If Dover taught us anything last weekend, it’s that Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing are the cream of the crop again in 2025 — and it may not be close.
The two organizations racked up the top six spots at the “Monster Mile” and led all but 20 of the 407 laps.
Outside of Shane van Gisbergen on road courses, no one outside of Hendrick or JGR has trekked to Victory Lane since Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney at Nashville Superspeedway on the first day of June.
With pit strategy and gambles likely to play a massive role at Indianapolis on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), there’s plenty of opportunity for a different team to break the oval streak of the two powerhouses. But who can do it? Let’s take a look at projections for Sunday with stats provided by Racing Insights.
Hamlin tops the predicted results sheet for Indianapolis, even after practice and qualifying — when he wrecked his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The Brickyard 400 is the lone crown-jewel Cup Series event the No. 11 Toyota driver has yet to conquer. If he’s to break through on Sunday, he’d become just the fifth driver to do so — joining Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick. Fortunes weren’t so good for Hamlin last year as he was caught in a multicar incident on an overtime restart and was scored with a 32nd-place finish.
The top five stays within trends for this year as JGR-affiliated Tyler Reddick, defending Brickyard 400 winner Kyle Larson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott round out the top five in the race-day updated projections.
Reddick led the most laps (40) in last year’s Cup return to the 2.5-mile oval and was runner-up to Larson. The No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet driver and 2021 series titleholder capitalized on Brad Keselowski opting to pit from the lead before the first overtime restart that ultimately led to Larson grabbing the point and holding off Reddick and Blaney in the remaining laps.
CHASE BRISCOE: Can’t go to Indianapolis Motor Speedway without mentioning the Hoosier himself. Twenty years removed from Tony Stewart’s rousing victory at his home track, Briscoe will try to accomplish the same, and he’s been on a hot streak lately with runner-up results in the last two weekends. He also won the pole on Saturday — his third crown-jewel pole of the season and fifth overall.
BUBBA WALLACE: The No. 23 23XI Racing driver holds the final spot in the playoffs by 16 points over Ryan Preece after a crucial top-10 finish at Dover. Even better for Wallace is that his short history on the Indianapolis oval has been fruitful with three top 10s in four starts — including a top five last year where he led 26 laps.
BRAD KESELOWSKI: If the race finished at its 160-lap distance last year, Keselowski would’ve kissed the bricks for a second time with a thrilling fuel-mileage run to the checkered flag. Alas, a caution came out, stifling hopes of the No. 6 taking the win, but it should make the 2012 champ a viable threat to win Sunday and steal a postseason bid in the final run to the 10-race playoffs.
TODD GILLILAND: Gilliland has quite the short history at Indianapolis with a career-best effort in his Cup tenure coming on the road-course layout in 2022 (fourth). He then put together a sixth-place performance last year in his first Cup start on the 2.5-mile oval. The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports driver needs any momentum he can muster, and another big result at Indy could do just that.
RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE BRICKYARD 400
Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula incorporates current track, track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to predict a projected winner and provide full race results. Updated on race day with practice and qualifying factored in.
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Leaving Indianapolis Motor Speedway and during subsequent team gatherings at the JR Motorsports shop during the week, celebrations will be had from all across the organization as Connor Zilisch earned the milestone 100th win at the Brickyard Saturday evening.
However, the few hours after the Pennzoil 250 and flight back to North Carolina will come with some bitter feelings as cornerstone driver Justin Allgaier crashed from the lead with 14 to go after contact with Kyle Larson.
Through light rain and some ominous weather hovering over the 2.5-mile facility, the Xfinity Series field bunched up for multiple restarts as the laps ticked off.
Allgaier cleared to the point on a prior restart in front of Larson, who was piloting the No. 17 hot rod for Hendrick Motorsports. But on the following restart, Larson and Allgaier were even off Turn 1 and into Turn 2 before Larson scooted up the track and clipped the No. 7 Chevrolet, sending Allgaier into the outside wall. With heavy rear-end damage, it marked the end of another heartbreaking loss for the longtime Xfinity veteran who’s responsible for a quarter of JRM’s all-time wins.
“It doesn’t take much here, especially restarts, the way that everybody’s kind of packed up here,” Allgaier said after exiting the infield care center. “Unfortunately, we got the worst end of the deal. Probably more disappointed because we came here last year, we went down a path and we weren’t as good as we wanted to be. [Crew chief] Jim Pohlman and this whole 7 team, we have worked tirelessly on trying to make sure when we came here to Indy that we had a car that was capable of not only running up front, but trying to win this race.”
That mission was accomplished as Allgaier led a race-high 37 laps and snagged the Stage 2 checkered flag from teammate Zilisch in a side-by-side tilt to the start/finish line.
Meanwhile, Larson kept the No. 17 off the Turn 2 wall and recovered to a fourth-place finish. He explained that he tried to stay off Allgaier as they raced side-by-side into Turn 2, but there wasn’t much he could do.
“I was almost clear and he was just able to kind of get to my right rear and just pull me back,” Larson said regarding the restart. “He kind of drove by me pretty quick where he just took enough air off my right side, where I was just kind of along for the ride there — was trying to miss him, but unfortunately, got into him. Hate to have that happen. That was kind of the end of my race there and obviously to his, so I don’t really know what I could have done differently yet. I’m sure once I look at the replay, I’ll see some things. But he was just there on my door, but I’m the one to control my car, trying to be anyways, but it’s still in my hands.”
It’s not just missing out on getting the 100th win for JR Motorsports in his 10th season with the organization, but it’s a crushing end for Allgaier at one of the most iconic tracks in the world.
At 39 years old, Allgaier knows it will only get harder to stay on top of his game and win at the Brickyard again, but regardless, he’s happy to see his team reach the milestone although the disappointment will linger until getting back into the car next weekend at Iowa (Sat., 4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I know how important Indianapolis is to the ecosystem of the sport,” Allgaier said. “Even for me, the want to win here again is high. You never know how many opportunities you’re even going to have to race here, let alone win here. I think that’s the hardest part. We were able to get up there and to lead the race and to manage well. We lost the lead a couple of times, and we were able to get it back. Those are really key moments for me that I feel really good about.
“I told [team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.], if we get [100 wins], I’ll be in Victory Lane celebrating with you. I think that’s the most frustrating part. As a racer, you want to be the one to win those key milestone races. But as somebody that’s been a part of this company for a long time, and as somebody that has watched the men and women in our company work tirelessly to have great Chevrolets week in and week out, 100 wins is no small feat. We’ll go celebrate and have a lot of fun, but it’s going to sting.”
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Aric Almirola crashed out in Turn 4 after right-rear contact from Austin Hill at Lap 91 of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Almirola and Hill were battling for fourth late in the Pennzoil 250 when Almirola got Hill loose entering Turn 3. Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet slid sideways, forcing the Georgia driver to save his car from crashing.
After correcting his car, Hill came back down the track into Almirola’s right-rear quarter panel. The contact sent Almirola’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota head-on into the outside wall as Hill spun across the nose of Sheldon Creed’s No. 00 Haas Factory Team Ford.
Almirola was unable to continue after severe damage to his front end. After being evaluated and released from the infield care center, Almirola expressed his perspective on the incident.
“It was definitely intentional,” Almirola told The CW. “He (Hill) blocked me three times. I finally got him loose in (Turn) 3. He had damage on the nose, so he was really slow in the corners. It was time to go. I mean we’re coming to nine to go and the leaders are starting to put a gap on us, so it’s time to go.
“I got him loose and he just turned left and hooked me in the right rear.”
Immediately after the contact, Hill radioed to his team that the crash was not intentional.
“I couldn’t hang onto it. I did not try to right-rear him,” Hill told his team. “He had me out of control and I drove back to the left to keep it off the wall. I’m not sure what the hell he thought just running me over in 3 though!”
The portion of the wall Almirola contacted was not protected by SAFER barriers. Almirola was uninjured in the accident but said the impact was heavy enough to remind him of his 2017 crash at Kansas Speedway, which resulted in a compression fracture to his T5 vertebra in his back.
“That was violent, to be totally honest,” Almirola said of Saturday’s crash. “That’s one of the hardest hits I’ve taken in my NASCAR career. The impact felt very similar to when I broke my back. I’d be very interested to see the black-box data from that crash, but it was vicious and that’s just uncalled for.”
Almirola was credited with a 35th-place finish. As a result of the contact, NASCAR officials issued a five-lap penalty to Hill for reckless driving. Hill finished 34th, the only car five laps down. A NASCAR spokesperson confirmed officials will review the incident this week and that other penalties will be considered if warranted.
Zach Sturniolo | NASCAR Digital Media
Hill was not made available for comment following Saturday’s event, but did speak with team owner Richard Childress on his way back to the garage area.
When asked if officials should suspend Hill for the contact, Childress answered firmly, disagreeing, pointing to a Cup Series incident at Circuit of The Americas in March when Austin Cindric was issued a 50-point penalty and fined $50,000 for intentionally spinning the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by Ty Dillon, Childress’ grandson.
“Hell no,” Childress told reporters. “They didn’t do a damn thing to the 2 car (Austin Cindric) when he wrecked Ty and admitted to it — drove him in the right rear and wrecked him at COTA. It’s who you are. We’re a blue-collar team. They give us trouble all the time.”
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action at Iowa Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 2 (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — As contrary as it might seem, there was ambivalence in Connor Zilisch’s victory in Saturday’s Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Yes, Zilisch won his third straight NASCAR Xfinity Series race and added to his inarguable credentials as a budding superstar. What’s more, Zilisch delivered victory No. 100 to JR Motorsports, the organization founded by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister, Kelly Earnhardt Miller.
But Zilisch’s victory came at the expense of teammate Justin Allgaier, who made a heroic move on the outside to retake the lead from Kyle Larson on Lap 74 and had the win in his sights until the following restart on Lap 87.
That’s when Larson’s No. 17 Chevrolet broke loose in Turn 1 and turned Allgaier’s Chevrolet into the outside wall and out of the race.
That left Zilisch and Taylor Gray to battle for the lead after a restart with four laps left. With a push from the Ford of Sam Mayer, Zilisch took control on Lap 99 of 100 and held on to win by 0.339 seconds over Mayer as Gray slipped to third.
“I see some bricks that look kissable, and I’m going to kiss them,” Zilisch said, referencing an Indianapolis tradition started by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett. “This is awesome. One hundred wins for JRM. Congrats to Dale, Kelley, L.W. (Miller), everybody who’s raced for JRM, everybody who works at JRM.”
“I’m the smallest part of this team, and I’m so glad to be a part of it.”
Zilisch’s fifth victory of the season and sixth of his career followed wins at Sonoma Raceway and Dover Motor Speedway in his last two starts. With Allgaier finishing 36th after the wreck, Zilisch, who turned 19 on Tuesday, cut his teammate’s lead in the series standings to 21 points with five races left in the regular season.
“I hate it for Justin, because he’s been the cornerstone of the company for so many years,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said of the reigning series champion. “He’s been dependable, reliable, great with our partners and he wants to do these things for us.”
A violent accident involving the cars of Aric Almirola and Austin Hill set up the final restart with four laps left. On Lap 91, Almirola looked to the inside of Hill’s No. 21 Chevrolet exiting the short chute leading to Turn 4.
Hill’s car got loose but recovered, then turned left into Almirola’s Toyota, sending the Supra hard into the outside wall.
“Of course it was intentional,” Almirola said after a mandatory trip to the infield care center. “It was time to go, and I got him loose and he just turned left and hooked me in the right rear. Honestly, it was one of the biggest hits in my entire NASCAR career.”
NASCAR held Hill’s Camaro on pit road for five laps for reckless driving and will review the incident in the coming week for additional penalties, if warranted.
Larson survived the accident with Allgaier to finish fourth and Ryan Sieg came home fifth. William Sawalich, Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jesse Love and Dean Thompson completed the top 10.
Jeb Burton ran 15th and leads his cousin, Harrison Burton, by 10 points in the race for the final Xfinity Series Playoff spot. Harrison Burton finished 18th.
NOTE: Inspection was completed in the Xfinity Series garage without issue, confirming Zilisch as the winner. The following cars (Nos. 2, 17, 39 and 54) will go back to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, for teardown and engine dyno.
Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Location: Speedway, Indiana Track length: 2.5 miles When: Sunday, 2 p.m. ET Where to tune in: TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Race purse: $11,055,250 Race distance: 160 laps | 400 miles Stages: 50 | 100 | 160 Defending winner: Kyle Larson, July 2024 Starting lineup: Chase Briscoe to lead field to green Sunday
Glory, history of Brickyard 400 looms large in Indy
Ryan Blaney remembers it as if it were yesterday. He was standing on pit road at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the end of the impossibly long frontstretch, his father Dave Blaney preparing to qualify for the 2010 Brickyard 400.
Robby Gordon, driving the fluorescent orange No. 7 car, was peeling off Turn 4 at speed.
“I saw just a little orange dot, like, all the way down there. I can’t even see it,” Blaney recalled Friday. “And then before you know it, they go by you so fast. Like, how are they gonna make this flat, 90-degree corner? And somehow it does. And that just stuck in my brain for a long time, just that whole surreal experience.”
The difference 15 years later is that Blaney finds himself behind the wheel against 38 other hungry racers trying to achieve Brickyard glory Sunday afternoon.
Blaney and Joey Logano are Team Penske’s two defending champions of the NASCAR Cup Series, but neither has yet delivered a Brickyard 400 victory. The hunger within both of them burns brightly to deliver team owner Roger Penske a second NASCAR victory at the track he owns — literally and figuratively, with a record 20 Indianapolis 500 wins in addition to the 2018 Brickyard 400 win with Brad Keselowski.
Matt Wishart | For NASCAR Digital Media
But inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum’s Penske Galleries on Friday afternoon, surrounded by Team Penske’s lore at the 2.5-mile track, Logano made it known he’s got his own desires to attach his name to history in the 29th NASCAR race on the Indy oval.
“Obviously, I want to win for Roger everywhere, and I want to continue those things that he’s built here, like adding to this exhibit here,” Logano said. “But I want to win the Brickyard for me. That’s one that for me is on the list. I get we all enjoy it. But I have a selfish motive behind this race a little bit that I really want to win.”
The canyon of grandstands cradling the frontstretch creates a truly striking visual, particularly for the drivers behind the wheel. The straightaway feels as narrow as it is long, its SAFER barriers, concrete walls and the pit-road attenuator allowing little room for error. Blaney’s childhood memory of cars seemingly defying physics has only been reinforced now that he gets to take these corners behind the wheel.
“It’s such a weird look here with 90-degree corners,” he said. “Like you come off of (Turn) 4 and you’re literally just staring at a white wall that looks like a barricade. You’re like, ‘uh, how are we gonna make it?’ And somehow it does. So it’s just a cool place. It’s not only historically amazing, but driving it as well, you feel (like there’s) just no place like it. I’ve had a lot of cool memories here as a kid and as an adult as well.”
A crown-jewel event since its inaugural running in 1994, the Brickyard 400 propels drivers into racing history, placing a premium on kissing the bricks after taking the checkered flag.
“Every driver wants to win here, right?” Logano said. “Like, you gotta win at Daytona and you gotta win Indy. It’s just something you want to know what it feels like. I’m human; I get jealous every time I see someone kiss the bricks because I haven’t done it. And like, I want to know what that feels like, right? … I want to win. And I see that, and it makes me mad. I want to do that, you know? And I’ve been close so many times — been really close. Even last year, we were close before we got wrecked. We were in position to win it. And, yeah, just hasn’t happened yet. Hopefully it happens soon.”
What do crew chiefs have in focus to win Sunday’s race?
Long straightaways, a narrow racing groove and 90-degree left-handers make Indianapolis a bear for crew chiefs to conquer.
Performing well at the Brickyard demands a car that is strong both in power and in aerodynamics, yet simultaneously one that achieves efficient fuel mileage.
Last year, crew chief Cliff Daniels guided Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to victory in NASCAR’s return to the oval. The balance of a good car at Indy, he said, hinges on lift over drag.
“It’s a really good balance of L over D,” Daniels told NASCAR.com Friday. “And then there’s still a big amount of mechanical setup, getting just the timing of the corner right. I think it’s one thing to be fast in clean air when you can use a big, wide arc on entry and get down to the bottom and have your nice run on exit. It’s another thing in traffic when you kind of have to be choked off on your line. So there’s just a lot about getting your setup right with the timing of the corner. Certainly, we love coming here. Kyle’s got a good knack for this place. Hopefully, we get it all put together.”
Part of their advantage stemmed from an early mistake. A loose wheel at Lap 73 necessitated an extra pit stop for the No. 5 team, but that hiccup provided an opportunity to put more fuel in the tank. It was a fortunate break, but Daniels went to work on what could have happened had things not gone wrong.
“We went back through and looked at some of the calls that we made, and some of the calls that we made were specifically to be different,” Daniels said. “And had the race played out differently with the way the yellows fell, it could have had a lot different look for us, and it wouldn’t have been the same result, of course; it could have been a lot different. So we’ve come up with our what-if scenarios of when the cautions may fall, how and when to take fuel around the stages, around the fuel windows and things like that. Obviously, you’ve just got to see how the race plays out and hope to be on the right side of the track position at the right time.”
Another quirk of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is its tight pit lane, the second-narrowest on the NASCAR schedule, measuring just 24 feet wide. Pit boxes are just 15 feet wide — also the second-narrowest — despite pit road being the longest on the circuit at 2,515.5 feet.
Bubba Wallace, in the midst of trying to solidify his position in the playoffs, qualified second on Saturday. With that comes the second choice of pit-stall selection, a massive benefit while also having track position to start the race.
“It’s probably the sketchiest pit road, for sure,” Wallace said Saturday. “Obviously, seen a lot of crashes here, a lot of injuries. So if we can keep ourselves out of harm’s way, the better. I’m excited. That’s what we want. We want a good qualifying effort. It opens up options for pit selections, for strategy, for everything.”
Hendrick Motorsports remains the top target. Hendrick has had a stranglehold on Indianapolis since Jeff Gordon won its inaugural running in 1994. As a whole, the organization has claimed a record 11 wins on the Indy oval — six more than the next-best — with the series-best numbers of top fives (28), top 10s (44) and laps led (1,080), according to Racing Insights. Hendrick Motorsports has never gone more than three races at Indianapolis without a win and has won four of the last 10 Brickyard 400s with four different drivers.
He may not be the favorite to win, but watch out for …
BUBBA WALLACE. Wallace’s track record at the Brickyard is severely underrated. In four starts, Wallace has two top fives and three top 10s on the Indy oval and is averaging a 5.7 finish across his last three Brickyard 400s. The No. 23 Toyota got back on the right track with a seventh-place finish at Dover that ended a five-race skid outside it. Heading to one of his best tracks — and qualifying second — could be the catalyst he needs to better bolster his playoff positioning.
Fantasy update
NASCAR Fantasy Live expert Dustin Albino provides insight for your Sunday lineup.
Eventful practice and qualifying sessions for the Brickyard 400 have led to a near-complete overhaul for my fantasy lineup. Drivers were on the ragged edge during qualifying with more than a handful slapping the wall, highlighted by Denny Hamlin wrecking hard off Turn 2. Legacy Motor Club had a strong showing throughout the day, though John Hunter Nemechek pancaked the wall twice during his qualifying effort. Drivers that stood out were Chase Briscoe, earning his series-high fifth Busch Light pole award of 2025 and Bubba Wallace, who has the longest top-10 streak of active drivers at Indy (three). Strategy will be a heavy focus on Sunday, but I’ve changed my 36 for 36 pick to Wallace, believing the No. 23 team will chase stage points.
Lineup: Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, William Byron Garage: Ty Gibbs
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• NASCAR at Indy: Key info, practice reports and more from doubleheader weekend | Read more
• Hello, San Diego: NASCAR announces 2026 race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego | Read more
• In-Season Challenge: Preview the $1 million showdown set between Gibbs, Dillon | Read more • Racing Insights: Where your favorite driver is projected to finish Sunday | Read more
• Field of 16: Reddick, Bowman in prime playoff position heading to Brickyard | Read more • Turning Point to the Brickyard: Don’t assume anything about Indy | Read more
• At-track photos: Scenes, sights from a tripleheader in Indianapolis | View gallery
• NASCAR Classics: Rewind with full-race Indy replays from the vault | Watch now
• Paint Scheme Preview: Schemes shining under the Indiana sun | View gallery
• Power Rankings: Is Ty Gibbs’ rise for real? | This week’s top 20
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Safe to say that Ross Chastain and Joey Logano haven’t been the kindest to each other on the track over the last month.
The two had a run-in at the Chicago Street Course where Chastain spun Logano late in the race, leading to a frustrated Logano confronting the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing driver on pit road.
Two weeks later at Dover Motor Speedway, the pair made contact on a handful of occasions running side-by-side at the “Monster Mile.”
Both drivers are well-known for their aggressive, unapologetic demeanor on track, which is something Chastain said he appreciates.
“Joey and I, we’re so similar, and I like it,” Chastain said Saturday at Indianapolis. “For me, I think it’s a compliment that we think that way just in life and business and racing. Occasionally, that comes to a physical contact on the track, and it did recently. We had a good time in Loudon for the tire test, good conversation and good laughs in the garage yesterday.”
Logano has made it clear that he separates his on-track behavior from who he is out of the car, and letting the tensions subside with a civil conversation and some good banter is what he believes is best for the two to let bygones be bygones for now.
“The best thing you can always do is talk things out and try to come to a common ground, try to come to a resolution somehow,” Logano said. “I think it was pretty clear to probably both of us, it wasn’t gonna end pretty. So probably best for both of us to find a common ground to where we can move forward and race each other in a respectful way.
“That’s kind of the conversation. I went up to him and said ‘hey, there’s two ways we can handle it. There’s one way that’s pretty ugly and there’s one way that we can maybe show a little respect to each other and move forward.’ He chose the latter, which I think was probably a good move. Hopefully, we’re able to work that moving forward.”
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — A rash of ill fortune finally caught up with William Byron.
When he crashed out of last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway — through no fault of his own — the 31st-place finish cost him the series lead.
Byron now trails Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, a model of consistency this season, by 16 points. Three-time winner Kyle Larson, another Hendrick teammate, is third in the standings, 38 points behind Elliott.
For his part, Byron relishes a battle that’s staged within the same shop.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “I think it’s a really good thing, because it’s elevating all of our programs and elevating the importance of this part of the season.
“It’s obviously always important, but when you have three of us going for it, it’s like, ‘OK, it’s going to take your best for the next five weeks.’ I look at it like it’s going to give you more of an idea of what the playoffs are going to be like.”
Before the Dover race, Byron had held the series lead for 17 of 20 weeks, but only one finish better than 27th in the last five races has proven costly. That streak has been unlucky enough for Byron to acknowledge he might have been “snakebit.”
“You could definitely say that,” he acknowledged. “I try not to use the ‘luck’ word a lot, but if you look at Atlanta and Dover and how we got crashed, I mean, we just got run over from behind. Like, I check up for the wreck, and not everyone does.
“So I guess in those two instances you could say that definitely we weren’t in control of those two results … It’s just part of the nature of the schedule and the way things play out.
“We’ve had top-five speed everywhere, but the results haven’t been there every week. Chicago was definitely on me in practice (a clutch issue), and Pocono was also on me in qualifying, and unfortunately those race results weren’t there. Then other things happened, but yeah, I think it’s still within reach—we’ve just got to do it.”
The 27-year-old hopes to turn things around Sunday in the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
See where your favorite drivers will pit this weekend with the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
NASCAR Cup Series
Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG on Sunday (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — The stakes will be high for Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Not only will a coveted trip to Victory Lane in the crown-jewel event be on the line, but the In-Season Challenge crown is also up for grabs. Ty Dillon and Ty Gibbs will square off in the final of a five-round tournament that began with 32 drivers at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta and dwindled to two, with the pair matching up for a trophy and a $1 million prize at one of the most iconic locations in motorsports.
Dillon has taken the NASCAR world by storm over the past month-plus. Entering as the 32nd and lowest seed, the No. 10 Kaulig Racing driver has upset top-seeded Denny Hamlin, 2012 champ Brad Keselowski, perennial playoff contender Alex Bowman and an upstart John Hunter Nemechek along his journey to the championship round. He and the Kaulig shop have also celebrated their weekly successes as little victories.
“The last couple weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind from Monday till the race, just everything that’s been going on with the in-season tournament,” Dillon said Saturday during a press conference. “It’s been quite welcomed and very fun. We had a team luncheon on Tuesday, led by [Kaulig President] Chris Rice, which I appreciate. We started it with saying, like, it’s weird that we’re having a luncheon after finishing 20th. But what this has done for our team, the morale, even just talking to guys, just these are the summer months that are hard for these people — the men and women at Kaulig Racing and all the race teams — to keep finding motivation to work hard and build the best of the best each week.
“I appreciate the fact that Kaulig Racing, Chris Rice, [team owner] Matt Kaulig, aren’t afraid to pause and say, ‘Hey, this is a good thing, and let’s take this moment in because this is a lot of fun and good for everybody.’ It was a great moment on Tuesday, and we’re all excited for this weekend.”
Not only has the In-Season Challenge been a chance for Dillon and the No. 10 team to share their journey as the 33-year-old journeyman adapts to life back as a full-time Cup Series driver, but Dillon has taken full advantage of the spotlight — becoming the face of the tournament and bringing out unabashed personality with inspiration from professional wrestling.
“My kids and I watch a lot of WWE,” Dillon said. “It’s something we do, and the heels and the babyface, and learning how to entertain people is something that I think every driver should do homework and watch a little bit of because we deserve to give our fans a little bit more. I would say one of the unwritten stories that I give a lot of credit to is the fact that Denny Hamlin, in the last year and a half, has leaned into his ‘Denny versus the world’ thing and played into a personality to kind of go at the fans. Denny leaning into that and telling everybody that he’s beat your favorite driver, and the reaction, I mean, he’s the loudest boo, and boos aren’t a bad thing always. Him doing that allowed me to have a little fun when we beat him in Atlanta.
“I hope me being a little jovial and playing will allow some more people to feel like they can have a little more personality. We have some great, wonderful race car drivers, but I think our sport’s only going to grow if the best of our best can grow into a personality and really take the moment, harness the fans and the entertainment side of what we do, too.”
For Ty Gibbs, his outlook hasn’t changed based on the success he’s had in the In-Season Challenge, but it’s been a testament to the drastic turnaround the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team has had this summer.
It took eight races for the third-year Cup driver to log his first top 10 of 2025 (Darlington), and he had finishes of 22nd or worse in nine of the first 14 races of the year. Since a third-place result at Michigan in early June, however, Gibbs hasn’t finished worse than 14th in the last seven events. He currently sits on a three-race stretch of top 10s, including a season-best runner-up at Chicago.
At Indianapolis for his second Brickyard 400 start, Gibbs has a great admiration for the history of the facility.
“This is the most historical track in the world,” Gibbs said. “Outside of Monza [in Italy], I think is another one like this, I don’t think there’s anywhere like this, and I really respect and appreciate the history of this place. I’ve been able to go to the museum two times now and check everything out, and all the history back to when they first opened. It’s insane to be here. Insane to race here. I think this is race-car country — is what we would call it.”
With late-race theatrics that advance them across the tournament, the conversation may arise if a scenario occurs in the closing laps on Sunday where Dillon and Gibbs are running near each other. While Indy’s high speeds will likely deter any intentional contact between the two for the trophy, the pair shared their thoughts on what they are willing to do for the $1 million prize.
“Hopefully we’re not bumper to bumper, and hopefully we’re going for the win, so we’ll see,” Gibbs said. “But maybe we are both going for the win, so I don’t know. I feel like we’ve been really good with our strategy lately and hopefully that puts us up front.”
And Ty Dillon summed his strategy up succinctly — “Ask Alex Bowman.”
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Five was the magic number for Toyota at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session for Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
First and foremost, Indiana native Chase Briscoe won his fifth pole of the season with a lap at 183.165 mph (49.136 seconds), edging Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing (183.117 mph) for the top starting spot by 0.013 seconds.
Briscoe, driving the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry, and Wallace led a Toyota sweep of the first five starting positions, the first time the car maker has claimed the top five spots for any Cup Series race at any track.
Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club qualified third at 182.749 mph, followed by Tyler Reddick (182.678 mph) and Ty Gibbs (182.445 mph).
William Byron (182.031 mph) was sixth in the fastest Chevrolet, and seventh-place starter Chris Buescher led the Ford contingent with a lap at 182.013 mph.
In Sunday’s race, Briscoe will start from the front row for the seventh time this season, having been second on the grid for the previous two races at Sonoma and Dover. Briscoe has claimed the Busch Light Pole Award for all three Crown Jewel races this season: the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and now the Brickyard 400.
“I thought I was going to lose it a couple times, but I was able to hold onto it,” Briscoe said of his edgy qualifying lap. “I’m holding back tears. This is such a special moment for me. Even hearing the crowd as I got the pole is just super cool.
“Hopefully, I can keep it up there (Sunday). That’s the one that we want to win … Just being from literally 70 miles down the road (in Mitchell, Indiana) and coming here as a kid … and just dreaming of being able to come to this place, sitting in the same grandstands as the fans are, I dreamed of being on the other side of the fence, and now to do that is just unbelievable.”
The seventh pole of Briscoe’s career wasn’t secure, however, until his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin (the final qualifier) caromed off the Safer Barrier in Turn 2 and nosed into the inside wall, destroying his No. 11 Camry.
Hamlin had an edge of more than 0.2 seconds over Briscoe through the first corner before his car stepped out in the second turn at the 2.5-mile track. Hamlin will start at the rear in a backup car on Sunday.
Gibbs will start 21 positions ahead of Ty Dillon as the two drivers battle for the $1-million top prize in the In-Season Challenge. The higher finisher will take home the check.
Series leader Chase Elliott made an adroit save in Turn 2 on his qualifying lap but lost time in the corner and will start 30th. Elliott has a 16-point lead over Byron with five races left in the regular season.
Wallace, the last driver above the current elimination line for the Cup Series Playoffs, will start Sunday’s race with a 16-point edge over Ryan Preece, who qualified 23rd.
Carson Hocevar, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric completed the top 10 on the grid.
Hamlin paces 25-minute practice session
In a quest to complete his career Grand Slam, Hamlin paced practice Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis. Teams were scheduled to receive 50 minutes on Friday, but due to rain, teams had just 25 minutes in a reduced session before qualifying.
Nemechek, Keselowski, Gibbs and Zane Smith completed the top five. Austin Dillon, reigning Brickyard 400 champion Kyle Larson, Jones, Hocevar and Cindric rounded out the top 10.
Nemechek paced the field in 5-, 10- and 15-lap averages.
