Posted on by Staff Report

The pursuit for the final two playoffs spots in the Monster Energy Series boils down to a final showdown this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard (2 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) marks the last of 26 regular-season races, one with the high stakes.

It’s the second straight year Indianapolis has hosted the regular-season finale, which will determine the 16-driver postseason field. A group of 14 drivers have already clinched spots on the basis of regular-season wins or insurmountable points cushions, leaving just two berths up for grabs.

RELATED: Full schedule for Indianapolis | Odds, lines

Erik Jones and Kyle Larson finished first and second, respectively, last weekend at Darlington Raceway, and both took significant jumps in this week’s Power Rankings. Jones’ victory meant all four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have won this year, and the organization carries a head of steam into the historic venue.

Here is the rest of the need-to-know information for Sunday’s regular-season finale.

TRACK DETAILS

Indy is a 2.5-mile rectangular track with 9.2-degree banking in all four turns and flat straightaways. The facility is home to the Indianapolis 500, which was first run in 1911. NASCAR’s top series has competed at the Brickyard 25 times. Jeff Gordon won the inaugural 400-mile event for stock cars in 1994, leading 93 of 160 laps.

RULES PACKAGE

The race at Indianapolis will feature the 2019 rules package with aero ducts and a tapered-spacer engine generating a targeted 550 horsepower.

Each team will be provided with three sets of Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radial tires for practice, one set for qualifying and nine sets for the 400-mile race (eight, plus one transferred from practice or qualifying).

This is the first time teams will run this tire combination at Indianapolis. A tire test at the 2.5-mile track on June 4-5 prompted officials to adopt the tire setup previously used this season at Pocono Raceway, another high-speed track with a different configuration but the same length. The Indianapolis track applied a sealer to the racing surface in May, ahead of the Indianapolis 500.

STATS

  • Jimmie Johnson has won four times at Indianapolis, part of Hendrick Motorsports’ record 10-win total at the 2.5-mile track. He has an 18-point gap to the postseason cutline, a deficit he’ll need to erase to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in his career.
  • Kyle Busch, a two-time Brickyard winner, has won the pole position for the last three 400-milers at Indy. If he adds a third Indianapolis win to his portfolio Sunday, it will mark a sweep for Joe Gibbs Racing of four crown-jewel events (Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500, Brickyard 400).
  • Since Chicagoland Speedway kicked off the NBC Sports portion of the NASCAR schedule, Busch has earned the most points. He’s followed on that list by his three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates: in order, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Jones. Fifth on the list? Larson, who has five top-five finishes in the last nine races.

Source: Racing Insights

LIVE COVERAGE

This weekend’s race will air live Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC and will be streamed on the NBC Sports App. Radio coverage can be found on the IMS Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Also, follow along on NASCAR.com for live Lap-by-Lap coverage, the live leaderboard, Drive (featuring in-car cameras) and RaceView (subscription: in-car audio, stats, more). Be sure to set your lineup in Fantasy Live and make your picks in the Props Challenge.

2018 RACE WINNER

Brad Keselowski is the defending race winner at Indy, emerging from a fender-clanging duel with Hamlin to take the lead for the final time in the next-to-last lap. Keselowski’s first Brickyard 400 triumph was also a first for team owner Roger Penske, who has a peerless record in IndyCar competition at the historic track. Keselowski’s win was the second in what would be a three-race win streak as the No. 2 Ford team charged into the playoffs.

ACTIVE INDIANAPOLIS WINNERS

Johnson, four times; Busch, two times; Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman, one time each.

Posted on by Nick Giffen

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series holds its final race of the 2019 regular season at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 26th running of the Brickyard 400. Four drivers — Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson — are on the playoff bubble. All other drivers are either locked into the playoffs or must win to get in.

This makes race agendas easy to define. Every driver will be racing to win, except the four bubble drivers. Instead, they will look to accumulate stage points and keep an eye on one another as the latter part of the race unfolds.

IMS is a 2.5-mile flat track, which makes it possible to pit and remain on the lead lap. That puts multiple pit strategies in play, much like the other 2.5-mile flat track, Pocono Raceway. While track position is important at Pocono, it is far more important at Indianapolis.

RELATED: Race-winning odds

When adjusting for driver count and laps run, Pocono had 18% more passes than Indianapolis last year. In 2015, when NASCAR experimented with a high-drag package at Indianapolis, Pocono had 11.5% more passes. In 2014, when the aerodynamic package was most similar to this year’s package, Pocono again saw 18% more passes than Indy.

Between the importance of track position and multiple pit strategies, it could be whichever car puts itself out front late in the race hangs on for the win. That has held true at Indy in the past, where long-shot winners are nearly as much a tradition as the race winner kissing the yard of bricks.

Long-shot winners include:

• Jamie McMurray (2010). McMurray had four career wins in nearly eight full-time seasons prior to his Brickyard 400 win, with three of those wins coming on restrictor-plate tracks.

• Paul Menard (2011). Menard won with a fuel mileage strategy, holding off five-time Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon over the closing laps. To date, it is Menard’s only Cup Series win.

• Ryan Newman (2013). Newman finished 11th in the standings in 2013 and has only has one win since in six seasons.

• Kasey Kahne (2017). Kahne claimed his first win since 2014, a span of 102 races. It would be his final career Cup victory.

While multiple long-shot drivers are in play, the easiest way to become a winner is to put yourself in position to win by running near the front. One driver in particular jumps out thanks to his history at 2.5-mile flat tracks and his outstanding opening price.

William Byron +5000

Byron has yet to win in his 61-race Cup Series career, but his improvement this year over his rookie campaign in 2018 is remarkable. Overall, Byron is 13th in the standings, 10 places better than his 23rd-place finish in the points last year. At Pocono, Byron improved from 18th and sixth in his rookie year to ninth and fourth in his sophomore season.

In those two Pocono races this year, Byron was fourth and 10th in Driver Rating. In the first Pocono race, he won the pole position, led the third-most laps and had the third-most fastest laps. At the second Pocono race, Byron’s car failed inspection, relegating him to a 31st-place start. Despite that, a clean race and solid pit strategy led him to finish fourth.

Byron also won in his only start at Indianapolis in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, which sports a horsepower regulation more similar to this year’s Cup Series rules than in previous years. He also tallied a win at Pocono in his only start in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

RELATED: More on William Byron

Hendrick Motorsports also seems to have a good grasp at this aerodynamic package at 2.5-mile flat tracks. In 2014, Hendrick won all three 2.5-mile flat track races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed both Pocono wins, and Jeff Gordon won the Brickyard 400 after he and teammate Kasey Kahne led a combined 110 of the 160 laps. This year, drivers with Hendrick engines led 62 of the 160 laps at the first Pocono race.

My pre-race model gives him the 11th-best average finish among all drivers, but he’s not being priced as such at MGM properties in Las Vegas, which is where you can find this line.

Elsewhere, Byron is widely available at +4000. Because he’s widely available at +4000, I wouldn’t go any lower than that number. I also wouldn’t hesitate to make this bet.

If he’s slow in practice and qualifying, he’ll likely remain at this number. On the flip side, if Byron qualifies near the front, you’ll see this line plummet. It’s very likely these will be the best odds we see on Byron all week.

Posted on by Staff Report

Spin and win? Spin and win.

Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kyle Larson won a USAC National Midget race thriller last night in Indianapolis, at the dirt track that’s inside the venerable Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Despite a spin after contact coming into the final turn, Larson’s two opponents ended up flipping their cars, which allowed the 27-year-old to right himself and cross the start/finish line first.

Larson, Michael Pickens and Justin Grant were actually the only three cars left on the track during the 25-lap elimination-style event, and boy did they put on a show for the fans.

RELATED: Indianapolis weekend schedule

Wednesday night’s event was the opening act to Thursday’s 39-lap A-main at the same track. The Driven2SaveLives BC39 honors Bryan Clauson, a versatile and talented driver who died in August 2016.

Larson, along with fellow NASCAR drivers Christopher Bell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., are among the drivers attempting to qualify for the A-Main in advance of the NASCAR weekend officially kicking off in Indianapolis on Friday morning.

Posted on by Staff Report

“The King of Queens” is coming to the race track as NASCAR and Netflix announce a new comedy series starring Kevin James.

James will star in and be the executive producer for the new multi-cam sitcom, The Crew. He will play the role of Kevin the crew chief in the show set in a NASCAR garage.

Crew chief Kevin will be the old-school sort, more likely to don a Darlington Throwback than anything else. But his old-school ways will be out of style with a rapidly modernizing sport: Think your dad telling you to put the cell phone away at dinner in order to have an actual face-to-face conversation.

Jeff Lowell, of the Ranch, Two and a Half Men and Spin City, will be the show’s writer, show-runner and executive producer. Jeff Sussman (The King of Queens, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, True Memoirs of an International Assassin and Grown Ups) and Todd Garner (Tag, Isn’t it Romantic and Mortal Kombat) will also serve as executive producers.

NASCAR’s Matt Summers and Tim Clark will also be involved as executive producers.

Look for the show coming out next year on Netflix.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR competition officials issued penalties Wednesday to four Monster Energy Series teams and one Xfinity Series operation for lug-nut violations during last weekend’s events at Darlington Raceway.

Four Cup Series teams were found with one lug nut not safely secure after Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500, incurring a $10,000 fine for their respective crew chiefs. The infractions affected these teams:

• The Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet driven by William Byron (crew chief Chad Knaus)

• The Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet driven by Kyle Larson (crew chief Chad Johnston)

• The Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet driven by Alex Bowman (crew chief Greg Ives)

• The Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Toyota driven by Matt DiBenedetto (crew chief Mike Wheeler)

The No. 19 Toyota driven by Brandon Jones in Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series was found with the same violation. As a result, crew chief Jeff Meendering was fined $5,000.

A NASCAR spokesperson also announced that Joe Gibbs Racing did not file an appeal of penalties issued to the No. 18 Toyota driven by Denny Hamlin in Saturday’s Xfinity Series event. The car did not meet the height requirements in post-race inspection and was disqualified from an apparent victory, handing the win to Cole Custer.

Posted on by Staff Report

The polls have officially opened for the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Most Popular Driver Award presented by Hooters.

VOTE: 2019 Monster Energy Series Most Popular Driver

From Sept. 4 at noon ET through Wednesday, Dec. 4 at noon ET, fans can cast a vote for a single driver once per day at www.nascar.com/mostpopulardriver or the NASCAR Mobile app. Votes shares via Facebook or Twitter also count as double.

Eligible drivers include those who have declared series points and must be in the top-32 positions in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings by the start of voting.

This year’s Most Popular Driver Award recipient will be announced during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee, Thursday, Dec. 5 on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Fans also can place their votes for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Most Popular Driver. To be eligible, drivers in the Xfinity Series must have declared series points and be among the top-25 positions in the standings, while Gander Trucks drivers need to be among the top-20 in the standings at the time votes begins.

Xfinity Series: Vote for 2019 Most Popular Driver

Gander Outdoors Truck Series: Vote for 2019 Most Popular Driver

Since the program’s full inception by the NMPA in 1983, 20 drivers have won the coveted award. NMPA Hall of Fame member and 1988 Cup Series champion Bill Elliott holds the record for most popular driver award wins with 16 coming in 1984-1988, 1991-2000 and 2002. Former Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the award 15 consecutive seasons from 2003 to 2017.

Chase Elliott, son of Bill Elliott and driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, received the honor in 2018.

“I’m so honored to win this award,” Elliott said after receiving the award in 2018. “With all of its history, the success Dale Earnhardt Jr. has enjoyed and the success of the Elliotts and Earnhardts (winning Most Popular Driver) for so many years is awesome. It’s kind of crazy to watch that come full circle. To be able to receive the award this year is special, and I’ll certainly enjoy it.

“Performance on track and wanting to do well is my biggest hope. I just want to make all of the people proud that voted for us all year. Those are the things that mean so much to me.”

RELATED: Past Most Popular Driver Award winners

Posted on by Staff Report

With one regular-season race remaining in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and two remaining in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, it’s time to keep watch on drivers who can clinch a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs. Of course, the easiest way to clinch is to win this weekend at Indianapolis.

But if that doesn’t happen, here are the drivers who have a chance to clinch on points when the checkered flag drops at the Brickyard.

STANDINGS: Monster Energy Series | Xfinity Series

Monster Energy Series Playoffs

At Darlington, four winless drivers clinched on points: Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, William Byron and Aric Almirola. In addition, Kyle Busch clinched the regular-season championship and Erik Jones won the race to punch his ticket.

Fourteen drivers have now clinched. Two spots in the 16-driver field remain. Below is how drivers can claim them.

Make sure to follow our Lap-by-Lap updates in the race as we give real-time updates on the playoff picture.

• Clint Bowyer: Would clinch with a win. Would clinch on points with 48 points and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, William Byron or Aric Almirola), he would clinch on points with 46 points.

• Daniel Suarez: Would clinch with a win. If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Aric Almirola or Clint Bowyer), he would clinch on points with 54 points. Could clinch on points with a new winner outside the top 16 in the standings and help.

• Ryan Newman: Would clinch with a win. If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 54 points. Could clinch on points with a new winner outside the top 16 and help.

• Jimmie Johnson: Would clinch with a win. Could clinch on points with help.

• All other drivers can only clinch with a win.

RELATED: In-depth playoff picture

Xfinity Series Playoffs

At Darlington, Noah Gragson clinched a spot in the Xfinity Series Playoffs, joining Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe and Michael Annett. Eight drivers have now clinched. Four spots remain.

The magic number is 56 heading into Indianapolis Motor Speedway. If there is a new winner, a clinching driver needs to be 56 points ahead of the fifth highest winless driver.

Let’s spell it out.

• Justin Haley: Would clinch with a win. Would clinch on points with 45 points and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner (or a win by Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, John Hunter Nemechek or Brandon Jones), he would clinch on points with 23 points.

• John Hunter Nemechek: Would clinch with a win. Could clinch on points with help.

• Brandon Jones: Would clinch with a win. Could clinch on points with a repeat winner (or a win by Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley or John Hunter Nemechek) and help.

• All other drivers can only clinch with a win.

Clinching for Regular Season Championship:
• Tyler Reddick can clinch the Regular Season Championship at Indianapolis if he leaves the race with a 61-point lead on second place. He currently holds a 51-point lead on second-place Christopher Bell.

Posted on by Terrin Waack

Joe Gibbs Racing very well could be king.

The Toyota-backed team has won three of the four crown jewel races this year, and there’s a chance it could be the first organization ever to complete the royal sweep in a single season. Denny Hamlin was victorious in the opening Daytona 500, Martin Truex Jr. survived the Coca-Cola 600 in May and Erik Jones just hoisted the Southern 500 trophy last Monday. All that’s left to conquer is the Brickyard 400 this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

And it just so happens the one JGR driver who hasn’t claimed a 2019 crown jewel already has two Indy trophies from previous seasons – recent ones, too.

Two of the last four Brickyard 400s saw Kyle Busch in Victory Lane (2015 and 2016). The driver of the No. 18 also earned two of the last three Busch Pole Awards at the 2.5-mile oval. That third one he started first anyway after weather canceled qualifying.

RELATED: Full schedule for Indianapolis

Busch has led 263 of 497 laps at Indianapolis in the last three years, good for 53%. In 2016 alone, en route to the checkered flag, he led a track-record 149 laps, which accounted for 88% of the action that day.

Overall, Busch owns five top-five and 11 top-10 showings in 14 Indy starts. He boasts a 10.7 average and holds the longest top-10 streak (2010-16) at the track.

The 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion is currently in the middle of an 11-race win drought. During that time, though, there have been three top-three, five top-five and eight top-10 runs. He’s also No. 1 in the championship standings at 983 points, which is 64 points more than No. 2 Joey Logano. Busch has four wins on the season, tying Hamlin and Truex for most by one driver.

JGR is the only team to have had all its drivers win this season.

Back to this weekend at the Brickyard.

Hamlin statistically is the next best bet at Indy. His strongest finish in 13 starts so far is third, and he did so in 2008, 2014 and 2018. The No. 11 averages a 12.8 finish, with five top fives and seven top 10s.

Truex’s numbers are a little rougher. His highlight in 14 starts is fourth, and he averages a 20.9 finish. This will be his first trip to Indianapolis in the No. 19 car, though.

Jones and his IMS history are tough to evaluate because he has only raced there twice in the Monster Energy Series. He finished 31st in 2017 and second in 2018. That sample size is too small to really trust his average finish (16.5).

RELATED: Power Rankings for Indy | Odds for Brickyard 400

Westgate in Las Vegas unsurprisingly has Busch as the Brickyard 400 favorite, opening at 3-1 odds. Hamlin is 6-1. Truex and Jones are both 8-1.

Busch could be the one to get JGR the crown-jewel sweep, but the team’s chances don’t end there.

Unrelated but related: William Byron could pull off a different sweep at the Brickyard 400. The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet won the Busch Pole Award at the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. No driver has won every crown-jewel pole in the same season, and Byron has the opportunity to this year.

Posted on by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

This is it. Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard is the final opportunity for drivers to qualify for the postseason before NASCAR’s playoffs get underway next week in Las Vegas.

Fourteen of 16 playoff spots are already locked up, with Clint Bowyer currently holding the 15th position, followed by Daniel Suarez and Ryan Newman, who are tied for the final spot with 617 points.

Seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson is currently on the outside looking in, sitting 18 points below the cutoff line.

To make this week’s NASCAR Props Challenge picks, I’ll rely heavily on betting odds to project expected driver performance.

1. Which playoff bubble driver will finish higher? Daniel Suarez or Ryan Newman?

Suarez is currently a -140 favorite against Newman in driver matchups at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.

Let’s let Vegas do the work here for us.

Pick: Suarez

2. Will a driver with a previous Brickyard victory win on Sunday? Yes or No?

Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick are past winners who are also among the favorites this week. Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman and Paul Menard have also won this race, but they are listed among the longshots.

This is really close for me, but I’m going to take the field.

Pick: No

3. Which Team Penske driver has the better finish? Brad Keselowski or Joey Logano?

Once again, Vegas did the heavy lifting here, making Keselowski a -125 favorite over Logano in early-week driver matchups.

Pick: Keselowski

4. Three of the last six Indy winners have come from the first two rows. Will Sunday’s winner start in the top four? Yes or No?

Download the FREE Action Network app to finish reading this article and get the rest of PJ Walsh’s NASCAR Props Challenge Picks.

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No. Driver Sponsor Make Organization
00 Landon Cassill Sherfick Companies Chevrolet StarCom Racing
1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet Chip Ganassi Racing
2 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Ford Team Penske
3 Austin Dillon Symbicort Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Ford Stewart-Haas Racing
6 Ryan Newman Acorns Ford Roush Fenway Racing
8 Daniel Hemric Liberty National Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
10 Aric Almirola Smithfield / Meijer Ford Stewart-Haas Racing
11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing
12 Ryan Blaney Wabash National Ford Team Penske
13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet Germain Racing
14 Clint Bowyer Rush Truck Centers / Cummins Ford Stewart-Haas Racing
15 Ross Chastain Xchange of America Chevrolet Premium Motorsports
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford Roush Fenway Racing
18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing
19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing
20 Erik Jones Stanley Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing
21 Paul Menard Menards / Dutch Boy Ford Wood Brothers Racing
22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford Team Penske
24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
27 Ryan Sieg SciAps Chevrolet Premium Motorsports
32 Corey LaJoie ARK.io Ford Go Fas Racing
34 Michael McDowell Long John Silver’s Ford Front Row Motorsports
36 Matt Tifft Southeastern Equipment & Supply Ford Front Row Motorsports
37 Chris Buescher Kroger Fast Lane to Flavor Chevrolet JTG Daugherty Racing
38 David Ragan Mannington Commercial Ford Front Row Motorsports
41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Ford Stewart-Haas Racing
42 Kyle Larson McDonald’s Chevrolet Chip Ganassi Racing
43 Bubba Wallace World Wide Technology Chevrolet Richard Petty Motorsports
47 Ryan Preece Kroger Chevrolet JTG Daugherty Racing
48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
51 BJ McLeod Jacob Companies Ford Petty Ware Racing
52 Garrett Smithley Honest Abe Roofing Ford Rick Ware Racing
53 Josh Bilicki AQRE Ford Rick Ware Racing
54 JJ Yeley TBA Chevrolet Rick Ware Racing
77 Reed Sorenson TBA Chevrolet Spire Motorsports
88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
95 Matt DiBenedetto Horizon Transport Toyota Leavine Family Racing
96 Parker Kligerman TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota Gaunt Brothers Racing