Posted on by Zack Albert

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Daniel Suárez and Chase Elliott each had opportunities to sort through their playoff uncertainty Sunday, both with solid bids at kissing the bricks on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s main straight.

The post-race taste of masonry instead went to a dominant Michael McDowell, who roared away to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and one of the fleetingly few playoff berths remaining. Elliott finished second by 0.937 seconds, one spot short of a win that would have cured his postseason bubble ills. And Suárez, the fast-footed pole winner, ended up third after a pit-stop miscue cost him precious ground.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Elliott came closest to unseating McDowell’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, but the gains by his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet were smaller and more sporadic. He remains in must-win territory to secure a playoff position, 80 points below the provisional elimination line with two regular-season races left.

“Just needed to do a little better job,” said Elliott, who has missed seven races this year because of injury and suspension. “Michael did an outstanding job getting through traffic,  and I didn’t. Gained a lot of time on him those last couple of laps. Just not quite enough.”

Elliott had a civil conversation post-race on pit road with German driver Mike Rockenfeller, who was making his first start on the season, subbing with Legacy Motor Club in place of the suspended and released Noah Gragson. Rockenfeller struck an apologetic tone, saying that he potentially slowed Elliott’s progress as he chased McDowell down the stretch.

Chase Elliott on pit road post-race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course
Torey Fox | NASCAR Studios

“I had a word with Chase, and he was not super happy,” said Rockenfeller, who finished one lap down in 24th. “… I mean, I just did what I was told to. I tried really not to hold anybody up. Michael put the nose in; I let him go straight away. I was fighting with the 47 (of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) to be, if there’s a yellow, the one who gets a lap back. Anyway, yeah, I’m sorry for that and apologize if I cost him there, maybe a second in that race.”

WATCH: Elliott sums up his day at Indy

Suárez’s downfall was more dramatic, owing to a lengthy final pit stop. He brought the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to pit row when the other front-runners stopped in the 48th of 82 laps. When the jack dropped after left-side tires were changed, the left-front tire caught the air hose underneath, requiring the car to be lifted up again to free it.

“Those hoses are really thick and awkward and just had a little weird loop in it,” said No. 99 crew chief Travis Mack. “You know, there’s three guys involved — You’ve got Daniel stopping in the box, the tire changer who’s holding the hose, and then you’ve got a guy behind the wall throwing the hose. So it’s definitely a team thing, a team issue that we’ll work on this week. We’ll just look at the film and see what we could do better next time.”

Suárez had been in relatively close formation with McDowell, but the pit-lane mistake left him with a deficit of nearly 10 seconds for the final run to the checkered flag. Mack provided encouragement over the team communications, telling his driver to put his head down and focus: “We’re going to put it on your back today because you’re going to get it done.”

Suárez closed in small, steady measures but was 5.750 seconds behind at the finish.

“I think my car actually got better by the end,” Suárez said. “So yeah, I think we were gonna have a pretty good shot. It really was gonna be fun because I felt that the 9 was pretty good, and then he was falling off at the end of the run. And the 34 and myself, the 34 was pretty good in the middle part of the run, and I felt like I was pretty good in the end of the run, so it was gonna be a good fight. It was gonna be a good fight; disappointed that we didn’t get to see it.”

Suárez had entered the race with just a slight, five-point deficit below the provisional playoff cut but left Indianapolis minus-28 after McDowell snatched up one of the last handful of spots on the 16-driver postseason grid. Suárez has a mathematical path to the playoffs with two regular-season events remaining at Watkins Glen International next weekend and Daytona International Speedway in two weeks, but the possibility of another first-time winner would narrow that avenue.

“He has to win now,” said Trackhouse founder Justin Marks. “I mean, he did everything today. He performed today at the highest level that I’ve seen him perform. We had some problems in the pit stops, but his pace, his commitment, his fire was exactly why we pay him to do what he does, and he was awesome today. It changes the landscape with the 34 winning, so now we gotta go to Watkins Glen, we’ve got to try to win that race, and if we don’t, we’ve got to go to Daytona and try to win that race. It’s as simple as that now.”

Daniel Suárez on pit road post-race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course
Torey Fox | NASCAR Studios
Posted on by Reid Spencer

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Running a race he knew he could win, Michael McDowell held off Chase Elliott in Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard and grabbed a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports driver led 54 of 82 laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in a race that featured just one caution and ran under the green flag for the final 77 laps.

“My family comes to the races we think we can win,” said McDowell, who shared hugs with his wife and children after climbing from his Ford. “We thought we could win this one.”

RELATED: Official results | Best photos from Indy

McDowell’s second career victory was a convincing one. He passed pole winner Daniel Suárez for the lead after a Lap 6 restart and held it until he brought the No. 34 Mustang to pit road on Lap 17 for a green-flag stop.

After pitting for a second time on Lap 49, McDowell regained the top spot when Bubba Wallace pitted on Lap 53 and held it the rest of the way. Over the last 29 laps, Elliott — needing a victory to advance to the playoffs — narrowed McDowell’s four-second margin to 0.937 seconds at the finish, but that was as close as the 2020 series champion could get.

“I was really trying to pace myself,” McDowell said. “I figured there would be a late-race caution, and I didn’t want to burn my stuff up. I was just trying to maintain that gap.

“Then when I got into traffic, (Elliott) started closing, I had to push it, but I just can’t believe it.”

McDowell now has victories at Daytona (the 2021 Daytona 500) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, arguably the two most iconic venues in the sport. He put a Ford in Victory Lane at a road course for the first time since Ryan Blaney won the inaugural race at the Charlotte Roval in 2018.

WATCH: McDowell’s celebratory burnout | McDowell’s reaction to the emotional win

“Winning the Daytona 500 was one of the coolest moments you could ever have,” said McDowell, one of the most accomplished road racers in the Cup Series. “But going to Victory Lane without your family, that was tough.

“So we cherry-pick. We come to the races we think we can win… Just so proud… You know, I thought we could point our way in (to the playoffs), but after the car that we had yesterday in practice, I thought, man, we’ve got a good shot at winning if we could just get track position and maintain it.”

That’s exactly what McDowell did. After Suárez beat McDowell off pit road on Lap 17, McDowell chased the No. 99 Chevrolet until they caught the cars of Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski at the end of Stage 2 on Lap 35.

Hamlin and Keselowski were on older tires, and McDowell surged past Keselowski and Suárez through the Turn 12 and 13 complex. When Hamlin and Keselowski finally came to pit road on Lap 36, McDowell was back in the lead.

Much of the race was a three-way battle between McDowell, Elliott and Suárez, but Suárez lost valuable time when his left-front tire landed on an air gun hose during the Lap 49 stop. The snafu cost Suárez six seconds and a chance to win.

“We win, and we lose as a team, and that’s all I can say,” said Suárez, who salvaged a third-place finish. “The guys brought a very fast race car. I felt that maybe we were one adjustment behind in the first run with the back of the car, but then we made it a little bit better.

“But I felt like I was always one step behind the No. 9 and the No. 34, and then at the end, I felt that when my car came alive again, we had that issue.

“Just a little bit heartbreaking, but that’s part of the sport. All we can do is continue to push, continue to build race cars like this, and I’ll keep on winning races.”

Elliott was gracious in his praise for McDowell, and he identified where his No. 9 Chevrolet needed to be stronger.

“Just to be a little better through the back half (of the course) over there and get off of (Turn) 14 a little better just to have myself in a better spot getting into (Turn) 1.

“Just really appreciate the effort, man. Our Napa Chevy was really good, really good. Just needed just a little bit more and came up a bit short. But congrats to Michael, man. He did a good job. Ran a great race and stayed mistake-free, and that’s what you’ve got to do to win.”

Tyler Reddick finished fourth, followed by Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell. Shane van Gisbergen, who won the Chicago Street Race in July, was 10th in his second NASCAR Cup start.

McDowell’s win reduces the number of available playoff spots to three. Keselowski and Kevin Harvick are comfortably situated on points — barring more different winners at Watkins Glen next Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) and Daytona — but Wallace’s hold on the final spot was reduced from 58 points pre-race to 28 over Suárez.

Note: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage concluded without issue, confirming McDowell as the race winner.

Posted on by Zack Albert

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — A dream and a deal for Kyle Larson to run the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day in 2024 came to light with an announcement back in January. “Right now it’s so far away, it still doesn’t quite seem real,” Larson said Sunday, with Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s famed pagoda as a backdrop and working on limited sleep after his victory last night in the Knoxville Nationals.

The plan for Larson and Hendrick Motorsports to run both crown-jewel races on Memorial Day weekend is indeed still 287 days away. But Sunday, another significant step in the partnership with the Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team inched the initiative closer to reality.

The cars that Larson will drive on May 26, 2024 were unveiled Sunday at the Brickyard, just hours before Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App) for the NASCAR Cup Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Both racers had liberal use of Hendrick’s blue with splashes of McLaren orange — his Indy 500 ride carrying No. 17 alongside his traditional NASCAR No. 5.

RELATED: At-track photos: Indy | Inside NASCAR 75

Kurt Busch was the last NASCAR driver to compete in what’s been called “The Double” in 2014. Larson’s team has dubbed this attempt as the “Hendrick 1,100.”

“It’s been on my mind to do for a long time,” Larson said at Sunday’s reveal. “I just never felt like the timing was right. When I was younger, racing for Chip (Ganassi), I knew the opportunity was there. I just, I wanted to be able to fully commit to it and take the time that it needed to prep for it. And I feel like now I do have a lot of success in the NASCAR stuff, being with a team that’s consistently up front and making the playoffs. I feel like now I can maybe take a little bit of focus away from that and try and compete in the world’s biggest race.”

Several representatives from both series were on hand for Sunday’s presentation, and the group pictures and handshakes among those dignitaries illustrated a sense of renewed diplomacy between the two motorsports realms. NASCAR president Steve Phelps smiled for the camera alongside IndyCar president Jay Frye, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles shared the stage to welcome Charlotte Motor Speedway executive Greg Walter. Bridging both worlds was Roger Penske, who has long kept ownership interests in both stock cars and Indy’s open-wheeled racers, and who has the keys to the building at the historic IMS track.

The No. 17 IndyCar and the No. 5 NASCAR Chevrolet that Kyle Larson will drive on Memorial Day Weekend 2024
Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Studios

The state of affairs seems ripe for a crossover, and team founder Rick Hendrick now has an ownership stake in both of Larson’s Memorial Day efforts next year. He said with enthusiasm Sunday that he plans to be along for the ride with Larson between Indy and Charlotte for both legs of the double attempt.

“It’s something that’s on the bucket list,” Hendrick said, “and to be able to just come participate in the Indy 500, that’s a dream. So Kyle’s got an awesome amount of talent. We’ve got Arrow McLaren, a great team to help us actually put the car together and do those things. So we’re excited.”

Preparations have been ongoing, and Larson has remarked how smoothly things have gone thus far, that including a seat fitting that took far less time than he envisioned. He’s already spent time in driving simulation, getting the feel of an Indy car on road courses and gaining a newfound respect for the talent and technique required to reach competitive speed. “That was very eye-opening,” he said, noting how far under the limit he was on applying brake pressure. “It is insane how good those guys are.”

The next phase will be a mandatory rookie orientation test in October, when Larson will try to work his way up to speed on the 2.5-mile oval. In his corner, he’ll have a former Indy 500 winner — 2013 champ Tony Kanaan, who signed on as a special advisor with Arrow McLaren six weeks ago.

“I’m not molding him or anything. He’s going to drive first and ask me questions later,” Kanaan said. “I don’t want to overwhelm him with any information that he might be anticipating something that I told him, that I don’t think that’s good. So, he doesn’t need teaching. He needs just time in the car, and what I want him to do is to feel comfortable. And if he has a question, I’m there.”

Posted on by Dustin Albino

When analyzing road-course racing, you can typically make an educated guess on which teams are going to perform well before the weekend begins. Based on Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, we covered the bases earlier this week in Fastlane. However, there are a couple of late-week changes to consider. 

Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:

Starter 1: Tyler Reddick
Starter 2: Michael McDowell
Starter 3: Kyle Busch
Starter 4: Chris Buescher
Starter 5: Daniel Suárez
Garage pick: Shane van Gisbergen

NEXT IN LINE: Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell.

RELATED: Set your lineup | Odds for Sunday’s race

RISING: Dating back to Suárez’s full-time days in the Xfinity Series, he’s always excelled on road courses. His lone Cup Series win came last season at Sonoma Raceway. The No. 99 team has found raw speed again as it won its first pole award since Trackhouse Racing began two-and-a-half years ago. This is the Mexico native’s first time leading the field to the green flag since 2019 at Kentucky Speedway. He also ranked eighth in single-lap practice speed and was pleased with his car in race trim. 

Chase Elliott looked to have rekindled some of his road course dominance on Saturday at the same road course he hasn’t particularly stood out at in the past. The No. 9 team earned its best qualifying position of the season in third. One cause for concern — and the primary reason why I’m putting him as the first car outside of my lineup — is he ranked ninth out of the 12 cars to make a 10-lap run. It’s understandable if you elect to start him. 

FALLING: Never did I think AJ Allmendinger wouldn’t make my lineup at a road course as an active Cup Series competitor. But he showed irritation with the speed of his No. 16 Chevrolet. He seemed flabbergasted at the lack of pace as he qualified 26th. He didn’t even think the team could pull strategy to get him to the front at some point on Sunday. This is on par with how Allmendinger performed at the Chicago Street Course as he was a non-factor there, too.  

All season long on road courses, Austin Cindric and Team Penske have struggled to be among the frontrunners. That’s quite surprising for how Cindric’s skills mesh with road courses and his success as a rookie last year. The No. 2 team has a pair of top-10 finishes in the three road courses this season but hasn’t spent much time inside the top five. The bad news for this weekend is Cindric was frustrated with qualifying 20th. On the positive side, he felt better about his race pace.

FEATURED MATCHUPS:  

Tyler Reddick vs. Chase Elliott: Having been stout on road courses for more than a year, Reddick seemed to take the throne of the best road-course racer in NASCAR. Elliott had that title before him, winning seven times when turning left and right. With a strong showing in qualifying, the gap has shrunk, but would still lean towards the No. 45 car, as Reddick looked to have a consistent car on the short and long runs.

Chris Buescher vs. Martin Truex Jr.: Neither driver made the final qualifying round, but both drivers were pleased with their cars. Truex said he typically starts between 12th to 18th on road courses before charging to the front. Meanwhile, Buescher based his opinions on having a fast race car last year at the Indianapolis road course and started just one position better. It wouldn’t be surprising to see either driver contend for the win, but I do think Buescher extends his top-10 streak on road courses. He’s the pick, though Truex won at Sonoma in June.

Shane van Gisbergen vs. Brodie Kostecki: Both Supercar drivers showed promise in qualifying, especially Kostecki, who was only able to run two laps in practice due to an issue with his throttle. When going out to attempt to break into the final round of qualifying, the No. 33 Chevrolet lost control in Turn 11 and wrecked. Van Gisbergen remained steady, heel-and-toeing his war around the course. He very well could be in contention for his second Cup win in as many tries on Sunday. Stick with the No. 91 car. 

Justin Haley vs. Michael McDowell: Anything can happen in racing, but it’s going to be a tall order for Haley to outrun McDowell at the Indianapolis road course. Haley is a capable driver, finishing runner-up to van Gisbergen at Chicago last month, but the No. 34 car was fastest in practice and backed that up in the first round of qualifying. He was irritated to only turn the fourth-quickest speed in the final round. McDowell could also win on Sunday, and he might have to as Suárez, Elliott, Alex Bowman, and Ty Gibbs – all drivers near the elimination line – are starting inside the top 10.

Posted on by Staff Report

This week’s race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course has a wide-open feel to it. Not only are there several international stars like Chicago Street Race winner Shane van Gisbergen participating, but there are also seven drivers who sit below the playoff elimination line who have strong road-course resumés.

FANTASY LIVE: Set your roster | Weekend schedule

Those drivers include Chase Elliott, who is a seven-time road-course winner; AJ Allmendinger, who won in 2021 at the Indy Road Course; and Michael McDowell, who leads all drivers in points earned on road courses since NASCAR switched to the Next Gen car.

Add to those Daniel Suárez, who ranks fifth in laps run in the top five on road courses this year; Alex Bowman, a two-time road-course runner-up; Austin Cindric, one of two drivers to finish in the top 10 in both Indy Road Course races; and Justin Haley, a runner-up at Chicago.

This could be the week where the playoff picture truly gets a facelift.

So be sure to tune in to Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) and see if chaos ensues with just three regular-season races left in 2023.

OTHERS TO WATCH

TYLER REDDICK: If the team can improve on pit road, Reddick will be in the running for the checkered flag. He won at Circuit of The Americas earlier this season and has the highest total of fastest laps run on road courses in 2023 (only green-flag laps).

CHRIS BUESCHER:  The recent back-to-back winner has the longest active streak with eight straight top 10s in road-course races. Could he make it three wins in a row?

KYLE BUSCH: After a last-place finish at Michigan, Busch can look forward to the fact he has finished in the top five in the last four road-course races.

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: He leads the standings by 57 points over the next closest competitor (Denny Hamlin), and he has the second-most laps run in the top five at road courses this year with 135.

KYLE LARSON: He has four career road-course wins, which is among the active leaders.

Projections as of Sunday, Aug. 13.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD

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
145Tyler Reddick
25Kyle Larson
317Chris Buescher
416AJ Allmendinger
59Chase Elliott
691Shane van Gisbergen
78Kyle Busch
834Michael McDowell
919Martin Truex Jr.
1020Christopher Bell
1124William Byron
1222Joey Logano
1311Denny Hamlin
142Austin Cindric
1599Daniel Suárez
1654Ty Gibbs
174Kevin Harvick
181Ross Chastain
1912Ryan Blaney
2048Alex Bowman
2131Justin Haley
226Brad Keselowski
2314Chase Briscoe
2443Erik Jones
2523Bubba Wallace
263Austin Dillon
2738Todd Gilliland
2847Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
297Corey LaJoie
3041Ryan Preece
3121Harrison Burton
3210Aric Almirola
3315Jenson Button
3477Ty Dillon
3578Josh Bilicki
3642Mike Rockenfeller
3751Andy Lally
3833Brodie Kostecki
3967Kamui Kobayashi

Posted on by Zack Albert

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Dueling rallies Saturday evening at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course netted out to a break-even sort of day on the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff bubble.

Parker Kligerman gained a single point in his bid to overtake Sheldon Creed for the final provisional spot in the 12-driver postseason field as both drivers emerged with top-10 finishes in Saturday’s Pennzoil 150 presented by Advance Auto Parts. Both overcame their own dose of adversity to virtually hold serve with four regular-season races remaining.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Indy

Kligerman started 12th and raced to take fourth in the opening stage to collect valuable stage points. But an unplanned stop after contact knocked out a valve stem on a left-side tire on his Big Machine Racing No. 48 Chevrolet slowed his efforts in Stage 2. He made it all the way back to seventh by the time darkness and the checkered flag fell.

“Obviously, the flat tire was just unfortunate,” said Kligerman, who is now 18 points below the elimination line. “Green-flag stop, it killed us. We lost all our track position, and we just had to motor our way on through. Big Machine Racing just buckled down on that run. I don’t know how many cars we passed. It had to be a lot. You know, we had speed. We keep doing that, we’ve just got to execute better.”

While Kligerman was mired further back, Creed matched his fourth-place finish in Stage 2 to offset his competitor’s stage-point gain. But Creed’s charge was upended when he pitted on Lap 44 out of 62, entering just after pit road had closed for the stalled No. 34 entry of Andre Castro. The penalty knocked his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevy back in the running, and his comeback put him eighth in the final order.

“Not fun. I hate racing for points,” Creed said of the spot he’s in. “But at the end of the day, we just need to go run — what do we have, four left? — we’re just gonna go run four good races. Today was honestly a really good race for us, other than coming in and pitting when the light came on. Other than that, I felt like we executed really well. Our car was really fast. I thought we were definitely a top-five car.”

MORE: What to Watch: Indianapolis

The Xfinity Series heads to Watkins Glen International next Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Creed’s top-10 result was his first in eight races, but Kligerman has had a more pronounced rise, placing ninth, second, eighth and seventh in his last four starts.

“It’s funny, right? Like you get to this time of season, everyone buckles down, so all our competitors are doing the same thing,” Kligerman said. “We’re just all in the zone, clicking off finishes. … I mean, it’s great momentum. It keeps us in the fight, it keeps the pressure on, and I think every track ahead of us is a place we can go run top 10 or top five, so I’m confident we’re gonna make the playoffs.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — In Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, the fastest car met superior strategy.

In this case, the fastest car — Ty Gibbs’ No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota — decisively won the battle over the craftiness of AJ Allmendinger as the two full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers stole the show — and potential playoff points — from Xfinity regulars in the Pennzoil 150 presented by Advance Auto Parts.

Allmendinger, the pole winner, parlayed pit strategy into a pair of stage wins, but Gibbs charged ahead after a restart with 16 of 62 laps left and beat Sam Mayer to the finish line by 7.959 seconds at the 2.439, 14-turn circuit. Mayer passed a disappointed Allmendinger for the runner-up spot on the penultimate lap.

The victory was the first of the season for Gibbs, who won last year’s Xfinity title before moving up to his full-time Cup ride. It was his first victory on the Indy road course and his 12th win in 58 starts in the series.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

“Awesome car—great car—thank you, (crew chief) Jason Ratcliff,” exulted Gibbs, who will try to hold onto the final Playoff-eligible position in Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard Cup Series race (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

“I raced go-karts down the street with a bunch of kids… it’s really special.”

His strategy for Sunday is uncomplicated.

“Just have a good car, set the car upright and go win,” Gibbs said.

Mayer, who won the first Xfinity Series race of his career on July 29 at Road America, was satisfied with second on Saturday.

“That was all I had right there to catch the 10 (Allmendinger) and get us some more points,” said Mayer, who scored his fourth straight top-five finish. “I’m really proud of our guys here today. Our Chevrolet was really fast. But a lot of positivity going into the next couple of weeks because we are clicking off top fives like it’s easy.

“These road courses have been good to us the last couple of weeks—and the ovals are just as good. I’m looking forward to what we have going into (Watkins) Glen next week and then a bunch of ovals after that.”

WATCH: Gibbs discusses Xfinity win at Indy: ‘Definitely about time’

Series leader Austin Hill finished fourth, followed by Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer and Parker Kligerman, Sheldon Creed, Kaz Grala and Brett Moffitt to complete the top 10. Allgaier clinched a spot in the Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Allmendinger started from the pole but surrendered the lead to Ty Gibbs on Lap 3. Gibbs remained out front until lightning in the area forced NASCAR to red-flag the race at 6:04 p.m. ET.

During the delay, rain soaked the track, but the skies began to clear before the cars restarted. A strategic call by Allmendinger put the driver of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet back in the lead.

Before the field took the green flag after the resumption of the race, Allmendinger and Mayer pitted for slick tires while the vast majority of the field stayed on slower-treaded rain tires.

Allmendinger rapidly gained ground from the back of the field, and after Gibbs pitted for slicks on lap 14, Allmendinger held a lead of more than 16 seconds in the exchange. He lost just over one second of that advantage before Brad Perez’s Chevrolet stopped on the track on Lap 27 to cause the second caution of the afternoon.

“We were never fast enough to win the race,” Allmendinger said. “I thought Ty was the class of the field… We got in a good rhythm there, maybe if it would’ve stayed green. We just needed a 52-lap green run there to win today.”

In short order after a restart on Lap 31, Allmendinger regained the lead from Mayer, who had stayed out on older tires during the caution.

Gibbs restarted three positions deeper in the field than Allmendinger and began to close the gap to the leader. After Gibbs out-braked Mayer into Turn 7 and took the second spot on Lap 38, he trailed Allmendinger by 3.049 seconds.

MORE: Xfinity Series standings

When both Allmendinger and Gibbs pitted for tires and fuel on Lap 43, however, Gibbs won the race off pit road right before NASCAR called the third caution when Andre Castro stopped on the track.

On the subsequent restart on Lap 47, Gibbs, who led a race-high 28 laps, pulled out to an immediate advantage and expanded it the rest of the way.

The Xfinity Series will tackle another road course for the second consecutive weekend in a row, with the field racing in the Shriners Children’s 200 at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 19 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Note: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Gibbs as the race winner.

Contributing: Staff Reports

Posted on by Zack Albert

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Indianapolis Motor Speedway has thrown William Byron plenty of curves ever since the road-course layout was introduced to NASCAR Cup Series competition. The latest hazard has the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver operating at a deficit before the green flag falls.

Byron will serve a pass-through penalty on Indy’s long pit road after the start of Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App) after his car failed Friday’s pre-qualifying inspection three times. Byron was not permitted to qualify Saturday, and he’ll start last in the 39-car field — short his car chief and pit-stall selection.

The notification reached the 25-year-old driver as he was trying to satisfy his hunger.

“I was really excited to get here to the track and then got that message and had to regroup,” Byron said. “I was actually going to get some Jimmy John’s, so I was going through the drive-thru and wasn’t the happiest customer. But it is what it is. It’s life and things happen, and we move on.”

RELATED: Starting lineup | What to Watch: Indy

Byron was actually the pole winner for the Cup Series’ first race on the Indy road-course circuit back in 2021. Things have gone south since. His race results here the last two times out have been sub-30th finishes, both abbreviated by crashes, and last year’s race weekend had an ominous start with the No. 24 team’s hauler catching fire on load-in day, forcing the crew to scramble before practice and qualifying.

Byron found a slight silver lining with this year’s version of misfortune, noting how he’ll likely be running alone on the track, outside of the main pack after serving his penalty. “I think it’d be kind of peaceful, right? I mean, just feels like I’m in the lead, but I’m not,” he said with a laugh, adding that his team will do its best to adjust.

“It’s certainly not the circumstances that we wanted to have,” said Byron, who was ninth on Saturday’s practice speed chart. “We wanted to come in here, have a solid practice, qualifying, go into the race, but it is what’s happened and it’s unfortunate and we just have to try to be as efficient as we can to start the race, try to work our way through that, not make any mistakes on the on the pass-through, make sure we don’t speed on pit road or anything like that. Then I think the strategy and the overall pace of our car has been good, so we’ve just got to work the strategy to suit the pace of our car. … So, felt good about our car in practice. And like I said, it stinks the circumstances, but it’s what we got.”

MORE: Weekend schedule

The big-picture circumstances outside of the race weekend are more positive, as Byron continues to lead the Cup Series with four wins this season. It’s not the test of resilience that his team wanted, but Byron says he’s eager to see how the No. 24 group rebounds.

“I think our competitors look at us to see what we’re going to do in these situations. So I think it’s great. The spotlight’s on,” Byron said. “We’re going to go out there and try to overcome the adversity as best we can. I’m sure those guys, if we show up in the top five late, they’re probably going to be like, ‘How did they do that?’ “

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Everyone knows auto racing can be a dangerous sport, but in Kevin Harvick’s case, it was a staircase that did the damage. 

During NASCAR’s off week in June, Kevin Harvick accompanied his son Keelan to Italy, where Keelan, then 10 years old, was racing go-karts.

RELATED: Indy weekend schedule | Sunday’s starting lineup

“I fell down a flight of steps in Italy and had a stack of busted ribs for several weeks,” Harvick acknowledged Saturday to the surprise of the assembled media at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

So Harvick was driving with cracked ribs at Nashville and Chicago without making the news public—a very Earnhardt-like thing to do. 

Now in his final season of NASCAR Cup racing, Harvick feels a special fondness for Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he won three times on the oval.  

“My last race on the oval I won, so I feel pretty good about that,” said Harvick, who won the Brickyard 400 in 2003, 2019 and 2020. “It just kind of ended up that way.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Daniel Suárez had a pragmatic outlook on his playoff pursuit Friday, shortly after his arrival for NASCAR’s race weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The driver of Trackhouse Racing’s No. 99 Chevrolet enters Sunday’s race just five points outside of the postseason field with three regular-season events left, insisting he wasn’t stressing the points margin even if “it’s impossible not to look.”

A day later, Suárez’s pole-winning outcome in Saturday’s qualifying session changed his tune slightly and could shift the Cup Series Playoffs picture if the results follow suit. Keeping close tabs on his fellow postseason hopefuls during the course of Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App) doesn’t appear to be part of his plan.

“I don’t care. They have to worry about the 99,” said Suárez, who enjoyed a 29-point rise in the playoff standings after last week’s race at Michigan. “I mean, I say I don’t care, but in reality, I care like 0.5%, so I care very little.”

RELATED: Weekend schedule | At-track photos: Indy

Suárez aims to sustain some of his momentum as the fight for the playoffs clicks down to its final three rounds. That path winds its way from Indianapolis to Watkins Glen and Daytona in the following weekends, presenting a closing stretch of two road courses and a superspeedway — venues where a driver’s good fortunes can turn sour in a snap.

Veterans Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski have the potential to clinch playoff berths on the basis of points this weekend. Their cushion remains steady, and those two should join the 12 regular-season winners as locks in the playoff field of 16.

That leaves two spots up for grabs, with Bubba Wallace leading the group of drivers in contention, ranking 58 points above the provisional elimination line. He joked Saturday that he’s also rooting for 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick — a road-course pro — to win the next two weekends, which would prevent a new winner from muddying the playoff picture and hurting his cause.

Wallace admits road racing is not his strongest suit, but that his best efforts at the discipline have come at Indianapolis. He’s also made a conscious effort to block out any of the pressures that could accompany his bid for his first playoff appearance.

“When you don’t give a damn about things that makes things fun, right?” Wallace said. “You start thinking and overthinking and that dials yourself right out and it’s not fun. So I’m a damn good person at overthinking things, especially when it comes to road-course racing and taking the fun right out of it. You just gotta go out and get back to the basics.”

Just behind Wallace is a thicket of challengers, with four drivers separated by 24 points. Rookie Ty Gibbs is now the provisional last driver in, clinging to the 16th spot by three points over Michael McDowell. Further back are Suárez (minus-5) and AJ Allmendinger (minus-24).

MORE: Sunday’s starting lineup | What to Watch: Indy

McDowell nearly matched his best qualifying effort of the season, and his mild frustration with landing the fourth starting spot speaks to how well his Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford team has performed of late. He enters this pivotal three-race stretch with his contract status secured for 2024 — both he and teammate Todd Gilliland will be back with FRM — and a plan to maximize the team’s Indy output.

“I feel like we need to run top five in all the stages and finish in the top five to have some points, and we’ll need a couple of those guys not to have a great run,” McDowell said. “Obviously, with Daniel starting on the pole, they’ll have a good shot at a lot of points tomorrow in especially that first stage. So I don’t know. We’ll see how it all plays out. I mean, the good news is we have the speed. We’ve just got to execute, stay in the fight and see what happens.”

Allmendinger was downbeat Saturday after an uncharacteristically subpar qualifying effort. The road-racing ace was asked what he was combating in his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet and his answer was blunt: “Speed.” He’ll start 26th in Sunday’s 200-miler, and is a former winner at both Indy and Watkins Glen.

“Just fighting speed. I thought practice was a little bit better. We just completely missed the balance in qualifying there,” Allmendinger said. “With the field that we’ve got now, if you miss it a little bit, it’s not about making a top 10, top 12 out of it. You’re buried in the field.”