Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Location: Speedway, Indiana
Track length: 2.5 miles
When: 2 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,233,037
Race distance: 160 laps | 400 miles
Stages: 50 | 100 | 160
Sunday’s starting lineup | Pit-stall assignments
No margin for error in pursuit of Indianapolis victory
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Excellence is rewarded at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After 400 grueling miles, the sport’s biggest stars are those who usually end up smooching the grimy, oil-stained bricks after a long day’s work.
Only three of the 39 drivers in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG have experienced that coveted first kiss. Bubba Wallace is the most recent victor, snatching his third career Cup Series victory in the 2025 edition. Nine of the 29 prior winners of the crown jewel event went on to hoist the Bill France Cup at the end of the season, securing the championship. That coveted list includes Jeff Gordon (1998, 2001), Dale Jarrett (1999), Bobby Labonte (2000), Tony Stewart (2005), Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2008, 2009) and Kyle Busch (2015).
MORE: Weekend schedule | At-track photos
“It’d be interesting to see, like, what other race tracks have similar stats like that,” Denny Hamlin, who has coined being raised in IMS’ Victory Lane as the top of his bucket list of races left to win, said on Friday. “Ultimately, you have to kind of have everything. You have to have the downforce for the corner, so you have to have straightaway speed, so you need your engines, good for the straightaways. You have a great team to call a great race for strategy. You’re going to need to qualify somewhat pretty well.
“There are not really any weaknesses, and there’s probably four to five key components to a race team and their ability to win, and you had to have all five. (If) you come out on the last pit stop, last fuel stop, fifth or sixth, I mean, you’re cooked.”
Ryan Blaney, the 2023 Cup Series champion, is aiming to deliver bossman and track owner Roger Penske his second Brickyard win. He concurs with Hamlin’s thoughts, believing drivers need to be near perfect to have a chance at the end of the race. Qualifying is of the essence, with 15 of the 29 winners coming from a top-five starting position.
“I think everything has to be right here,” Blaney stated. “I think it’s hard to come back after a mistake here, so I think that speaks to a lot of teams who can execute a full day, who can qualify well on Saturday, who can run a good race on the race track and on pit road and on the pit box. Teams that have all of that in line, I think those teams are very deserving of winning championships. That’s just a good functioning group. Here, you can’t afford any mistakes, and the best teams, while they are able to overcome a lot of mistakes, it’s just hard to do here with the way the track is.”
MORE: Goodyear tire notes: Indianapolis
Two-time Cup champ Kyle Larson is among the three drivers in the field to win on the Indianapolis oval, alongside Wallace and Brad Keselowski. While track position is important at Indy, Larson drove through the field at a rapid pace in the closing stages of the 2024 event, moving from 12th to the lead in the final 32 laps en route to victory.
Larson knows that having the ideal team behind him helped score that triumph. If there is one weak link on that singular day, that driver is doomed.
“You know, everybody has to be on the top of their game to have a shot to win,” Larson added. “You have to have a fast car, which is all the things you need every weekend, but you have to have a fast car, good starts and restarts, pit stops, strategy. All of it has to come together here to have a good shot at winning.
“It’s a really fun race because it does take everybody. I always enjoy this one. It’s a crown jewel as well, so it just means a lot. When you win here, it just means more for the whole team.”
In the details …
One year ago, Ty Gibbs left Indianapolis Motor Speedway $1 million richer after winning the inaugural In-Season Challenge. He won’t be so lucky this year, but he can accomplish another rare feat in 2026 by scoring his fifth straight top-10 finish.
Gibbs and Tyler Reddick are the only two drivers to have multiple streaks of four straight top 10s this season, and only Gibbs (seven) and Blaney (eight) have strung together more consecutive top 10s this season. Take a look at the longest top-10 streaks of 2026:
| Driver | Streak Length | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Blaney | 8 | Charlotte | Atlanta-2 |
| Ty Gibbs | 7 | COTA | Kansas |
| Kyle Larson | 4 | Michigan | Sonoma |
| Denny Hamlin | 4 | Charlotte | Pocono |
| Tyler Reddick | 4 | Texas | Nashville |
| William Byron | 4 | Phoenix | Martinsville |
| Tyler Reddick | 4 | Daytona | Phoenix |
| Ty Gibbs | 4 | Sonoma | (active) |
Speed reads
Race-day essentials:
– Indianapolis hub: Key information, pit stalls, additional results | Read more
– Sunday Setup: See what crew chiefs have in mind at the Brickyard | Read more
– In-Season Challenge: Bracket, format, schedule and more for Sunday’s final | Read more
– Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh looks ready for the Brickyard 400 spotlight | View gallery
– Hauler Talk: Breaking down North Wilkesboro and an Indy look-ahead | Listen now
– NASCAR Classics: Dig into the video vault for full-race replays from Indianapolis | Watch now
– Power Rankings: Chase Briscoe heads to home state with momentum | This week’s ranks