field but is still in the top 20 in 19th.
Denny Hamlin is up to 24th.
Ross Chastain is out of the race.
Lap 38, Austin Cindric has pulled out to a lead of nearly three seconds on Joey Logano. Cindric is looking to pull out as far as possible before making a pit stop and not lose a lap.
Josh Berry finally passes Bubba Wallace for fourth.
With eleven laps remaining in stage one, Austin Cindric has a near four second lead on Joey Logano.
With 10 to go, Joey Logano comes down pit road for fuel and fresh tires.
Lap 42, Austin Cindric makes his pit stop; Chase Briscoe retakes the lead.
Josh Berry comes down pit road for service.
With seven laps remaining in stage one, the top five are Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, William Byron, and Tyler Reddick.
William Byron passes Erik Jones for third.
Erik Jones comes down pit road for service.
Four laps to go in stage one; Chase Briscoe has a lead of a second and a half on Bubba Wallace; William Byron, Tyler Reddick, and Chris Buescher round out the top five.
Chase Briscoe wins stage one.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Chase Briscoe
Bubba Wallace
William Byron
Tyler Reddick
Chris Buescher
Kyle Busch
Carson Hocevar
Kyle Larson
Austin Dillon
AJ Allmendinger
Drivers come down pit road with seven of the drivers staying out after pitting before the end of the stage. Taking just two tires, Carson Hocevar wins the race off of pit road.
Ryan Preece brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with Alex Bowman alongside on lap 55. Drivers spread out with Ryan Preece taking the lead. NASCAR is reviewing the restart.
Lap 56, the to five are Ryan Preece, Alex Bowman, Justin Haley, Carson Hocevar, and Austin Cindric.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr gets into the wall on the restart.
Lap 58, William Byron passes Carson Hocevar for fifth.
Austin Dillon is off the track with a mechanical issue.
Lap 61, Denny Hamlin is up to 14th after starting the race in last place.
There are reports of “weather” on the way and the drivers are getting very aggressive.
Lap 64, leader Ryan Preece comes down pot road for service; Alex Bowman is the new leader.
Lap 66, Alex Bowman and Justin Haley make their pit stops and gives the lead over to Austin Cindric.
Lap 67, the top five are Austin Cindric, William Byron, Carson Hocevar, Bubba Wallace, and Joey Logano.
Austin Dillon is out of the race.
Cody Ware is off the track.
There are 31 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 71, Austin Cindric has a one second lead on William Byron; but Cindric will have to stop for fuel soon.
There is some damage to Kyle Busch’s car. He was one of several drivers who received some damage during the restart stack up.
Lap 77, Austin Cindric has a lead of less than half a second on William Byron as they encounter slower traffic; Carson Hocevar, Joey Logano, and Bubba Wallace round out the top five.
Cole Custer has a flat tire.
William Byron comes down pit road for service.
Kyle Larson comes down pit road for service as green flag pit stops begin.
Lap 83, leader Austin Cindric has a flat tire but makes his way to pit road and the track stays green. Several drivers who were a lap down got their laps back as they passed Cindric.
Bubba Wallace leads the race but has yet to make his pit stop.
Lap 88, Bubba Wallace makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Chase Briscoe.
The caution flag comes out on lap 89 when Erik Jones gets into the wall with a tire issue. The right front tire is turned 90 degrees. There is a part of the wheel rolling down the track. The tire changer did not get the lug completely tight.
Once pit road opens, some of the drivers come down pit road including leader Chase Briscoe.
Riley Herbst was charged with having too many crew members over the wall and will have to restart the race from the back of the field.
After staying out on the track, Ryan Blaney brings the field down for the green flag restart with Brad Keselowski alongside on lap 96 with just four laps remaining in stage two. Blaney gets out in front for the lead with a three way battle for second.
The top five are Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, and Brad Keselowski.
Cody Ware is out of the race.
Ryan Blaney wins stage two.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ryan Blaney
Kyle Larson
Denny Hamlin
William Byron
Brad Keselowski
Alex Bowman
Carson Hocevar
Joey Logano
Chris Buescher
Bubba Wallace
Ryan Blaney made a pit stop while pit road was closed due to a fuel issue. He will have to restart the race from the back of the field. Daniel Suarez and Kyle Busch also came down pit road while it was closed.
Some of the drivers come down pit road for service.
Kyle Larson brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Denny Hamlin alongside on lap 106. Drivers quickly get three wide with Kyle Larson taking the lead.
The top five are Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Carson Hocevar, and Joey Logano.
There are 24 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 109, Kyle Larson has a near half second lead on Denny Hamlin; William Byron, Carson Hocevar, and Joey Logano round out the top five.
Lap 117, Josh Berry is the first driver to come down pit road for green flag pit stops.
Lap 118, Joey Logano is the first top five driver to come down pit road.
Josh Bilicki takes his car to the garage with mechanical issues.
Lap 121, leader Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin bring their cars down pit road for service; John Hunter Nemechek is the new leader.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr has returned to the track 66 laps down.
Justin Haley leads the race with Brad Keselowski in second.
Josh Bilicki returns to the race 12 laps down.
With 28 laps to go, Justin Haley leads the race with Brad Keselowski in second; Todd Gilliland, Ryan Blaney, and Katherine Legge round out the top five. Haley is very short on fuel; Keselowski, Gilliland, Blaney, and Legge are short on fuel.
Joey Logano has a flat tire and has to come down pit road. Logano was in sixth and was expected to take the lead once pit stops cycled through. Logano gets stalled with no power on pit road. He’s stopped on pit road.
Lap 134, Justin Haley and Brad Keselowski come down pit road for service. Ryan Blaney is the new leader.
Josh Bilicki takes his car to the garage with mechanical issues and is out of the race.
Just 19 laps remaining in the race with Ryan Blaney leading the race with Bubba Wallace in second; Katherine, Tyler Reddick, and Kyle Larson rounding out the top five.
Lap 139, Ryan Blaney comes down pit road to complete the cycle of green flag pit stops. Bubba Wallace is the new leader.
With 16 laps to go the top five are Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick William Byron, and Denny Hamlin.
Tyler Reddick reports a right rear vibration but plans to “ride it out”.
Chase Briscoe also reports a right rear vibration.
Just 12 laps to go, Bubba Wallace has a lead of over four and a half seconds on Kyle Larson, but Larson is slowly closing the gap.
Ten to go, Bubba Wallace holds on to a lead of over four seconds on Kyle Larson; Tyler Reddick, William Byron, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.
There are only 22 cars on the lead lap.
William Byron passes Tyler Reddick for third.
With eight laps to go, Kyle Larson has closed the gap to leader Bubba Wallace to under four seconds.
The caution flag comes out with just six laps to go for rain.
Katherine Legge is the “lucky dog”.
With just three laps remaining in the race, NASCAR is bringing the drivers down pit road and red flags the race.
The track has been dried and the red flag withdrawn. The drivers are moving once again under the yellow flag. The biggest question for the crews is whether to risk track position and come down pit road for fuel.
Leaders stay out on the track but some of the drivers do come down pit road for service including Tyler Reddick who reported a right rear vibration.
Bubba Wallace brings the field down for the green flag overtime shootout for the win with Kyle Larson alongside. Wallace and Larson are side by side with Wallace getting out in front.
The caution flag comes out for a big crash back in the field; taking the race to a second overtime. Zane Smith spins across the track. Tyler Reddick was also involved and Christopher Bell were also involved.
Reports are leader Bubba Wallace and William Byron will have to come down pit road for fuel.
Kyle Larson, currently in second, reports that he has enough fuel to make it for one more overtime.
Pit road is open and only Ty Gibbs comes down pit road.
Staying out on the track, Bubba Wallace’s crew chief told Bubba to save for his life.
Bubba Wallace brings the field down for a second overtime shootout to end the race with Kyle Larson alongside. Wallace and Larson are side by side with Wallace taking the lead.
Bubba Wallace takes the white flag!
Bubba Wallace wins the race in double overtime!
And there is enough fuel for a burnout!
Wallace’s win erases a 100 race winless streak… and he becomes the 13th driver in the playoffs.
The unofficial results of the Brickyard 400:
Bubba Wallace
Kyle Larson
Denny Hamlin
Ryan Preece
Brad Keselowski
Todd Gilliland
Ryan Blaney
Christopher Bell
Alex Bowman
Carson Hocevar
Justin Haley
John Hunter Nemechek
Chase Elliott
Chris Buescher
Austin Cindric
William Byron
Katherine Legge
Chse Briscoe
Shane van Gisbergen
Cole Custer
Ty Gibbs
Josh Berry
AJ Allmendinger
Jesse Love
Kyle Busch
Riley Herbst
Daniel Suarez
Ty Dillon
Tyler Reddick
Michael McDowell
Zane Smith
Joey Logano
Noah Gragson
Josh Bilicki
Erik Jones
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Cody Ware
Austin Dillon
Ross Chastain
Ty Gibbs beats out Ty Dillon to win the In Series Challenge…and the million dollar prize.