Custer spent three full seasons in the Cup Series from 2020 through 2022, winning one race at Kentucky Speedway and posting one other top five in 108 starts during that period.
Returning to the Xfinity Series last season, Custer won three races, including the Championship 4 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
The 26-year-old driver from Ladera Ranch, Calif., welcomes the chance to return to NASCAR’s top level for owner Gene Haas, who also operates the Haas F1 Team.
“To get an opportunity back in Cup was the biggest goal,” said Custer, who won last Saturday’s Xfinity race at Pocono and leads the series standings by 51 points over second-place Justin Allgaier.
“To have this opportunity to get to drive for Haas Factory Team next year is huge for me, and I think we can do some really special things with the resources we have as a team. We’re ready to get work and get some great people, and I think we’ll be able to compete with the best.”
Haas Factory Team also will continue to maintain the Xfinity Series program started under the Stewart-Haas banner. Haas Factory Team president Joe Custer, Cole’s father, says the new organization has made an offer to current driver Riley Herbst, but no deal has been finalized.
Custer also said the Haas Factory Team explored other possibilities before settling on the technical alliance with RFK.
“Along with Ford as a partner, we’re lacking no resource going into next year,” Custer said.
CLERMONT, Ind. — For the second straight season at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Christian Eckes knew he had a truck capable of contending for the TSport 200 victory. This year, his No. 19 Chevrolet handled the opposite from 2023.
The No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team approached IRP with a different setup from last year. But for the second straight year, Eckes finished runner-up to Ty Majeski despite leading a race-high 73 circuits.
Grant Enfinger dominated the opening stage until Eckes powered by for the lead on a restart. The No. 19 truck cruised to the stage win, tying Corey Heim for the most in the series.
Early in the race, Eckes and Heim raced hard off Turn 2. The two dominant drivers during the 2024 regular season have combined to lead nearly 51% of all laps run through the opening 15 races (1,161 of 2,281) and have typically raced respectfully, even while chasing race wins. Heim was squeezed into the fence and later blew a left-front tire. During the caution flag, he took a swipe at the No. 19 truck, brushing alongside.
Heim charged to second on fresh tires to end Stage 2 but faded to 17th during a caution-free final stage.
“It wasn’t bad until we had the damage,” Heim told NASCAR.com as he marched down to Eckes on pit road after the race. “I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose; I’ll go talk to him. We’ll be fine, it’s not a big deal.”
Eckes took blame for the incident.
“I just misjudged it down the backstretch,” Eckes said. “[Heim] was upset; he should be. I don’t know if it ruined their night or not, he got back up to second and faded that last stage. Just misjudged it on my end and I hate it for them. It’s not like it was intentional or anything like that.”
Eckes controlled the final stage until Ty Majeski got by with 56 laps remaining. Majeski, who had to serve a drive-through penalty earlier in the race for a restart violation, had a stout truck, Eckes said.
“I think the 98 was just that much better,” he said. “They were good. Kind of the same thing as last year, so congrats to them. I think we were a P2 truck with some different handling characteristics this year. Same result, same distance back. We have a little bit of homework to do to try to get better.”
The margin of victory this year slightly increased by seven-tenths of a second, but by tallying a race-high 55 points, Eckes has increased his regular season championship lead to 50 points over Heim with only the .75-mile Richmond Raceway remaining before the playoffs. While the 15 additional playoff points haven’t been secured yet, Eckes won’t let himself look ahead.
“I’m not really worried about that right now,” he added. “Just focused on going to Richmond and having a good truck.”
With the victory, Majeski punched his postseason ticket. With top five finishes, both Tyler Ankrum and Grant Enfinger locked into the 10-driver playoffs as well.
Three spots are up for grab at Richmond. Taylor Gray will enter the 250-lap regular season finale with a 48-point advantage over the elimination line. Defending series champion Ben Rhodes sits 22 points above. Tanner Gray has a five-point lead on Daniel Dye for the 10th and final spot. Despite finishing six laps down at IRP, Stewart Friesen lost just 12 points to the elimination line and will enter Richmond 16 points below 10th spot.
CLERMONT, Ind. — Ty Majeski’s victory in Friday night’s TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park wasn’t the sort of dominating performance he enjoyed last year–until the final stage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
Majeski overcame a restart violation on Lap 50 that sent him to the rear of the field but rallied to defend his 2023 victory at the 0.686-mile Indiana short track. The driver of the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford earned his first victory of the 2024 season and the fourth of his career.
Majeski, who swept the stages and led 179 laps in last year’s win, was penalized for jumping the restart after the first caution of the race for Ty Dillon’s spin in Turn 3 on Lap 43. He scored no points in Stage 1, but by the time the second stage ended, Majeski had charged to third.
Sixteen laps after the restart for the final stage, Majeski took the lead for the first time, using the lapped truck of Thad Moffitt as a pick and charged past Eckes through Turns 1 and 2.
The Seymour, Wisconsin, driver led the final 56 of 200 laps and took the checkered flag, 4.129 seconds ahead of Eckes.
“It’s huge,” Majeski said. “Obviously, I made a little bit of a mistake. It was probably a little bit of a close call on that restart. I had to pony up and get it back. Obviously, when you make a mistake as a driver, you drive a little bit harder to make up for it, but these guys had my back–awesome pit stops.
“It’s been an up-and-down year. We’ve had the speed to win. Just haven’t been able to put it together, had some bad luck along the way, some of it self-inflicted. But, man, so proud of this Road Ranger group.”
Grant Enfinger finished third after leading 71 laps. Tyler Ankrum was fourth, followed by Layne Riggs, Sammy Smith, Luke Fenhaus, pole winner Rajah Caruth, Dean Thompson and Nick Sanchez.
Fenhaus’ seventh-place result was his best in three Truck Series starts.
By the time he took the checkered flag, Majeski already had clinched a playoff spot on points, leaving three berths still available in the postseason, with the Aug. 10 race at Richmond (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) left to decide the final playoff grid.
With a 20th-place finish on Friday, Tanner Gray took over the 10th and final playoff-eligible position from Daniel Dye, who came home 27th after an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 81. Dye trails Gray by five points entering the last regular-season race.
Five-time race winner Corey Heim finished 17th, a lap down, after contact from Eckes’ No. 19 Chevrolet cut his left-front tire and forced him to the pits under caution on Lap 88. Forced to use his last set of tires prematurely, Heim finished second in Stage 2 on the fresh rubber but faded in the final stage.
“I just misjudged the straightaway,” said Eckes, who led a race-high 73 laps. “He’s got every right to be mad.”
Eckes retained the series lead by 50 points over second-place Heim.
NOTE: Truck Series post-race technical inspection was completed without issue, confirming Majeski as the race winner. Nos. 43 and 46 of Daniel Dye and Thad Moffitt were each found with one unsecured lug nut. Competition officials indicated that three cars would be brought back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for further inspection: the No. 5 Tricon Garage Toyota for Dean Thompson, No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet for Grant Enfinger and the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford for Layne Riggs.
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — In the eighth year of the current NASCAR championship format, the Regular Season Championship battle has never been this tight among a handful of teams. It makes every point that much more valuable.
Entering Sunday’s Brickyard 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the top four in the regular-season standings are separated by a mere 20 points. With a mammoth 54-point outing last weekend at Pocono Raceway, Denny Hamlin’s runner-up finish chopped off 22 points to the lead, now held by Chase Elliott.
Elliott passed his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, who has had a stranglehold of the top spot for much of the 2024 season. For No. 5 team standards, Larson had a ho-hum day at Pocono, tallying 29 points.
With a pair of runner-up finishes, Tyler Reddick has erased 49 points to the lead, spanning the last four races. He enters Indianapolis third in points, 15 markers out. Not far in the distance are drivers like William Byron (57 points out) and Martin Truex Jr. (-63).
Ryan Blaney has scored a pair of wins during a summer surge and knocked nearly 50 points off in that timeframe (-76).
The battle is on.
“There’s still a lot of racing left, is kind of how I look at it,” Elliott said on Friday at IMS. “A lot can happen in that period of time. It’s going to force all of us to be really good. You’re going to have to be really solid. You’re probably going to have to win a race or two between now and the end of it to have a legitimate chance without other guys having problems, which I don’t really see four or five guys having a ton of issues between now and then.”
There is a wide variety of race tracks filling the final five races in the regular season. It begins with the return to the famed Indianapolis oval for the first time since 2020. After a two-week break, the series returns to a .75-mile short track at Richmond Raceway which will feature optional tires. Next up is the blistering fast Michigan International Speedway before wrapping up with a wild card at Daytona International Speedway and the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Hamlin believes the remaining five races are in the No. 11 team’s wheelhouse, as 14 of his 54 career wins have come at Richmond, Michigan, Daytona and Darlington.
“We definitely have potential to win it,” Hamlin said with a laugh. “Good tracks coming up for us. It’s going to be a race against execution for ourselves. That will be the biggest thing – and your Daytona finish will play quite a big factor as well.”
Race strategy will be an essential element in determining who will wrap up the regular-season title. The No. 11 team scored the most points it has all season last weekend at Pocono. By finishing fourth and earning 14 stage points, Byron’s 47 points were tied for the third-most points he’s had during a race in 2024.
Both of Byron’s HMS teammates — who are also in the battle — believe the No. 24 team has a fighter’s chance to earn 57 points and 15 playoff points.
“[We] need to put more races together like [Pocono] and have 40- to 50-point days and you never know how far you can climb up with those kinds of days because they are hard to get,” Byron said. “This sport is really top-weighted, so if you start putting together top fives in the stages and in the race, it’s pretty impressive.”
Ultimately, it boils down to execution. Reddick leads the series with 14 top-10 finishes, and his 11.7 average finish only trails Chase Elliott (10.5). In just its fourth season as a team, 23XI Racing has a legitimate shot at winning its first regular-season title.
“It would just be cool to [win] it, honestly,” Reddick said. “To have those playoff points would be a big deal for us, only winning one race so far at Talladega. It’s a huge sense of accomplishment for the whole team, being that this is year four to the team and be contending for it is a big deal.
“Those playoff points will go a very long way. We’re in the hunt for some amount, but it’s right there for the taking so we might as well make the most of the opportunity.”
Previously, 2023 was the closest four drivers had been at this point in the season, though a hefty 75 points still separated those four drivers. In the first season of the Next Gen car, Elliott had a 105-point lead and cruised to the regular season title. He knows how much of a prized possession those 15 points can be, as that carried him all the way to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway in 2022.
“There was no shot we were ever making the final four without the amount of points that we accumulated,” Elliott added. “We fortunately had a really good first half of the year.
“We just had a really good first half of the year. And then we ran really bad those last eight-and-a-half weeks. Without those points, we would have been long out of it, in my view. … So they can mean a lot. You hope that you’re running good enough that you don’t need them, is the goal that everyone has. But you know, to have eight straight weeks that nothing goes wrong, is probably not realistic.”
Elliott (2022) and Larson (2021) are the only drivers in the top five in points that have previously won a regular-season title.
SPEEDWAY, Ind. – The return of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval configuration for NASCAR racing became capital-O official in Friday’s extended Cup Series practice. Tyler Reddick made the most of it.
Reddick posted a lap at 182.582 mph in 23XI Racing’s No. 45 Toyota, as the NASCAR Cup Series prepares for the 30th anniversary Brickyard 400 on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The on-track time marked the first official IMS oval laps for the series’ Next Gen car platform after three years on the combination oval and road-course layout, switching back to the counterclockwise race direction that had been in place here since the early 20th century.
Reddick made the adjustment fairly seamlessly, also putting his car atop the speed chart for consecutive 10-lap averages.
“That’s good! I mean, it seemed pretty solid. When you come to a place like this, that’s always something you hope for,” said Reddick, a winner earlier in the season at Talladega Superspeedway. “I’ve been fortunate, we’ve run the road course here, and we’ve been really, really strong. Obviously, it seemed like Denny (Hamlin) had a really good test and we were able to get some good data from him. Yeah, tracks like this, it’s always a question mark to some degree, you know? How close is your sim preparation going to be? But it seemed like everyone did a pretty good job. Yeah, pretty happy with how the car drives.”
Ryan Blaney, last week’s winner at Pocono Raceway, was second-fastest in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford at 181.928 mph. A pair of Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammates in Hamlin and (181.561) and Christopher Bell (181.371) were third and fourth in that order, with Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports entry clocking in 180.930 mph as the fastest Chevrolet.
Bowman was among those marveling at Reddick’s early show of speed, but noting how challenging passing could be Sunday. A similarly speedy performance could be crucial for track position if Reddick is able to back it up in Saturday’s Busch Light Pole Qualifying (1:05 p.m. ET, USA, NBC Sports App, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I was talking to Tyler on the elevator on the way up here, he’s the fastest thing here by a mile and ran me down like I was tied to a post, then couldn’t do a damn thing,” Bowman said, hinting at a potential premium on passing. “So it’s going to be difficult for sure.”
The 50-minute session went largely incident-free, save for a brief halt for debris and a practice-ending spin by Erik Jones in the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota. But most drivers were welcoming of the change back to the oval configuration that had been in place from the historic 1994 inaugural through to 2020.
“Very refreshing,” Bell said. “I mean, regardless of how the race turns out, I think it’s very important that we race the oval. … It’s just, it’s Indianapolis. Whenever you think of Indianapolis, you don’t think of a road course. It’s the Brickyard 400, and it’s a marquee event, and it’s a huge event. And no matter how the race turns out, it’s the right thing.”
The switch also provides Martin Truex Jr. with one more shot at winning at the prestigious venue, as he prepares for what is expected to be his final Brickyard race in his farewell Cup Series season.
“It’s huge. I mean, just the history here, with what this track means to motorsports in general across the world. So it’s very, very cool to get to come here,” said Truex, who placed 20th on the opening speed chart. “I wish we were a little bit faster today because qualifying and track position is going to be everything. So tomorrow is a very, very important qualifying day, but having the chance to win here no matter what, it’s huge. It’s special, and somebody’s going to have a big day on Sunday.”
Kyle Busch didn’t mince words when he joined ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show Friday afternoon, especially when it came to last Sunday’s incident with Corey LaJoie at Pocono Raceway.
Busch, driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, spun during last weekend’s Great American Getaway 400 after Corey LaJoie’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevy nudged into him, causing Busch to slide through the infield and collect AJ Allmendinger, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and others in the process. Busch’s eventual DNF was his fifth of the last seven Cup races.
“He (LaJoie) texted me, and then he called me,” Busch said to McAfee. “I didn’t even reach back out because he changed his story four times, so I’m like, you’re just a liar. You wrecked me. Like, I get it. It’s fine, whatever. Payback’s coming.”
“I don’t have faith in anybody because I’ve been wrecked in five out of the last seven races by somebody..
LaJoie, who said following Sunday’s race he “was not gonna say sorry” about the wreck, discussed the incident further on his recent podcast episode of Stacking Pennies.
“As I tried to replay it back, and I wish I had done my interview with replays before I said anything because I didn’t know, I probably am more remorseful, is the right word, but I do feel bad even for Kyle,” LaJoie said during the podcast. “I don’t want to end his day. Randall Burnett (No. 8 crew chief), we’re buddies, I don’t want to wreck anybody’s day.”
Busch currently sits 102 points below the 16-driver elimination line with five regular-season races remaining. LaJoie, meanwhile, sits 229 points behind the same position.
Busch further discussed his 2024 campaign with RCR and how he and the team are looking to improve on the 2024 campaign.
“Our cars have not been that great right now,” Busch said. “We’re working on it. We’ve come to a lot of things of what we’re kind of learning about and figuring out. Last year, we were good. I joined RCR, we won three of the first 12, 15 races or something like that. It was pretty good, and then we haven’t won since, so it’s been a bit of a dry spell, so we’re working on it.”
Busch, LaJoie and the rest of the Cup Series field will race this Sunday in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
NASCAR.com’s 36 for 36 continues at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
With 36 races and 36 full-time Charter cars, our players select one car per race, but there’s a simple twist: once they’ve made the pick, they can’t choose that car again for the rest of the 36-race season. Yes, that means every car will be selected exactly once … a survivor pool, by another name.
Follow along weekly as our panel of pickers — Dustin Albino from Jayski, along with Steve Luvender and Cameron Richardson from NASCAR.com — embarks on a season-long journey to think like strategists and prove their picking prowess.
We’ll also feature a fourth “community” 36 for 36 pick each week, as decided by fan vote on the r/NASCAR subreddit. Can the collective vote topple our trio of full-timers?
Current Standings:
Steve Luvender: 518
Dustin Albino: -43
r/NASCAR Community: -56
Cameron Richardson: -73
Race 22 of 36: Indianapolis
Last week’s Pocono race challenged our pickers to think a little differently. Both Steve Luvender and the r/NASCAR community logged just 12 points after Daniel Hemric’s DNF, while Cameron Richardson collected 27 points from a Bubba Wallace top 10. The biggest winner of the weekend was Dustin Albino, who moved from third to second in the overall standings when Erik Jones delivered a 30-point day.
Now, the Brickyard 400 returns after a three-year absence from the schedule, putting our pickers’ skills to the test once again. NASCAR’s current-era vehicles have never raced on Indy’s oval. Is the play to pick a superstar driver who will rise to the occasion or to choose an underdog that might benefit from attrition on a new car-track combination?
Jayski’s Dustin Albino: No. 6, Brad Keselowski
Dustin’s pick last week: No. 43, Erik Jones (30 points)
Total season points: 475 (second place, +1 from last week)
Dustin: After a rough month-and-a-half stretch, it was nice to chip 18 points off of Steve’s lead at Pocono last weekend. We’re going to swing for the fences again — this hasn’t worked out for me in recent weeks — by choosing Keselowski at Indianapolis. He and Kyle Busch are the only two full-time drivers in the field who have won the Brickyard 400. Keselowski executed a nice late-race pass on Denny Hamlin in 2018 to win the crown-jewel race. Keselowski has three top-five finishes in the last four races on the Indianapolis oval and also had one of the best cars in the field last weekend at Pocono, a track that races similarly to Indy.
NASCAR.com’s Steve Luvender: No. 9, Chase Elliott
Steve’s pick last week: No. 31, Daniel Hemric (12 points)
Total season points: 518 (first place)
Steve: As luck would have it, Daniel Hemric failed to finish a race for the first time all year the week I picked him. Onward to Indy, where I’m choosing Chase Elliott. I’ve got a rough idea of where I’m using the rest of my picks this year, and the No. 9 was a tricky one to nail down because he’s good basically everywhere. Elliott historically hasn’t had huge results on the IMS oval — it’s actually his third-worst track in terms of average finish after Daytona and Las Vegas — but I’m optimistic things will look a little differently since the series last raced the oval layout in 2020.
NASCAR.com’s Cameron Richardson: No. 24, William Byron
Cameron’s pick last week: No. 23, Bubba Wallace (27 points)
Total season points: 445 (fourth place)
Cameron: A good week at Pocono could mean we are back in business, but with the unknowns the Next Gen car could present this weekend at Indianapolis, I’m hopefully playing it safe with Byron. While I’d prefer to save him for the postseason, the stars are aligning for a Byron show-stopper on Sunday. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Jeff Gordon’s win in the first-ever Brickyard 400. With track position likely playing a key role around the 2.5-mile oval, qualifying will be key and Byron is tied with Tyler Reddick and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson for the best average start position this year (9.7). Byron could also become just the fourth driver to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year.
r/NASCAR Community: No. 71, Zane Smith
r/NASCAR’s pick last week: No. 31, Daniel Hemric (12 points)
Total season points: 462 (third place, -1 from last week)
Zane Smith gets the nod from the NASCAR subreddit this week.
What Redditors said about the No. 71 in the voting thread:
u/Sea_Moment_9405: “Maybe this is the week to use Zane? Since his 2nd place finish at Nashville, he’s had some momentum and even ran in the top 10 for a bit at Pocono, the best comparison we have for Indy. None of the remaining tracks jump out as obvious spots to use him, so I say we strike when the iron is hot.”
u/Extreme-Bite-9123: “Originally, I said Ty Gibbs, but now I think Zane would be better. We can use Ty anywhere, but Zane is on a hot streak and we need to use him at some point. Plus, we need to use Burton at Daytona and I don’t know where else to use Zane, so this could be a great place to use him”
u/Correct-Asparagus308: “Zane Smith ran well at Pocono, the track most like IMS, and even outran Larson at times. I think Zane is a Dark Horse Potential Top 20 Driver, Sure, Would have rather Used him at Nashville, But This could be A Sneaky Good Pick.”
Check back next week to see how our pickers fared as the season-long 36 for 36 journey continues.
And, if you’ve got a competitive itch beyond meticulously managing your Fantasy Live lineup each week, feel free to save or print your own 36 for 36 sheet and see if you can beat our pickers and the Reddit community!
Denny Hamlin’s status as the clear favorite to win Sunday’s Brickyard 400 is justified, but bettors may want to take a wait-and-see approach on the No. 11 Toyota.
Priced in the +300 to +400 range during early wagering, Hamlin’s odds could lengthen over the weekend if his performance in Friday’s practice and Saturday’s qualifying don’t meet expectations.
Here are odds as of Thursday from three prominent sportsbooks – Westgate SuperBook, DraftKings and BetMGM.
Driver
SuperBook
DraftKings
BetMGM
Denny Hamlin
+350
+400
+375
Kyle Larson
+600
+600
+575
Ryan Blaney
+800
+750
+800
Brad Keselowski
+800
+750
+850
Chase Elliott
+1200
+900
+1000
William Byron
+1200
+1000
+1100
Tyler Reddick
+1200
+1100
+1200
Christopher Bell
+1400
+1100
+1200
Martin Truex Jr.
+1400
+1400
+1400
Joey Logano
+1600
+1400
+1500
Chris Buescher
+1800
+1500
+1800
Ty Gibbs
+1800
+1700
+1600
Since this is the first NASCAR Cup Series race around Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval since 2020, there’s plenty of uncertainty ahead of the 2024 version of the event.
“The field has changed, and the car has changed,” Ed Salmons, VP of risk management at Las Vegas’ Westgate SuperBook, told NASCAR.com this week. “We have a different car than we had back then.
Maybe this car will race differently at this track.”
Jim Sannes, managing editor of digital media at FanDuel Research, agrees that Hamlin is the prominent favorite this weekend, but his model doesn’t quite get him to such short prices. Hamlin wins 16.2% of Sannes’ race simulations, which converts to +517 odds.
Sannes is hoping for a less-than-stellar qualifying session for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Track position figures to play a major role on Sunday, which means odds will adjust after qualifying on Saturday.
“The optimism around Hamlin is fully justified,” Sannes said in a direct message. “… He has had speed at every relevant track (Pocono, Michigan), and it’s clear this team is prioritizing a win this weekend. I’d love for him to be just middling on Saturday so I could potentially scoop him at more favorable odds post-qualifying.”
NASCAR analysts — and Hamlin himself — believe what we saw at Pocono Raceway last week will translate to what transpires in Indy on Sunday.
Hamlin’s car may have been the best at the “Tricky Triangle,” but boosted by timely pit strategy, Ryan Blaney went on to win The Great American Getaway 400. Hamlin led 31 laps, won Stage 2, amassed 54 points and finished second.
“I actually don’t think Hamlin is overvalued this week given what we saw at Pocono last week and his consistent speed,” Todd Fuhrman, co-host of the Bet The Board podcast and a former Las Vegas oddsmaker, said in an email. “If Blaney hadn’t been able to undercut Stage 2, we’d be talking about the 11 car looking for back-to-back wins. Denny has also emphasized the importance of this race, so I get why books are keeping his price this short.”
“These two races are like almost clones of each other,” Salmons observed about Indy and Pocono. “They have two long straightaways, and ultimately, they kind of play the same.”
Eyes on another Toyota
Both Sannes and Fuhrman mentioned Martin Truex Jr. as another driver to watch this weekend. Truex is priced at +1400 odds, per Thursday’s betting market consensus.
“I’m pretty far above market on Martin Truex Jr.,” Sannes said. “His results on the Indy oval are miserable, but he had some bad luck the final few years before they transitioned to the road course. I’m guessing that’s why his odds here are longer, but someone with his speed shouldn’t be +1400 or +1200. He’s third in my model with 11.7% win odds (+755), trailing just Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson.”
Fuhrman is also interested in the No. 19.
“Martin Truex Jr showed a ton of speed last week,” he said, “(although that) didn’t translate to passing on race day, so if his numbers drift, that catches my eye.”
Early action
“We’ve had bets kind of all over the place,” Salmons said Tuesday, characterizing early Brickyard 400 wagering.
While Las Vegas bettors played Hamlin at +400 and +350 down to +300, there were no takers at +450 in the eight other states in which SuperBook USA operates (the SuperBook runs on a different system in Nevada).
Salmons also wrote early bets on Chase Elliott at +1400, Kyle Larson at +700 and Ty Gibbs at +2000.
“He gets bet every week,” Salmons said of the No. 54 Toyota.
In matchup props, Blaney was bet over Brad Keselowski, prompting moves in the outright market of Blaney down to +700 in Keselowski up to +1000.
That’s a price on the Pocono winner Fuhrman doesn’t seem interested in.
“I will say the market has adjusted plenty off Blaney’s win last Sunday, when we consider he was 17-1 last week compared to a consensus of 8 we’re seeing for the Brickyard,” he said.
Late action
The adjustments oddsmakers are likely to make after qualifying on Saturday could create value for bettors, according to our handicappers.
“Track position will be huge, but there should be some opportunity to find a few fast cars on alternate strategies at decent prices starting deeper in the field especially in the derivative markets,” Furhman said.
“My guess is that I’ll wind up having more action post-qualifying simply because not many drivers are values for me right now,” said Sannes. “I’m effectively in line with market on Hamlin, Larson, and William Byron, but not quite enough to bet them, a ton of win equity from the rest of the pack. It’s possible more value pops up post-qualifying.”
Throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each upcoming race weekend.
Martin has worked exclusively for NASCAR since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He has worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The following suggestions are Ken’s picks to watch before this Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A.J. Foyt’s name was synonymous with success, capturing a record four Indianapolis 500 victories throughout his career.
In late 1991, Foyt was filming a commercial on the grounds of the Speedway, which culminated in Foyt and the Speedway’s president, Tony George, taking laps in Foyt’s stock-car around the track for the first time.
This quietly laid the groundwork for a second event to be scheduled at the track and in June 1992 it seemed more inevitable than ever.
Nine NASCAR Cup Series drivers took part in the inaugural two-day test session. Dale Earnhardt, Ernie Irvan, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip, Davey Allison and Kyle Petty were on hand with their teams for the test.
Foyt hopped in the No. 3 car of Dale Earnhardt to take some laps on the second day.
It tragically proved to be the only time that Allison took laps around the famed oval, as he passed away in July 1993.
April 14, 1993 will go down in history as the day the inaugural Brickyard 400 was announced, which was to be held in August 1994. A packed house saw a full-field tire test at the track in August of 1993 in preparation for the event.
Richard Petty, who retired at the conclusion of the 1992 season, brought his No. 43 car out onto the track for a few laps.
The test also featured some other previews of the 1994 event, as drivers got some early seat time in their new rides. Terry Labonte, who drove the No. 14 for Billy Hagan in 1993, was behind the wheel of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet that Ricky Rudd raced. Labonte was previously announced as the car’s new driver for 1994.
Labonte, who was bringing sponsorship over from his current ride, tested the No. 5 car that resembled Rudd’s ride but without the current sponsorship on the side of the car.
John Andretti tested the No. 14 for Hagan, as he was their new driver for 1994.
86 cars were entered for the inaugural Brickyard 400, as drivers fought to fill the 43-car starting field.
H.B. Bailey was the first driver to hit the track but unfortunately failed to qualify for the event.
Dale Earnhardt’s qualifying lap put him straight to the top of the board, but he was immediately bumped by Rick Mast, who won the pole position for the inaugural event. Foyt made the field, qualifying 40th.
The excitement of the race was unmatched, as the pre-race ceremonies and the vibes around the race were nothing but one-of-a-kind.
When the green flag finally waved, it didn’t take long for a bit of excitement. Earnhardt brushed the outside wall, while trying to put his name in the history books as the first stock-car driver to leave at the track. It was again Mast who was able to attach his name to that claim.
As the laps passed by, it looked like Jeff Gordon, Geoff Bodine and Brett Bodine had some of the fastest cars in the field. A restart following a crash involving Dave Marcis and Mike Chase allowed the Bodine brothers to restart first and second.
What ensued was a battle on the track that left Brett turning Geoff, sending him around before collecting Dale Jarrett in the process. Geoff admitted in his post-crash interview that the two drivers were having some family issues but didn’t ever expect it to spill over onto the track.
This shook up the field, eventually pinning Ernie Irvan in the lead, with Gordon and Bodine chasing him.
Irvan held a small lead over Gordon, the youngest driver in the field, as the final laps passed by until heartbreak struck the No. 28 Robert Yates Racing team.
The leader had cut a tire, allowing Gordon and Bodine to pass Irvan and set sail. Irvan brought his car into the pits and was relegated to a disappointing 17th-place finish.
“Years from today, when 79 stock car races have been run here, we’ll remember the name Jeff Gordon, winner of the inaugural Brickyard 400!”
It was no surprise that Ernie Irvan put his Robert Yates Racing Ford on the pole for the fourth running of the Brickyard 400, given that the Yates powered cars quite possibly were the fastest stock-cars the oval had seen since the race’s inception in 1994.
What was a surprise was that it came while so much drama was surrounding the driver, as rumors swirled about who would be driving the car in 1998. The day after Irvan’s pole run, Kenny Irwin Jr. was officially named the new driver of the No. 28 car for the 1998 season.
At the same time, Irvan was not forced with the task of searching for a new ride but had a heavy heart. His mother was in a coma at a North Carolina hospital after respiratory failure earlier in the week.
Despite all of the stress on Irvan, he carried on and led the field to the green flag on Saturday afternoon. He didn’t miss a beat, leading the first 39 laps, the only time he would lead that day.
A handful of big names, including Rusty Wallace, defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Terry Labonte and Sterling Marlin, saw their dreams of crossing the bricks first dissolve due to engine issues.
The race progressed to come down to fuel mileage, as Irvan’s teammate and the defending Brickyard 400 champion Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin were out front but without a chance to make it to the end without stopping for fuel.
This all eventually cycled Ricky Rudd to the point, as he stretched his fuel to the limit and held off Bobby Labonte to capture the victory. It was his second victory of the season and the first time since 1987 that the Chesapeake, Virginia driver had won more than one race in a season.
Labonte, Jarrett, Gordon and Jeremy Mayfield rounded out the remainder of the top five. Irvan brought his No. 28 car home in 10th.
Columbus, Indiana’s Tony Stewart grew up with winning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on his mind, eventually making five starts in the Indianapolis 500. To his dismay, he never took the checkered flag in the race but came home with a career-best fifth-place finish in 1997.
He had another chance to live out his dreams once he moved to the NASCAR Cup Series in 1999. His first few attempts at a triumph came up short six different times. Stewart arrived at the track in 2005 on a hot streak, with six straight finishes of seventh or better.
He qualified 22nd for the race but quickly looked like a threat as he passed cars left and right through the field, finally taking the lead for the first time on the 100th lap of the 160-lap Crown Jewel event.
His biggest threat at knocking his chance at a triumph away was Kasey Kahne, who led 39 laps after starting fourth. Stewart led the final 11 laps en route to victory.
Stewart proudly proclaimed after the race that this was the greatest day of his life, both personally and professionally.
Editor’s Note: Racing Insights’ playoff projections use a combination of current standings and historical performance at upcoming tracks to determine the probability of each driver winning or making the playoffs on points.
With the Cup Series Playoffs on the mind throughout the season, what if there was a way to project how the 16-driver field could look before each race weekend?
It now exists via Racing Insights. From now until the start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, “The Field of 16” will give fans a weekly look at where their favorite drivers could potentially land in the postseason field — and the likelihood of having a shot at the Bill France Cup.
Here’s this week’s update on the projections heading into Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
NOTABLE PROBABILITY SHIFTS POST-POCONO
DRIVER
BEFORE POCONO
ENTERING INDY
DIFFERENCE
Chris Buescher
60.98%
79.96%
+18.98
Bubba Wallace
19.40%
24.68%
+5.28
Ty Gibbs
85.60%
79.79%
-5.81
Ross Chastain
79.02%
64.55%
-14.47
PROBABILITY CALCULATED BY RACING INSIGHTS AHEAD OF BRICKYARD 400, JULY 21, 2024
DRIVERS SOLIDLY IN PLAYOFF PICTURE
With just five races left in the regular season, 10 drivers have clinched berths in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Daniel Suárez and Austin Cindric are provisionally locked in with their single victories this season. Still, they could be in jeopardy if new winners emerge in the remaining events before the 16-driver field is official.
After Pocono Raceway, Chase Elliott jumped Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson for the Cup points lead, and the pair are separated by just three points for the regular-season title that will award 15 bonus playoff points. Tyler Reddick (-15) and Denny Hamlin (-20) are also right in the mix for the coveted postseason reward.
Of those without a win, Martin Truex Jr. should safely be into the playoffs as he sits a comfortable 137 points above the elimination line.
LAST 4 IN
It’s going to be six stressful weeks for Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs and Ross Chastain. Nothing would cure that stress more than a victory, but no one from this trio has been within reaching distance of a victory recently.
Buescher’s been the closest and is still overdue for his breakthrough this season. Top fives at Sonoma Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway still leave hope the No. 17 RFK Racing driver will add his name to the winner’s list this season. Last year, Buescher won three of the final five regular-season races.
After Phoenix Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway at the start of the season, it looked as though Gibbs would be in line for multiple victories in his sophomore campaign, but it’s been a year of highs and lows for the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team with little consistency in between. Pocono seemed like the golden opportunity for Gibbs’ maiden Cup win, but the 21-year-old faded out of the lead in Stage 2 and had his engine expire in the final stage. Indianapolis will likely not improve Gibbs’ playoff hopes as he’s never put down a lap on the oval.
If there’s any driver or team that’d be most disappointed in potentially missing the postseason, it’s Chastain and the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet group. Chastain was runner-up in the title race in 2022 and won the championship race in 2023 despite not being title-eligible. With three consecutive finishes of 22nd or worse, Chastain holds just a 27-point advantage over Bubba Wallace for the 16th playoff spot.
FIRST 4 OUT
Wallace got an important top-10 result at Pocono after starting 29th. Now just 27 points back of the final playoff spot, the final five races of the regular season are all potential winning spots for the No. 23 23XI Racing driver. Wallace finished third and ninth in the last two Indy oval races, respectively.
For Kyle Busch to be a three-time winner at Indianapolis, it will probably need to come from pit strategy. In five of the last six races, the two-time Cup Series champ has started 19th or worse. With Busch sitting 102 points below 16th, it’s going to take a win if the No. 8 RCR team is going to vie for the Bill France Trophy.
WHO CAN SHAKE UP PLAYOFF PICTURE AT INDIANAPOLIS?
Going to go with the Hoosier himself, Chase Briscoe. Sure, it would probably take some chaos and aggressive strategy in the pits, but Briscoe has put together quite the consistent 2024 campaign and is 18th in the playoff standings (-75). Briscoe and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Josh Berry have inched ever so close to being race-win contenders this summer.
