SPEEDWAY, Ind. — A spot of rain fueled by a sweltering afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway gave Kyle Larson a second wind to potentially capture back-to-back Brickyard 400 victories.
Before the precipitation caution on Lap 156, Larson trailed by a big chunk in second while Bubba Wallace set sail after storming to the lead following the final pit-stop cycle.
As the field bunched up for the first overtime restart, the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver lined up to the outside of Wallace and stayed even with the No. 23 Toyota through Turn 1. However, Wallace got the best of Larson off Turn 2 before a multicar wreck down the backstretch reset the field for a second overtime.
It was the same song, but second verse for Larson as Wallace set sail for the lead into Turn 1 to snap a 100-race winless drought while Larson crossed the line 0.222 seconds behind the No. 23 as the runner-up.
“The first one, he was first gear on both of them. He was just a little bit faster-paced for the restart zone,” Larson said after the race. “So I stayed second gear and he got a launch. I was able to just kind of barely hang on his right-rear quarter and then drag him back and kind of pull my momentum to halfway past him. I was just hoping that he could maybe have a moment underneath me and get loose. Then the second one, he brought the pace down so slow I had to be in first gear as well, and just kind of launched with him so I had no momentum. It was gonna be hard to beat him. I think that’s about as good of a job as you could do from the front row outside.”
The summer has had more valleys than peaks for Larson. Entering Sunday’s Brickyard 400, Larson finished outside the top 10 in four of the last six races. The No. 5 team finally put together its first top-five run since Michigan last weekend at Dover Motor Speedway.
At the drop of the green flag, the prospects of following up last Sunday with another top five didn’t look great as Larson slipped to midpack during the first leg of the race.
However, Larson was able to gain an advantage on pit strategy by staying out for a dash to the Stage 2 checkered that put him in a spot to remain within striking distance of the lead and keep that track position to the checkered flag.
“It was a solid day,” Larson said. “The beginning of the race didn’t go well. I didn’t have a good start, and it’s like, damn, that’s maybe gonna kill our race strategy. But our team just did a good job with the strategy that we were on and we executed the green-flag cycles really good, and he [Wallace] was able to kind of maximize what we had going on. I wasn’t really expecting the guys on two tires to come out in front of me like that, but it is what it is. Maybe if I could have got by Reddick, I would’ve had a better opportunity.”
Torey Fox | NASCAR Digital Media
With just four races remaining until the playoffs, the regular-season title battle tightened even more as both Chase Elliott (13th) and William Byron (16th) finished outside the top 10. Byron ran inside the top five on the final restart before running out of fuel before getting to the checkered flag.
The three Hendrick drivers are separated by just 15 points for the coveted 15 playoff points that come with winning the Regular Season Championship as the Cup Series heads to Iowa Speedway next Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“William does a great job every week and gaining a lot of stage points and finishing well,” Larson said. “Then, Chase is so solid. I mean, you’ve got to bank on him finishing in the top 12 every race. With that, you’ve just got to be on your game and be smart and try to execute every lap. That’s my goal. We were quick at Iowa last year, but I’m sure all the teams have gotten their stuff better going back.”
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Mother Nature wasn’t going to deprive Bubba Wallace of the most important win of his career, not on this Sunday afternoon.
Unsure of the amount of fuel left in his No. 23 Toyota, Wallace survived a rain shower and two overtime restarts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to win the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG, punching his ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Wallace was comfortably ahead of runner-up Kyle Larson with four laps left in regulation, but the sudden shower forced NASCAR to call the fifth caution of the afternoon.
The rain was gone almost as quickly as it appeared, and after a short stoppage to dry the track, Wallace pulled ahead of Larson on the first overtime restart. A five-car accident on the backstretch, however, sent the race to a second extra period.
Wallace stayed on track for the next restart — hoping his fuel would last — and again pulled away from Larson and this time took the white flag without incident. After one more circuit, he crossed the finish line 0.222 seconds ahead of Larson to claim the trophy in the crown-jewel event.
The third victory of Wallace’s career ended a 100-race dry spell dating to Sept. 11, 2022 at Kansas Speedway. He led 30 laps, including the last 26, as the race went eight circuits beyond the scheduled 160.
“Oh, my gosh, I’m just so proud of this team,” Wallace said. “That adrenaline rush is crazy, ‘cause I’m coming off that right now — and I’m worn out.”
After pausing to hug his wife, Amanda, and hold his 10-month-old son Becks aloft in front of the cheering crowd in the grandstands, Wallace continued.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “To win here at the Brickyard, knowing how big this race is, knowing all the noise that’s going on in the background, to set that all aside is a testament to these people here on this 23 team. It’s been getting old right around the cut line (for the playoffs).”
Wallace, who started on the front row beside pole winner Chase Briscoe, ran consistently in the top five but didn’t take control of the race until after he pitted on Lap 119 during a cycle of green-flag stops early in the final stage.
He took the lead permanently when Ryan Blaney pitted on Lap 142 and enjoyed an advantage of more than five seconds after the stops cycled out. Though Larson made inroads into Wallace’s advantage, he wasn’t in position to challenge for the victory until the rain came.
After the shower, Wallace prevailed on the restarts against one of the top drivers in motorsports.
“There’s nothing you can do here to pass, so, no, I don’t really think there was anything I could do differently,” said Larson, last year’s Brickyard 400 winner. “I was second gear on the first restart, and honestly, that one worked out a little bit better, but he almost got clear of me down the frontstretch.
“And then on the second restart, he brought the pace down a little bit slower, so I needed to be first gear. It was kind of the same thing with me last year — he had the preferred lane on the inside, and it’s really hard to beat that.”
Denny Hamlin, who co-owns Wallace’s 23XI Racing car with former NBA superstar Michael Jordan, finished third after crashing in Turn 2 during qualifying and starting the race from the rear in a backup car.
In the finals of the NASCAR Cup Series’ In-Season Challenge, Ty Gibbs claimed the $1 million prize by finishing 21st to Ty Dillon’s 28th. The battle wasn’t as close as the respective finishing positions might suggest.
Dillon went a lap down to then-leader Austin Cindric on Lap 78, sustained damage to the nose of his No. 10 Chevrolet during a restart and finished three laps in arrears.
“One million is a lot of money, so I’m going to donate $10,000 to whichever charity Ty Dillon wants to give to,” Gibbs said. “It’s his choice. But we had a fast SAIA LTL Freight Toyota Camry. Didn’t end up where we wanted to in the end. We just lost track position and (were out of the running) to win the race.”
Ryan Preece finished fourth on Sunday but remains 42 points below the current elimination line for the playoffs with four races left in the regular season. Brad Keselowski was fifth, posting his third top-five result of the season.
Todd Gilliland, Blaney, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10.
Cindric led a race-high 40 laps to 34 for Briscoe.
William Byron saw his bid to retake the series lead from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott fall apart on the final lap. Byron took the green flag for the final overtime restart in third but ran out of fuel and fell to 16th at the finish.
The Cup Series’ next race is scheduled Sunday, Aug. 3 at Iowa Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Note: Inspection was completed in the Cup Series garage without issue, confirming Wallace as the race winner. Competition officials indicated that two cars would return to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further inspection: The No. 17 RFK Racing Ford driven by Chris Buescher to a 14th-place finish and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota piloted by 18th-place Chase Briscoe.
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Ty Gibbs is leaving Indianapolis Motor Speedway $1 million richer.
The driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota bested Ty Dillon in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 to take home the prize money in NASCAR’s inaugural In-Season Challenge. The sixth-seeded Gibbs had to finish ahead of the 32nd-seeded Dillon and did so with a 21st-place result. Dillon finished 28th, three laps down.
Gibbs was presented with a sleek black-and-gold trophy, ring and heavyweight AEW wrestling belt for his triumph, celebrating on the bricks just beneath the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway pagoda and tossing faux dollar bills around to celebrate with the fans.
“Super cool. Very honored to be in this position,” Gibbs said. “Thank you to all of NASCAR and TNT Sports for allowing us to be able to do this. It’s awesome to win this and super cool to be in this position.”
In addition to the collection of items thrown his way, Gibbs takes home the $1 million prize. Well, most of it.
“A million bucks is a lot of money,” Gibbs told TNT Sports. “I’m going to give $10,000 to wherever Ty Dillon wants to choose to give to charity.”
Dillon had been the Cinderella story of the inaugural In-Season Challenge. He was the bottom-most seed entering the 32-driver, five-race tournament. He upset top-seeded Denny Hamlin in the opener at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta), where Hamlin and others wrecked in the “Big One.” One week later, he got the better of No. 17 seed Brad Keselowski at the Chicago Street Course when Keselowski was collected in another early crash.
With his hopes dwindling seven days later at Sonoma Raceway, Dillon took the bumper to Alex Bowman to muscle his way into the semifinal round, where he bested John Hunter Nemechek at Dover Motor Speedway by earning the free pass on a caution period in the closing moments.
But at Indianapolis, Dillon’s day took a significant downturn on a Lap 56 restart. Josh Berry appeared to miss a shift in the inside lane while running toward the front of the field. That stacked up a slew of cars, resulting in nose-to-tail damage for a number of competitors. Dillon was one of the many collected, incurring heavy nose damage that hindered his No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet.
“Disappointing, obviously, but things like that happen,” Dillon said.” You can’t predict everything. I think that’s what’s been so cool about this In-Season Challenge for everybody. I just hate that we didn’t get to give him a run for it there. I don’t think they would say as a team they had their best day either. And I think if all things are equal (and) we don’t knock the nose off on that restart, [we’re] probably sitting in a good position, put a lot of pressure on him and race him out pretty solid.”
Ultimately, the air ducts were “pinched off,” Dillon said, severely limiting the motor’s power at the end of Indy’s long straightaways.
Though the glass slipper didn’t fit when the clock struck midnight, Dillon remained appreciative for what the last five weeks brought him, including a stretch of four consecutive top-20 finishes.
“It’s painful right now that we didn’t win the whole thing,” Dillon said. “But it definitely doesn’t overshadow how much this whole run has meant for us and our team, our sponsors. We’re grateful, man. It’s a good boost of energy.
“Hopefully we’ll finish out the year strong because of it. I believe in our team and what the future holds. So today was tough, but you know, this run has been really great and I appreciate it.”
Five cars will drop to the rear of the field to start Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Denny Hamlin, who was fastest in Saturday’s practice session, crashed in the subsequent qualifying session and will start the 160-lap race from the rear in a backup No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
John Hunter Nemechek, who was quickest in lap averages across consecutive runs of five, 10 and 15 laps, brushed the wall twice on his qualifying effort with his No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota. The team repaired the car, but will be forced to start from the rear of the 39-car field due to unapproved adjustments.
Joining him at the tail of the pack for unapproved adjustments will be Michael McDowell in the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Zane Smith in the No. 38 Front Row Racing Ford and Jesse Love in the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet.
Sunday’s race will be the 32nd time the NASCAR Cup Series has raced at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 29th time on the 2.5-mile oval.
Chase Briscoe will lead the field to the green flag in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota alongside Bubba Wallace in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota.
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.”
