Posted on by Holly Cain

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Only two months after competing in the Indianapolis 500, Kyle Larson returned to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon to claim the trophy in one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ crown jewel events, the 30th Anniversary Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG – holding off the field in a dramatic double overtime finish.

Larson led only seven laps of the race’s 167 laps in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – six of them coming in the overtime periods — when he needed them most — ultimately holding off the race polesitter, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney on the bell lap. A caution came out moments later to officially end the race after Ryan Preece’s Ford spun and became stalled on track.

The 31-year-old Californian Larson climbed out of and onto his Chevrolet Camero to wave his arms toward the grandstands and encourage the cheering crowd, clearly elated with his first win in one of NASCAR’s most prestigious races — a return to the 2.5-mile oval after three years racing on the infield road course. The victory comes 30 years after his Hendrick Motorsports team executive Jeff Gordon won the inaugural stock car race at the historic speedway.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos 

It’s Larson’s third NASCAR crown jewel win, including the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and the sport’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

It comes only eight weeks after Larson’s 18th-place showing in his Indianapolis 500 debut. Bad weather delayed his trip to Charlotte to compete in NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600, the second half of racing’s “Double,” so this week’s work at Indy felt like redemption.

“This is just such a prestigious place, such hallowed ground,” said the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson, who now leads the series with four wins this season.

“Pretty neat to get an opportunity to race here on the oval again. What a job by our team. I mean, never gave up at all.

“And to all the fans, I love it here,” he added with a grin. “I think everything has come full circle with what was meant to be and today was meant to be for us.”

For much of the closing laps, the third-place finisher Blaney thought it was meant to be for him and his No. 12 Team Penske Ford team. He was lined up on the front row alongside fellow Ford driver Brad Keselowski for the first overtime restart when Keselowski suddenly pulled onto pit road after running out of gas – not taking the green flag.

That opened a hole for Larson – who was positioned behind Keselowski for the start – to rush forward and claim the lead over Blaney. It was a position he would never relinquish.

“It’s no fun, had a really good shot to win today,” a visibly disappointed Blaney said. “Our car was fast. Thought we had really good strategy. Kind of was the front guy having to save a little bit of gas. I thought we put ourselves in a great spot.

“I know the 6 [Keselowski] was probably going to run out if it went green. Came to the restart, I couldn’t believe they stayed out. I knew there was no way they were going to make it. So, I obviously chose the top because he might run out in the restart zone. He runs out coming to the green so he gets to do to pit road and the 5 gets promoted.

“Luck of the day right there, I guess. I don’t know. I don’t know what to be mad about. Mad at losing this race because I thought we were in the perfect position.”

SHOP: Race winner gear

Reddick’s runner-up effort – passing Blaney on the white flag lap – keeps him right in the mix for the Regular Season Championship. Larson takes a 10-point lead into in the sport’s summer break and Reddick is only 15 points back with four races remaining in the regular season to settle the 16-driver Playoff field.

“Obviously, a lot of cars and a lot of things had to happen for us to get second,” said Reddick, who led a race-high 40 laps in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. “Honestly, it was a good day. Obviously return to the Brickyard, it’s tough coming up one spot short. Once we got off of turn two there, I knew I was pretty much it. He [Larson] was going to have to make a mistake.

“Glad we had a good recovery. Another solid points day. We didn’t close the gap on the 5 [Larson] that much, but a little bit on the 9 [Elliott]. In the big picture, it was a great day for the team.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell finished fourth and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace turned in an impressive fifth-place performance. Wallace also claimed his first stage win since 2022, leading the field at the second stage break.

There was never real rhythm to the race, with varying pit stop strategies putting drivers out front. There were 13 leaders and 17 lead changes on the afternoon.

Denny Hamlin, who led 21 laps earned the first stage win — his sixth stage victory of the season and the first ever for the veteran at Indy. He finished 32nd after being involved in a multi-car accident during the first overtime restart and now is fourth in the championship standings, 43 points behind Larson.

Front Row Motorsport’s Todd Gilliand, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, Stewart Haas Racing’s Noah Gragson, and Hendrick Motorsport’s Chase Elliott rounded out the top-10.

It was a critical points-grab for Wallace, who is still trying to become playoff eligible. Wallace now trails Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain by only seven points for the 16th and final playoff position. Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Chris Buescher is 15th in points, only 17 points up on Wallace.

NASCAR will now go on a two-week break for the Summer Olympics. The Cup Series will return Aug. 11 at Richmond Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). There are four races remaining in the regular season.

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Cup Series garage, confirming Kyle Larson as the winner.

Posted on by Staff Report

On a Lap 75 restart, William Byron crashed out of Sunday’s Brickyard 400 along with AJ Allmendinger.

After Chase Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford got tight exiting Turn 2, it stacked up those behind him, leading to a chain reaction. Ryan Preece was sandwiched between Byron and Harrison Burton, causing the latter two to make contact. Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet eventually spun out and hit Allmendinger’s No. 16 Chevy before slamming the inside retaining wall down the backstretch.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos 

“We got back there in traffic,” Byron said. “It seemed like the pit-stop sequence didn’t go our way there. The No. 14 (Chase Briscoe) was just being a squirrel back in the pack. He drove up in front of me. I had to lift way off the corner and I got run over.”

Byron, Allmendinger and Burton were evaluated and released from the infield care center.

The streak of the No. 24 winning every 10 years at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval since the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 will end, and Byron will be scored with a 38th-place finish.

With his Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson winning the crown-jewel race and retaking control in the regular-season standings, Byron now moves to sixth in the fight for the Regular Season Championship, 97 points behind after being scored with a 38th-place finish.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Busch made his 700th career start in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, crossing off another milestone in what has been an illustrious career.

Busch, the 2015 and 2019 Cup Series champion, has accumulated 63 wins, 248 top fives and 378 top 10s since becoming a full-time driver in 2005.

Spanning three historic organizations — Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and now Richard Childress Racing — Busch is among NASCAR’s elite in numerous categories. He is one of only 17 drivers to win multiple Cup championships, and his 63 wins in the circuit rank ninth all-time. His 231 wins over all three national series rank first all-time, 31 more than “The King” Richard Petty.

RELATED: Kyle Busch driver page, stats, more | Busch through the years

And now with his 700th Cup start, Busch tied Buddy Baker for 19th all-time in the Cup Series.

Busch started Sunday’s race 34th. In 16 career starts on Indianapolis’ oval layout, Busch has two victories — back-to-back triumphs in 2015-16 — to go along with five top fives, 12 top 10s and 324 laps led.

Posted on by Staff Report

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Rick Mast remembers just how big a deal the inaugural Brickyard 400 was, and that magnitude hit home the moment he put his No. 1 Ford on the pole position. The pride of Rockbridge Baths, Virginia became the toast of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994, and he had the clearest view — alongside second-place starter Dale Earnhardt — for that first green flag.

Thirty years later, Mast and 10 other NASCAR Cup Series drivers from that first Indy trip reunited at the start-finish line to mark the anniversary, hours before the start of Sunday’s Brickyard 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, IMS Radio, SiriusXM). Swapping stories and catching up was the order of the day, and Mast had some of the fondest memories to share.

RELATED: At-track photos: Indy | Remembering ’94 Brickyard DNQs

Mast, 67, recalled that winning a pole elsewhere in those days typically meant a $7,500 bonus. “Here we got a check, I think it was 50 grand, and a $60,000 van,” Mast said, “and from that moment until the race, riding around with a Marion County Deputy with a police escort, visiting what seemed like every place in Indianapolis. I guarantee you that I saw more of Indianapolis than some people that lived here for 50 years that week. It was just the significance of the event.”

Jeff Gordon was front and center for the group photo, alongside the Brickyard trophy that he won a record five times. Other former winners on hand are all NASCAR Hall of Famer or about to be — Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and newly elected Ricky Rudd. They lined up with fellow 1994 qualifiers Jeff Burton, Bobby Hillin Jr., Ernie Irvan, Morgan Shepherd, Hut Stricklin and Rusty Wallace.

Gordon and Irvan shared a moment on the historic track’s frontstretch, reconnecting 30 years after their battle sealed the outcome of that first race. Gordon was dominant that day, leading 93 of the 160 laps, but Irvan’s Robert Yates Racing No. 28 Ford was in first position as the event drew to a close. Irvan’s blown tire cleared the way for Gordon to lead the final five laps.

“Jeff Gordon was just saying, ‘Yep, I’m with the guy that should have won it, with the guy that won it,'” Irvan quipped. “So I’m glad he knows that.”

Rudd, who won the 1997 edition in a car he owned, recalled how big a watershed moment the first Brickyard was for motorsports in general. The Speedway had hosted only the Indianapolis 500 each year — save for two world wars — since 1911, and NASCAR’s debut at the 2.5-mile track represented a bit of culture shock. The overlap, he said, was refreshing.

“I have nothing but great memories on it,” Rudd says. “It was a different time then, and I know there were more good things that came out it than negative things. A couple of the Indy guys, they were worried because this is their home, and it is their home. It was always their home. But it was nice that they basically invited us into their home. It went really well. Gosh, probably a third of the IndyCar crowd put a Cup car out there that weekend, so it was neat. It was neat to experience just in a small way what the Indy 500 would be like.”

Sunday’s race-day morning, the group had another Brickyard moment in the sun, reminiscing about how their historic event in 1994 took stock-car racing in a new direction.

“That time period, we had a bunch of things come together in a perfect storm, and it was like this race ignited that powder keg that exploded this sport into the stratosphere all through the ’90s and into the 2000s,” Mast said. “When you look back at it, I’m more and more convinced, historically, that’s what this race meant. … When it happened, it really was. It lived up to the height of everything we built it up to be for two years preceding the event, and then, they have that for so many years. Again, can’t overstate it, and you can’t really come up with words. The only word I can come up with, honestly for this event in that time period, was magical, OK? Just magical.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Drivers in the field for the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 reconvened at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this Sunday for a group photo, celebrating the stock-car history that was made 30 years ago. That moment will be rekindled with the current crop of NASCAR Cup Series stars, who return to the Indy oval after three years on the track’s road-course configuration.

Trying to get in that photo was an intense experience by itself, with the entry list swelling to 80-plus cars bidding for 43 spots. Longtime NASCAR official Morris Metcalfe conducted the qualifying draw with a bingo-ball hopper, with the many eyes of the Cup Series garage fixed on how the order would shape up. When Metcalfe pulled King Richard Petty’s pill and told him that his car would go out 84th in the qualifying line, Petty cracked, “That’s sometime tomorrow, right?”

Rick Mast wound up as the darling of qualifying, putting his No. 1 Ford on the pole position. Fittingly, his crew bought souvenir banners and scrubbed the “B” off them to make them read, “Rickyard 400.”

RELATED: Sunday’s starting lineup | At-track photos: Indy

IndyCar and sports-car drivers found their way into the picture, with IMSA champ Geoff Brabham and former Indy 500 winner Danny Sullivan slotting in midpack for their NASCAR debuts. The last qualifier on the basis of speed was Indy legend A.J. Foyt, who grabbed the 40th starting spot for what would be his final Cup Series race. “I was nervous as hell,” Foyt told the morning papers. “… I just didn’t want to be bumped out of this thing. It’s just an honor to be in this race.”

Nearly a full field of drivers ended up on the bump side, and it’s an intriguing list of competitors who missed the cut. The DNQs included drivers from the former Winston West Series (now ARCA Menards Series West) there for the combined event, a host of stock-car journeymen and would-be IndyCar invaders, plus three of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers.

They won’t be in Sunday’s pre-race picture, but let’s remember some guys and pay tribute to the staggeringly long list of drivers who did their best but made the early trip home from Indy.

Failed to qualify

44. Joe Ruttman, No. 39 Chevrolet: The California veteran made 225 career Cup Series starts, and the Brickyard 400 was set to be among the last of them. He ended up just 0.003 seconds short of the final qualifying berth, which was snagged by Foyt. Ruttman reinvented himself the next year as a full-time competitor in the inaugural season for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he won 13 times in his 50s. Ruttman’s brother Troy was the 1952 Indy 500 winner.

45. Dick Trickle, No. 32 Chevrolet: The Wisconsin short-track ace couldn’t quite muster the needed speed in the Dean Myers-owned Chevy, one of six DNQs he’d have in the 1994 campaign. He had four more Cup Series seasons after this one, landing with Hall of Famer Bud Moore the next year.

46. Randy LaJoie, No. 20 Ford: The longtime Xfinity Series competitor made just 44 Cup starts in his career — and Indy was his only miss of the ’94 season in Dick Moroso’s Ford. His car was sponsored by the Fina oil company, which would also be his main backer for his two Xfinity Series championship seasons (1996-97) with Bill Baumgardner’s BACE Motorsports operation.

47. Jim Sauter, No. 59 Ford: The veteran Midwesterner was the driver of choice for IndyCar team owner Dick Simon’s first NASCAR venture in the Brickyard inaugural. Two years earlier, he was one of three drivers to test stock cars for the International Race of Champions (IROC) Series, along with Trickle and Dave Marcis.

48. Steve Grissom, No. 29 Chevrolet: The Rookie of the Year candidate missed three races in the 1994 season, and two were biggies — the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard. Grissom drove for car owner Gary Bechtel for two and a half seasons, reaching the Cup Series full-time after claiming the Xfinity title in ’93.

49. Davy Jones, No. 88 Ford: Sports cars and IndyCars were Jones’ claim to fame, but while his U.S. Motorsports teammate Greg Sacks made the field, the No. 88 ended up just short on the stopwatch. Jones made seven Cup Series starts the following year, but his big prize came in 1996 with an overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Joest No. 7 Porsche.

50. Rick Carelli, No. 61 Chevrolet: The High Plains Drifter was the reigning Winston West Series champion at the time of the first Brickyard, and he was the top competitor from that tour among the DNQs. The next year, Carelli became a full-time driver in the Craftsman Truck Series, where he won four times in its first six seasons. He’s currently the spotter for Erik Jones and the No. 43 team in the Cup Series.

51. John Krebs, No. 92 Chevrolet: Another longtime West campaigner, Krebs made his last attempt at Cup Series qualifying in the Brickyard 400. His last Cup race came just under three months earlier, ending in a wild tumble with Derrike Cope at Sonoma Raceway.

52. Bob Brevak, No. 34 Ford: The 1990 ARCA Series champion put his chances at 50-50 to make the field. “A couple of times, I’ve stopped to think about what a madhouse it’s going to be, and it made me wonder if it’s worth my while to go down,” Brevak told the (Appleton, Wis.) Post-Crescent. “But this is a historic race. It’s something, if you’re a stock-car race, you’ve just got to try.” He later found a home in the pioneer years of the Craftsman Truck Series.

53. Gary Bettenhausen, No. 60 Chevrolet: The homegrown Hoosier drove in 21 editions of the Indianapolis 500 with a best finish of third in 1980. His attempt at the Brickyard 400 represented a bid for his first NASCAR start in 20 years, with Dick Simon connecting him with Phil Barkdoll for a ride. “This is a whole new ballgame,” Bettenhausen said about the difference between IndyCars and stock cars.

54. Brad Teague, No. 52 Ford: Jimmy Means made his last Cup Series race in 1993, then turned the keys over to Teague, the eastern Tennessee driver who made eight starts in the No. 52 the next year. Indy was one of several DNQs that year for Teague, who had a long career in the Xfinity tour — he netted one win (Martinsville in 1987) in 241 starts over 29 years.

55. Mike Wallace, No. 90 Ford: Wallace — then a Cup Series rookie — gave Junie Donlavey’s Ford a ride, but slid out of the groove in Turn 1 while pressing during his second-round attempt. The weekend wasn’t a total loss; he prevailed in Friday’s Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

56. Robert Pressley, No. 54 Chevrolet: Pressley, who went out fourth for qualifying in a Leo Jackson-owned entry, made just a handful of races ahead of a full rookie campaign the next year. The Asheville, North Carolina, native missed Indy but made 205 Cup Series starts and collected 10 Xfinity Series wins.

57. Jeff Davis, No. 81 Ford: The California driver grew up in Indianapolis and had nearly a full season of Indy Lights competition on his portfolio when he went Winston West racing in 1992. The 1994 season was Davis’ best in the West with a fourth-place result in the final standings, but his Thom Bell-owned entry was short on speed for the Indy field. “If I do that, I’d be on top of the world,” Davis told The Indianapolis News a week before qualifying. “There’ll be 60 other teams with the same goal.”

58. Jerry O’Neil, No. 65 Chevrolet: Coming up through the ARCA Menards Series and other regional series from Supermodified competition, O’Neil made 16 Cup Series starts from 1989-93. The Indianapolis race was his final attempt to qualify in NASCAR’s premier series, and he holds the distinction as the last driver to fly car No. 65 — the least-used number in Cup Series history.

59. Bob Schacht, No. 57 Ford: The 17-time ARCA Menards Series winner was an Illinois native who called South Carolina home at the time of his Brickyard attempt. “I had a better run in practice,” Schacht said. “I leaned on the motor too much during this run, and I think that it actually slowed down. We’ll come back next year.” He returned to Indy in 1998, but was replaced in the No. 95 Sadler Brothers ride by Randy MacDonald, who also failed to qualify that year.

60. Ron Hornaday Jr., No. 76 Chevrolet: His Craftsman Truck Series domination wouldn’t come until that series debuted the following year, but Hornaday was in the midst of his strongest Winston West season when the first Brickyard arrived. The Wayne Spears-owned Lumina was just short of the Brickyard field, but went on to be runner-up in the West Series that year. He later won 51 times in Truck Series competition and was honored in the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2018.

61. Scott Gaylord, No. 00 Ford: The Colorado native was the first West competitor to make a qualifying attempt, going out third. The early draw was no help. Gaylord went full-time the following season and competed in nearly every West Series event for the next 12 years. His son, Tripp, followed in his footsteps with his ARCA Menards Series West debut in 2022 at Bakersfield.

62. Ken Bouchard, No. 67 Ford: The former Modified standout had just one full season in the Cup Series, but it resulted in the 1988 Rookie of the Year Award over a fledgling Ernie Irvan. The inaugural Brickyard was Bouchard’s only qualifying attempt at Indy, in a Clayton Cunningham-owned machine. His final Cup start came in the ’94 season finale at Atlanta.

63. Billy Standridge, No. 47 Ford: Standridge made a career-high eight Cup Series starts in 1994, but he also missed the qualifying cut 12 times for car owner Berendt Johnson, including the Brickyard. Standridge was a four-time winner in the former NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series, and he made his last NASCAR national-series start in 1998.

64. Tim Steele, No. 12 Ford: Driving for Hall of Famer Bobby Allison, Steele’s only five Cup Series starts came in the ’94 circuit, and Indy would have made it a half-dozen. Steele was the reigning ARCA Menards Series champion at the time, and he added two more ARCA titles (1996-97) in dominant fashion with 23 wins in just two years’ time.

65. Rich Woodland Jr., No. 36 Chevrolet: The Winston West driver returned from a vicious crash during qualifying at Sonoma just two months earlier, but missed the show again at Indy — at least not in dramatic fashion. “You see the place and you feel a sense of history,” he told the San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Tribune. His only West tour victory came four years later, when he marched from 21st place in the 32-car field to win a 150-miler at Phoenix.

66. Hershel McGriff, No. 04 Ford: The ageless wonder was 66 years old at the time, and the 1994 Brickyard marked his final attempt at a Cup Series field. “I don’t have any ambition to be the champion at Talladega or Daytona,” McGriff told The Indianapolis Star. “I don’t have anything to prove to anybody. I’m just doing this because I’d like to do it.” He joked that he wasn’t seeking a Geritol sponsorship, and that his routine included running four miles a day: “If we had a foot race around here, I’d probably come in the first five.” He made his last regional NASCAR start in 2018 at age 90.

67. Jerry Hill, No. 56 Chevrolet: The Maryland native made eight Cup Series starts in the early ’90s, and the first Brickyard was his last Cup qualifying attempt. He transitioned to the Craftsman Truck Series several years later with 58 starts from 2001-04. His son is current NASCAR driver Timmy Hill, who carries the same No. 56 that his father did in the Truck Series.

68. Andy Belmont, No. 59 Ford: The Pennsylvania resident was a three-time winner in the Goody’s Dash Series who later made a dozen Cup starts and spent seven full-time seasons in ARCA competition. He jumped at the opportunity to make the Brickyard on a shoestring. “I’m not afraid of living on a budget. I’ve done it most of my racing life,” Belmont told the Gannett News Service. “I can eat bologna while the other guys with sponsorships eat steak and go to cocktail parties. The thing is, if you’re a racer, you have to race. I can’t let an opportunity like this go by. This is a chance to make a career. This is a chance to live a dream.”

69. H.B. Bailey, No. 36 Pontiac: The Houston resident is the answer to the trivia question: Who was the first NASCAR Cup Series driver to qualify at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Bailey drew the No. 1 pill in the draw, and was serenaded by legendary IMS announcer Tom Carnegie, who proclaimed, “Annnd, he’s away!” as the unsponsored No. 36 Grand Prix that he also owned hit the track to cheers from the crowd. Herring Burl Bailey was 57 years old at the time of the first Brickyard, and he died nine years later of heart failure.

70. Norm Benning, No. 84 Oldsmobile: The longtime independent on the Truck Series circuit (246 starts) and the ARCA Menards Series (281) could not get his Olds Cutlass up to speed for the first Brickyard, and his qualifying miss was part of a streak of 25 consecutive DNQs to end his Cup career. His car number had some special synergy with his sponsor, 84 Lumber.

71. Wayne Jacks, No. 58 Pontiac: The Las Vegas native was a West Series visitor to Indy in 1994, and the lap wasn’t there for him to make his second Cup Series grid. He ended up as a part-time competitor in the earliest years of the Craftsman Truck Series, and may hold the distinction of being the tour’s first driver to flip. His No. 58 Chevy tipped up onto its side in a skid to the infield during the Truck event at half-mile Portland (Ore.) Speedway.

72. Doug French, No. 79 Chevrolet: The New Jersey product with both ARCA and Modified roots didn’t make a Thursday qualifying lap, but did get into Friday’s time trials as an underdog entrant. “We completed construction of the car a week before we got there and we ran a respectful, clean qualifying lap,” French told the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press. “We realized that it was a long shot, but we wanted to go because it was such a prestigious event. We wanted to be a part of it. It was an electric atmosphere.”

73. James Hylton, No. 48 Pontiac: Like McGriff, Hylton was among the 50-and-older crowd bidding for a spot in the first Brickyard. The South Carolina veteran was a top-five finisher in the Cup Series standings six times in a seven-year stretch from 1969-76, and a two-time race winner. He wasn’t done trying to make the field for crown-jewel races, bidding twice for a Daytona 500 berth in his 70s.

74. Steve Sellers, No. 41 Ford: Californian Sellers made just 11 Winston West Series starts, with four top 10s among the results, and the 1994 Brickyard attempt was his only Cup Series effort. A soft-drink businessman, Sellers made sure his No. 41 Thunderbird carried sponsorship from Sacramento Coca-Cola.

75. Robert Sprague, No. 91 Ford: Sprague’s spin and crash into the Turn 1 retaining wall ended his Indy hopes. He was held overnight in a hospital for treatment of a concussion. Before his Brickyard bid, Sprague had recorded 10 top-five finishes in 33 West Series races.

76. Lance Wade, No. 95 Ford: Wade Motorsports held a fund-raising banquet at $200 a plate to rally the Victoria, British Columbia community behind the 25-year-old Canadian’s Brickyard effort. At the end, the qualifying report read, “no speed; spin.” It marked his only Cup Series try. Wade landed the only Winston West pole of his career a month later at Tri-City Raceway in West Richland, Washington.

77. Stan Fox, No. 09 Chevrolet: Fox was only an occasional NASCAR competitor, and his Roulos Brothers/Hemelgarn entry – which carried sponsorship from the bowling industry – wasn’t up to speed. “I’m just hoping some old IndyCar driver will be able to make it,” Fox said the week before the race. Less than a year later, his racing career ended with a severe first-lap crash in the 1995 Indianapolis 500 that left his legs dangling from the broken front of the car. He was killed in a car accident on a New Zealand highway in 2000.

78. Loy Allen Jr., No. 19 Ford: The rookie burst onto the scene with three pole positions early in the 1994 season, but his qualifying fate was sealed when he was one of the five drivers involved in single-car incidents during Friday’s sessions. It was the highest-profile of Allen’s 12 DNQs that year.

79. Jack Sellers, No. 48 Chevrolet: Sellers was already a 10-year veteran of Winston West when he made his last bid for a Cup Series field at Indy. He was the last driver who unsuccessfully tried to bump A.J. Foyt out of the field. Sellers spent 32 seasons in the West Series, and died six days after competing in the season finale in 2016.

Bonus: Several drivers were on the early entry list, but didn’t make the “failed to qualify” list in the morning papers the next day. Among them: “Chargin'” Charlie Glotzbach and P.J. Jones, whose entry was a late withdrawal. Perhaps foremost among the hard-luck drivers was the No. 0 Ford campaigner, Delma Cowart, who blew the team’s last engine before final-round qualifying. “Sometimes the feeling is bad. Real bad, like today,” Cowart told The Baltimore Sun. “But if you can’t come here and just enjoy being here, being part of something like this, then you’re not a real racer and have no business being here at all.”

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

Editor’s note: Projection was updated after practice and qualifying. Notable moves included Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson up one spot. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell each moved down a spot.

With the Cup Series circuit returning to the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), expect the heavy hitters to be in play for a crown-jewel win.

With the Next Gen car debuting at the 2.5-mile oval at IMS, there’s no telling what’s in store for this weekend’s race. The advanced metrics are leaning on the Cup Series’ best drivers to be in the mix. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as past winners of the Brickyard 400 include names like Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick — proving that in big races, the stars come out to shine.

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live roster | Indy schedule

The projected top 10 includes past champions and notable names in the sport, all vying for a Brickyard 400 win to be on their resumes.

Racing Insights is giving the nod to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin as the projected winner. Hamlin has come close to his fourth win of the season, but no cigar just yet. His career numbers of three third-place finishes at IMS and the fact he has five top 10s over the last seven Indy races are a good omen.

However, 2024 Daytona 500 champ William Byron and defending Cup champion Ryan Blaney are predicted to make Sunday’s race a close battle. Both drivers have a chance to make history for their respective organizations on Sunday. For Byron, a win would bring the No. 24 car back to Victory Lane 30 years since Gordon first did it in the inaugural race in 1994 — before making it routine with a record five Brickyard 400 wins. For Blaney, a win would make it the first time since 2018 that Team Penske would have won the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year, at the track owned by team proprietor Roger Penske.

You also can’t leave out drivers like Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell. Reddick has moved into the Regular Season Championship conversation with his recent success of four straight top 10s at four very different tracks while gaining 49 tallies on the points lead in recent weeks. Bell has won nine stages this year — a series best — and is four laps away from leading 600 laps for the first time in a season.

Then there’s Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, two Hendrick Motorsports teammates in a tight battle for the regular-season points lead. Hendrick has a dominant history in the Brickyard 400, winning three of the last nine races at Indy with three different drivers while claiming the most wins (10), top fives (27), top 10s (42), and laps led (1,071) in the crown-jewel event.

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH:

BRAD KESELOWSKI: Keselowski is one of three drivers entered in Sunday’s race who has won at the Brickyard. He also has three top-five finishes in the last four Indy races. Keselowski even netted a seventh-place finish at Pocono, a comparable track to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

JOEY LOGANO: There’s no doubt Team Penske will want to show out for ‘The Captain’ Roger Penske at the track he owns. Team Penske has been firing on all cylinders of late, with its drivers winning four of the last seven races. Logano owns seven top 10s on the Indy oval since 2013, and his worst finish was 13th in that period.

ROSS CHASTAIN: Chastain needs a solid weekend at Indy. He moves to being on the bubble and is only 27 points ahead of Bubba Wallace in the fight for the final playoff spot.  It’s a tight battle as the drivers ranked 14th to 16th in the playoff standings are only separated by 40 points.

ALEX BOWMAN: Bowman’s career numbers may not jump off the page at IMS, but the No. 48 driver is having a career year. He finished third at Pocono last week after winning Chicago, and it seems as if the team has found its stride and speed at the right time of the season.

KYLE BUSCH: Busch has two wins and six top 10s at Indy from 2013-2020. While 2024 has been a trying year for him, his veteran experience will certainly come into play this week. Plus, needing a win to keep his playoff hopes and his 19-season win streak alive is extra fuel to Rowdy’s fire.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE BRICKYARD 400

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results.

FinishCar NumberDriver
111Denny Hamlin
224William Byron
345Tyler Reddick
412Ryan Blaney
59Chase Elliott
65Kyle Larson
720Christopher Bell
86Brad Keselowski
922Joey Logano
1019Martin Truex Jr.
1117Chris Buescher
1223Bubba Wallace
1348Alex Bowman
141Ross Chastain
1534Michael McDowell
1654Ty Gibbs
178Kyle Busch
1899Daniel Suárez
194Josh Berry
203Austin Dillon
2114Chase Briscoe
2243Erik Jones
2342John H. Nemechek
2477Carson Hocevar
2547Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2616AJ Allmendinger
2710Noah Gragson
282Austin Cindric
2941Ryan Preece
307Corey LaJoie
3138Todd Gilliland
3221Harrison Burton
3351Justin Haley
3471Zane Smith
3531Daniel Hemric
3633Ty Dillon
3784Jimmie Johnson
3815Cody Ware
3966BJ McLeod
4044J.J. Yeley
Posted on by Tadd Haislop

HAMPTON, Va. — The 16th annual Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway featured an incredible display of fireworks, the majority of which exploded long after pre-race pyrotechnics graced the Eastern Virginia sky in front of a sellout crowd.

The main event on a Saturday night that represented the second leg of the prestigious Virginia Late Model Triple Crown — and the story that overshadowed a top-five run by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. — was the late battle between two Langley aces, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen and Connor Hall.

They’re rivals. They’re both Langley track champions. And on Saturday, they didn’t pull any punches in the Late Model Stock Car equivalent of a heavyweight bout.

In the end, Queen was the driver who earned a trip to Victory Lane. The 26-year-old from nearby Chesapeake scored his second consecutive Hampton Heat win and third overall. This one was anything but smooth.

Entering the final quarter of the 200-lap race, Queen and Hall found themselves running first and second, respectively, after both had carved their way through the top five. A series of late-race cautions and restarts resulted in multiple side-by-side battles for the lead. On every occasion, when one driver pulled ahead, the other immediately took the fight back to his rival.

Queen delivered the final blow with six laps to go. He drove deep into Turns 3-4, slid Hall up the race track and sped on. Hall this time did not have an opportunity to retaliate.

“We’re going to race hard; we always do.” Queen said. “I just gave it back to him. We were trading blows for a little bit. And then we he ran me up the hill down here, I wasn’t going to let him do that. I’m sure he isn’t happy about it, but I’ll race him like he races me.

“I thought it was a great race. He used me up, I used him up. We can continue it or not.”

Added Hall, the defending NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion: “It’s hard to get any room when [he] wasn’t letting me make the corner. So I couldn’t put together a whole corner and try to stretch out at all. I just kept getting moved up the hill, what I would consider darn near wrecked every corner.

“It is what it is. Just part of racing with some of the people we do.”

Queen and Hall have a history of aggressive racing at Langley. They’re cordial off the track, but the racing rivalry clearly was rekindled Saturday night. That’s part of the reasons tempers flared the way they did; Queen and Hall’s spotters even went through a verbal altercation atop the stands during the closing stages of the race.

Third-place finisher Peyton Sellers had the best view of the Queen-Hall saga. He naturally was holding his position just in case the leaders took each other out.

“They were just duking it out,” Sellers said. “Connor was better on the long run; he needed to get clear, and Butterbean knew that, so he kept him [on the outside]. Connor moved him up and kind of got a little rough with him, and Bean responded moving him out of the way a little bit.

“All of the top three finished with the fenders on. Everybody’s mad, but that’s racing. At the end of the day, the fans came to see that.”

Those fans turned themselves into another storyline for the 16th Hampton Heat. Spectator gates opened at 11 a.m. ET for a race that was originally scheduled to start at roughly 9:30, and many took the opportunity to watch late morning Late Model Stock practice.

Despite a long delay for a passing storm, the Langley grandstands were packed as track officials worked to dry the track as the sun set. The Hampton Heat didn’t take the green flag until shortly after 11 p.m. ET, and the crowd still was in full force.

Among the reasons for the capacity crowd, of course, was Earnhardt. The 49-year-old logged his fourth Late Model Stock start of the season, and late in the race, he followed Sellers to the front of the field. Earnhardt finished fifth in his debut race at Langley.

Unofficially, Landon Pembelton finished fourth behind Sellers and ahead of Earnhardt. Woody Howard, Kaden Honeycutt, Chase Burrow, Mark Wertz and Matt Waltz finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

The 2024 Virginia Triple Crown will conclude with the third leg on Sept. 28 when Martinsville Speedway hosts the ValleyStar Credit Union 300.

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

WINCHESTER, N.H. – The Catalano family has been trying to win a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race since 2018.

On Saturday night at Monadnock Speedway, 17-year-old Trevor Catalano delivered the victory that his entire family so desperately wanted.

Trevor, the youngest of three brothers currently racing on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, held off reigning series champion Ron Silk to win the Duel at the Dog 250.

“This is awesome,” Trevor said. “My mom and dad, they give us everything they can to come out here and be competitive. They gave me everything and anything that I know. I just can’t thank my parents enough.

“It’s a whole family operation. We all pick off of each other and try to give the best type of car we can give and come out every week and be competitive. Man, this thing was on rails.”

RELATED: Complete results from the Duel at the Dog 250 at Monadnock

Prior to Saturday, the best NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour performance for the Catalano family belonged to 26-year-old Tommy Catalano, a runner-up result at Richmond Raceway during the 2022 season.

To improve upon that performance, Trevor and the Catalano Motorsports team had to gamble.

When the caution flag waved for the stalled car of Tim Connolly with 71 laps left, most of the leaders opted to head to pit road for a fresh Hoosier Tire.

Three drivers – Kyle Bonsignore, Woody Pitkat and Trevor – instead chose to stay out and inherited the top three positions. Patrick Emerling and Ron Silk, who had been the leaders prior to the caution, would line up fourth and fifth for the restart.

Once racing resumed, Trevor went to work. He dispatched Pitkat with ease and took the lead from Bonsignore on lap 195. Trevor promptly built a half second lead on the field, but it didn’t last.

Behind him, Silk was on the move. After moving past Bonsignore with 53 laps remaining, Silk quickly set off in pursuit of Trevor.

The next 50 laps saw Silk hound the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour rookie. He tried to coax him into a mistake and nearly got an opportunity with 23 laps left when Trevor bobbled in Turn 3.

Silk got to his inside, but wise beyond his years, Trevor used the lap car of Melissa Fifield as a pick and forced Silk to fall back in behind him in turns one and two.

“I messed up a couple times. I thought Ronnie (Silk) was going to get me. He raced me clean,” Trevor said. “I was just trying to drive as hard as I could without messing up.”

That was as close as Silk would get to completing the pass. Trevor crossed the finish line .254 seconds ahead of Silk to earn his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win in just his ninth start.

Silk, to his credit, said he didn’t want to shoehorn Trevor out of the way. He wanted to beat him clean, but just didn’t have the car to do it.

“I probably just needed to turn the center a little bit better,” Silk said. “I would say we were basically even. I didn’t want to knock him out of the way. He did a great job. He didn’t make any mistakes. I was hoping he would make one and I could get my nose under him.

“Congratulations to Trevor. He did a phenomenal job.”

Four other members of the Catalano had tried to win NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races prior to Trevor’s win Saturday night. They included his mom, Amy, and his three brothers Timmy, Tommy and Tyler.

However, it was Trevor, the youngest of the group currently competing with the series, who got the job done.

“This is going to be one I probably remember forever,” Trevor said.

After fading through the field during the final restart, Emerling drove back to finish third. Matt Hirschman and Kyle Bonsignore completed the top five.

Pitkat, Justin Bonsignore, Matt Kimball, Tommy Catalano and Austin Beers finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season continues Saturday, Aug. 3 with the running of the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 at New York’s Lancaster Motorplex. FloRacing will provide live coverage of the event starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Posted on by Staff Report

Duel at the Dog 250

Monadnock Speedway

  • Race results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff
1 56 Trevor Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 250 —
2 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine/Future Homes 250 0.254
3 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc 250 1.779
4 60 Matt Hirschmann Elite 250 2.63
5 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 250 3.106
6 82 Woody Pitkat Horton Avenue Materials/Gunsmoke Stables Racing 250 5.771
7 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications, Inc. 250 7.25
8 43 Matthew Kimball J&M Towing and Recovery/Poodlack Wealth Mgmt 250 7.625
9 54 Tommy Catalano Catalano Motorsports 250 8.021
10 64 Austin Beers G&G Electrical Supply/Dell Electric 250 8.192
11 25 Brian Robie TBD 250 9.274
12 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 250 10.053
13 21 Stephen  Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Karchner Warehousing 250 11.779
14 3 Jake Johnson Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 249 1 Lap
15 84 Tyler Catalano* Catalano Motorsports 249 1 Lap
16 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating, Inc. 248 2 Laps
17 81 Nathan Wenzel 1812 Auto Body 246 4 Laps
18 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood & Restaurant 246 4 Laps
19 01 Melissa Fifield Farm Fueled Nutrition 235 15 Laps
20 8 John-Michael Shenette* Eighty-Two Services 136 114 Laps
21 4 Tim Connolly Connolly Companies, LLC 55 195 Laps

 

Posted on by Zack Albert

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Cole Custer nearly had a crowning capper to what was already a banner day, and Aric Almirola almost made his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start in more than two months a winning return. They weren’t kissing bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but both were in convivial spirits early Saturday evening after a tightly contested final two laps.

A Brickyard battle for the ages vaulted Riley Herbst into Victory Lane for the first time this year, but Custer and Almirola managed smiles after snagging podium spots in Saturday’s Pennzoil 250. Custer sealed the back end of a 1-2 finish for Stewart-Haas Racing Ford drivers, and Almirola recovered from a wild spin early in the final stage for his fourth consecutive top-five result.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Indy

Almirola interrupted his post-race interview twice — once to applaud Herbst on his way to Victory Lane, and again when Custer walked past with a note of congratulations and to say, “lotta fun.”

“You guys were the class of the field,” Almirola told Custer.

“I thought you had it, though,” Custer replied. “You had both of us.”

It appeared that Custer might have it after his No. 00 Ford got the jump on Herbst’s No. 98 entry through the first two turns, completing the pass on a restart with 10 laps remaining in the 100-lap event and bringing Almirola’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with him to second place. Herbst kept things close, getting back by Almirola two laps later and then chasing his teammate down the stretch.

Herbst brushed by Custer through Turn 4 heading toward the white flag, and their clash allowed Almirola to force it three-wide past the start-finish line and into the lead. Herbst made his winning move through Turns 3 and 4 on the last lap to the low side of Almirola, and Custer scooted through to inch by into second place at the yard of bricks.

“He’s going for the win at Indianapolis, right? I don’t think I would have done anything different,” said Almirola, who led twice for five laps. “I know he kind of doored me getting into (turn) four, but I mean, if not, I was going to put it on his door and try to suck him around or get him loose so I could have the run to the finish line. He did exactly what he needed to do to win the race, so I don’t blame him. Yeah, those guys were the fastest race car on the race track and they won the race.”

Almirola had fresher tires after a Lap 66 spin, prompted by contact with Austin Hill’s No. 21 Chevy through Turns 1 and 2. The new Goodyears helped him mount a late charge, but the moment that put him there was a hairy one. “Thankfully — I don’t know how — I just kind of stood in it, put my foot in the gas and was able to keep it off the wall,” Almirola said. “Did a couple 360s and kept going and didn’t hit anything, and thankfully, nobody hit me.”

Saturday marked Almirola’s first start in his part-time campaign with JGR’s Xfinity program since May 11 at Darlington. Published reports indicated that Almirola had been suspended for his role in a physical altercation with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace during a team meeting later that month. Asked for confirmation, Almirola said that he understood that questions about the situation were obligatory, but politely declined comment.

“It felt so good to be back in the race car,” he said. “It’s so fun. I love coming to the race track with these guys. They’re just a class act and so much fun to come to the race track with because they have fast race cars. Every time you sit in one, you know you’ve got a shot to win. So this weekend was no different — had another shot to win.”

MORE: Indianapolis weekend schedule

Custer had already made an eventful day of it at Indy, announcing just hours earlier his plans to return to the Cup Series in 2025 with Haas Factory Team. He barely eclipsed Herbst for the pole for Saturday’s race and led the most laps (47), but settled for his ninth top-five result in 20 events this season. The hope, Custer said, was that a more hotly contested final battle between Herbst and Almirola would have provided an opening.

“I tried to lift going into (turn) one so Riley would have a shot at him, because if I would have stayed side by side with them, it probably would have screwed both of us,” Custer said. “So I tried to let him go into one, and then I was hoping they’d get together off (turn) four, and they did a little bit, but I needed them to slow down just a little bit more.”

Custer notched his first win of the Xfinity Series season a week ago at Pocono Raceway, and his teammate now joins him in the provisional 12-driver playoff field. Custer also kept his perch atop the Xfinity Series standings, holding a 56-point lead as NASCAR heads toward the multi-week Olympic break.

“I mean, look at it right now, we’ve won back-to-back races with our team and being competitive at the front, it hasn’t been given to us at all,” Custer said. “Unbelievable couple of weeks. We’ve just got to keep it rolling.”