See where your favorite driver will pit during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
RELATED: Starting lineup | Key story lines, news | At-track photos
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — NASCAR Cup Series regulars and their international guests in the field this weekend are bracing for each other. It’s still a relative novelty, but road-course weekends that have attracted standouts from far-flung places and other racing series across the globe are becoming a more regular occurrence.
There’s still something special, though, about the world-class feel of the build-up to Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Drivers from seven countries with championship pedigrees from Formula 1, IMSA, Australian V8 Supercars and the World Endurance Championship (WEC) will be on the Brickyard grid, blending in with the range of talent from NASCAR’s top level.
“More eyeballs on Indianapolis this weekend,” said Cup Series points leader Martin Truex Jr., “so it’s good for all of us.”
RELATED: Weekend schedule | At-track photos: Indy
Chicago Street Race winner Shane van Gisbergen will be making a return trip to the stock-car scene one month after his stunning victorious debut. Garage 56 teammates Jenson Button and Mike Rockenfeller will be back on the Cup Series grid, and Brodie Kostecki and Kamui Kobayashi are set to make their series debut.
The Cup Series drivers who have convened at Indy this weekend as part of their season-long campaign have largely welcomed the additional competition and the extra attention from other parts of the world. But they’re also wary of their talent level, so the odds of SVG or another of his international peers contending shouldn’t come as a surprise. The new faces in the field should also keep the stock-car regulars on their toes.
“That’s the big thing. I’m gonna be asking probably, ‘Who’s in that thing?’ I’m gonna forget,” said Ryan Blaney, driver of Team Penske’s No. 12 Ford. “But no, I think it’s great. I think it’s fantastic that Shane’s back, Brodie’s racing, Kamui’s racing. I mean, that’s fantastic. I’ve been watching Kamui in F1 for a while, so that’s super cool, and Jenson’s back. So yeah, I don’t know if it necessarily feels bigger from my side. It’s cool to have a lot of different drivers from all different backgrounds and countries and stuff like that. That’s really, really cool for the sport. It brings a lot more, kind of different nations watching us, I think because maybe that’s your guy from where you’re from.”
Pole qualifying produced a mixed bag for the foreign dignitaries, with only van Gisbergen making the final round and clinching the eighth starting spot for his No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. Kostecki, a fellow Supercars competitor Down Under, qualified 11th but damaged his No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevy through Turns 11 and 12 during the session. Kobayashi (28th), Button (31st) and Rockenfeller (37th) will start further back.
While Cup Series regulars held their own in Saturday’s time trials, they still said to expect a challenge come Sunday. Van Gisbergen’s Chicago showing on a street layout that was new for everyone was remarkable, but the modest familiarity that NASCAR’s usual crowd has on Indy’s 2.439-mile road-race circuit may improve their footing.
“Just other drivers from other disciplines, jumping into these cars, and doing what they do is impressive, for sure,” said Tyler Reddick, who starts second Sunday in defense of last year’s Indy road course win. “What Shane did at Chicago certainly caught some by surprise, with his background, with the Australian V8 Supercars, and the street courses he’s run in his career, it was cool to see him come in there and show us how much learning we have to do when it comes to street-course racing. But when we go to Indy, it’s a track that we’ve raced at, and this will be our third time, so we have some experience for sure.”
MORE: Sunday’s starting lineup | What to Watch: Indy
That suggestion that the Cup Series field had catching-up to do after Chicago was a sentiment shared by former champ Kyle Larson post-race.
“I felt like we were pretty comfortable with Chicago, but obviously not to his level, so I still think he’s going to be super good here,” Larson said before qualifying sixth for Sunday’s race, a row up from SVG. “I would not be surprised if he’s even faster than all of us by more than it was in Chicago, just because it’s gonna be way easier for him to get around here than it probably was in Chicago, too. So yeah, he’s an extremely talented race car driver, so I’m glad that he’s able to come back because I think at the time, Chicago was the only one (he had) scheduled. Cool that they were able to get him back here in the field that’s got a lot of ringers in it this week. So that’s exciting, and I think all of us drivers enjoy racing with them, and I think the fans should enjoy having them as a part of the field as well.”
Part of their welcome will involve the close-quarters racing inherent to stock-car competition but also the full-contact effect of restarts — especially those that fall during the later laps. That’s what the international group is bracing for.
“Yeah, I was actually very scared after I found out I was doing this race,” Kostecki said. “I went back through the last two years and went to study pretty quickly how the race sort of played out and what it was like into Turn 1.”
New restart-zone procedures — implemented at the suggestion of the drivers — should help to mitigate some of the first-turn stacking that has thrown previous runnings of the event into disarray. But the nature of putting full-bodied cars through their paces on the tight course still has the newcomers’ defenses up.
“When I spoke to Jenson about NASCAR, he said these guys are fighting all of the way, and you have to be ready,” said Kobayashi. “… Still, I’m looking forward to this weekend, especially my first race in NASCAR. I’ve been definitely looking forward to it. I will do my best. It’s hard to say what that will be, but I think it will definitely be a challenging next two days.”
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Needing a strong performance on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course to bolster his playoff hopes, Daniel Suárez got off to the best possible start on Saturday.
Touring the 2.439-mile, 14-turn circuit in 87.968 seconds (99.814 mph) in his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, Suárez earned the pole position for Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
Suárez beat defending race winner Tyler Reddick (99.649 mph) by a substantial margin — 0.145 seconds — to secure his first Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his first at the Indy Road Course and the third of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
RELATED: Qualifying results | Weekend schedule
With three races left before the playoff field is set, Suárez is 18th in the Cup Series standings, five points behind Ty Gibbs in 16th, the last playoff-eligible position. Gibbs qualified 10th on Saturday, last among those who advanced to the final round.
“I think the mentality on the 99 team hasn’t changed the last couple of months,” Suárez said. “We have to continue to focus on one race at a time, try to maximize the potential of the race car and try to win a race if it’s possible.
“The energy has been great. The guys have been working very hard. I’ve been working very hard, and it shows.”
Chase Elliott, 55 points below the elimination line and realistically needing a victory to advance, qualified third at 99.399 mph.
“These things can go all sorts of different ways, but it is nice to have good track position, always,” Elliott said. “As time has gone on, it’s getting tougher and tougher to pass the leader, especially late in the race.”
MORE: Playoff Watch | Cup standings
Michael McDowell, two points ahead of Suárez and 17th in the standings, will start fourth after a lap at 99.288 mph.
McDowell posted the fastest lap of the day at 99.881 mph in the first round.
“That’s what we needed to do — qualify in the top five and now race in the top five, score stage points and be there in the end to steal the win,” McDowell said. “Let’s see what happens. You don’t know until you get out there and get to race pace.
“Our long-run speed was good in practice — as long as you could run in 10 laps. But we’ll see what happens when we get into a 20-lap run, and we stack up. But I feel good where we are.”
Kyle Busch earned the fifth spot on the grid, followed by Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and Chicago Street Course winner Shane van Gisbergen of New Zealand. Alex Bowman will start ninth on Sunday with a time identical to that of Gibbs — 88.606 seconds.
Australian Brodie Kostecki claimed the 11th starting position for his Cup debut, but he slid into the outside wall and damaged his No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Ford during a second attempt at a lap in the first round.
Michael McDowell fastest during practice
Front Row Motorsports led the field during the practice portion, with the No. 34 of McDowell setting the pace ahead of Kyle Larson, FRM teammate Todd Gilliland, Ty Gibbs and Alex Bowman. Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suárez, William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top 10.
MORE: Cup Series practice results
McDowell wheeled a best lap of 98.516 mph for a time of 89.127 seconds.
Contributing: Staff reports
CLERMONT, Ind.—Ty Majeski’s timing was impeccable.
Winless this season before Friday night’s TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Majseki put an old-fashioned beating on the rest of the field in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff opener.
RELATED: Race results | See photos from weekend
The driver of the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford cemented a spot in the Round of 8 in dominating fashion, leading 179 of 200 laps, sweeping the first two stages of the race and beating pole winner and runner-up Christian Eckes to the finish line by 3.422 seconds.
That was the smallest margin Majeski held at the end of any stage. He held a 3.904-second advantage over eventual eighth-place finisher Corey Heim at the finish of Stage 1. He was up by six seconds over Heim before the second stage ended under caution for Chris Hacker’s spin on the backstretch.
Clearly, the short-track ace was in his element at the 0.686-mile speedway.
“I’m proud of the effort, but this is just the start of our playoff run,” said Majeski, who failed to win with the fastest truck two weekends ago at Richmond.
In that race, Majeski sped on pit road, and his team failed to cover a late green-flag pit stop by race winner Carson Hocevar. In contrast, the effort of the entire No. 98 team was impeccable on Friday night.
“Mistakes really cost us (at Richmond),” Majeski said. “We learned from those. Obviously, tonight we were in a really similar situation, and we were able to execute on all fronts. The pit crew was great, (crew chief) Joe (Shear Jr.) made great calls, and I felt like I executed pretty good on the restarts.
“We put it all together as a race team tonight, and I’m pretty proud of that.”
Hocevar came home fourth behind non-playoff driver Layne Riggs. Reigning series champion Zane Smith was fifth after starting from the rear of the field because of unapproved adjustments to his No. 38 Ford.
William Sawalich was a career-best sixth in his fourth Truck Series start, followed by fellow non-playoff driver Rajah Caruth. Heim, in eighth, was penalized for too many men over the wall late in the race. Three-time series champion Matt Crafton and Matt DiBenedetto completed the top 10.
The race also was a triumph for another driver who never led a lap and finished 19th in the first car one lap down. Shane van Gisbergen, who took the NASCAR world by storm by winning the Chicago Street Race in his only Cup start, avoided all trouble and got plenty of seat time in his first trip around an oval.
“It was awesome,” said the New Zealander. “With 10 to go, I finally dropped off the lead lap. “I had a ball. It was awesome racing with people, a lot of fun… I’m living the dream, it was really cool, and everyone was respectful. It was awesome.”
MORE: Truck Series standings
Heim, the regular-season champion, retained the series lead by three points over Majeski.
After the next two races—at the Milwaukee Mile (Aug. 27) and Kansas Speedway (Sept. 8)—the playoff field will be cut from 10 drivers to eight. The two drivers currently below the cut line are Crafton and DiBenedetto, who trail eighth-place Nick Sanchez by two points and three points, respectively.
Note: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue in the Craftsman Truck Series garage, confirming Majeski as the winner.
William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet failed Friday’s pre-race inspection at the Indianapolis Road Course.
Due to failing three times, Byron will not be allowed to participate in Saturday’s qualifying session and will have to serve a pass-through penalty on pit road after completing the opening lap during Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). The No. 24 team also loses car chief Tyler Jones for the weekend and will not get pit selection for Sunday.
RELATED: Cup standings | Indy schedule
Byron leads all Cup Series drivers with four wins in the 2023 season and currently sits third in the points standings, 96 points behind Martin Truex Jr. in the battle for the coveted regular-season title that awards 15 playoff points to the winner.
Since winning at Atlanta last month, Byron has finished outside the top 10 in four consecutive races.
The NASCAR Cup Series playoff bubble is hotly contested with three races to go in the regular season. In a unique twist, road-course aces make up a large chunk of drivers still aiming to clinch a berth into the 16-driver field, including Michael McDowell, Daniel Suárez and AJ Allmendinger. The drama will surely intensify with the Indianapolis Road Course and Watkins Glen making up two of the final three races.
Entering Indy on Sunday, 12 drivers had locked themselves into the postseason with a victory, leaving four spots still up for grabs. When the field takes the green flag for the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), a handful of big names still have yet to solidify their playoff position. See who currently sits just above the elimination line, just below and on the outside looking in with stats provided by Racing Insights.
RELATED: Cup standings | Clinching scenarios at Indy
✅ DRIVERS ABOVE ELIMINATION LINE
BUBBA WALLACE
Points above: 58
Trending: Cold
Indy outlook — Hit or Miss: As far as road courses go, Indianapolis might be Wallace’s best. He finished 13th in the inaugural event in 2021 and earned his first top-five finish on a road course last season. However, Wallace has finished 17th or worse in the last three road-course events.
TY GIBBS
Points above: 3
Trending: Mostly Cold
Indy outlook — Cold Start: Gibbs finished 17th in his first Cup start on the Indy road course, but he owns top 10s in two of the three road-course races this season. Don’t be surprised if he’s running up front on Sunday.
☣️ ON THE BUBBLE
MICHAEL MCDOWELL
Points below: 3
Trending: Cold
Indy outlook — Hit or Miss: McDowell fell below the top 16 after a 24th-place showing at Michigan. But a pair of road courses upcoming could easily put him back on the positive side of the elimination line. McDowell’s worst finish on a road course this season was 12th at Circuit of The Americas. Last season, McDowell finished eighth at Indy.
DANIEL SUÁREZ
Points below: 5
Trending: Michigan Snapped Cold Streak
Indy outlook — Ice Cold: Suárez was caught up in multiple incidents over the last two races on the Indy Road Course. He’s finished no better than 28th on the layout, and he only has a best finish of 22nd on a road course this season (Sonoma).
AJ ALLMENDINGER
Points below: 24
Trending: Cold
Indy outlook — Hot: Allmendinger was the inaugural winner of the Indianapolis Road Course race and finished seventh on the circuit last year. However, he has just one top-10 finish on a road course this year — Sonoma (sixth).
ALEX BOWMAN
Points below: 44
Trending: Cold
Indy outlook — Cold: What was looking like a great points day for Bowman was for naught as an incident in the final stage at Michigan forced the No. 48 Chevrolet to the garage. Bowman is likely in a must-win situation, but the Indy Road Course doesn’t trend in his favor with only a best finish of 17th in the inaugural event.
🚩 MUST-WIN SITUATION
AUSTIN CINDRIC
Points below: 53
Trending: Cold
Indy outlook — Hot: The next two weeks are going to be Cindric’s best chances to earn his way into the postseason. He was the runner-up at Indy last year and is just one of two drivers (Allmendinger) to own top 10s in the first two races on the road course.
CHASE ELLIOTT
Points below: 55
Trending: Cold
Indy outlook — Hit or Miss: A DNF in the first stage at Michigan has put the 2020 Cup champion in a must-win scenario for the final three weeks of the regular season. Luckily for Elliott, he’s one of the best Cup drivers on road courses with top fives on the last two road courses and seven career victories on left-and right-turn tracks.
MORE: Check out NASCAR’s all-time winners on road courses
JUSTIN HALEY
Points below: 72
Trending: Cold
Indy outlook — Hit or Miss: Haley nearly shocked the Cup Series field after leading late at Chicago before Shane van Gisbergen took control in the final laps. Haley owns a top-10 finish on the Indy Road Course, but he’ll need to find Victory Lane to make the postseason.
ARIC ALMIROLA
Points below: 81
Trending: Mostly Cold
Indy outlook — Cold: Almirola finished 38th (DNF) last year on the Indy Road Course and has 20 consecutive finishes of 12th or worse on road courses.
RYAN PREECE
Points below: 89
Trending: Mostly Cold
Indy outlook — Cold: Preece owns only one Cup start on the Indy Road Course, a 35th-place finish in 2021. He has nine straight finishes of 13th or worse on road courses.
Kamui Kobayashi hasn’t turned a lap yet in NASCAR Cup Series competition, but he’s already found a home with 23XI Racing. The Japanese endurance-racing star shadowed the team for the inaugural Chicago Street Race weekend and has already made multiple visits to the Mooresville, North Carolina, shop to become better acquainted with the stock-car operations.
But there was one finishing touch needed to help make him look the part. When asked in a video teleconference earlier this week how the team co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin had made him feel welcome, Kobayashi turned the screen and lifted his feet into view, revealing a new release — the Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG in neutral ‘washed black’ hues.
Now properly shoed, Kobayashi is gearing up for his Cup Series debut in Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App). Drivers from seven countries will compete in this weekend’s event, and Kobayashi will be the first Japanese driver to wheel a Toyota in Cup Series competition, taking the reins of 23XI’s No. 67 TRD Camry.
RELATED: Weekend schedule | Indianapolis 101
The deal was announced in June at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports raced as the Garage 56 entrant, and where Kobayashi competed for the overall crown for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar class. The 36-year-old driver has experience in formula cars and is a WEC champion twice over, but the chance to drive in NASCAR’s top series has been a long-sought wish.
“I was asking so many times, like back three, four years ago,” Kobayashi said. “I asked to drive the simulator with NASCAR, and many times asked to get an opportunity. It was never really happening, but somehow this time, it’s now an opportunity. As you know, I think now many global drivers are trying NASCAR and they’ve been quite successful.”
Shane van Gisbergen showed how well standouts from international motorsports disciplines could fare, and the New Zealander dazzled the stock-car crowd in winning the Chicago race with Trackhouse Racing his first time out.
SVG’s return for Indy to join the likes of Jenson Button, Brodie Kostecki, Mike Rockenfeller and Kobayashi in the field has made this weekend’s event feel like a showcase. 23XI Racing team president Steve Lauletta said his organization is happy to contribute to the world-class feel, adding Kobayashi to its roster for the event alongside Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.
“Well, it is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, right? One of, if not the most iconic race tracks in the world, certainly on that short list, so you would expect it to have that level of interest,” Lauletta told NASCAR.com. “Then when you throw some of these global motorsports stars into the mix, it definitely adds more interest, shines a brighter light on the sport, which we all want to see happen, and I think it’s great that we could be part of that.”
***
Recent months have been busy for Kobayashi, ever since Toyota placed its first calls to 23XI to gauge the team’s interest. His participation in team activities in July at Chicago was in-depth — walking the track, sitting in on debriefs, adding his insights based on his experience with wet-weather driving and how to apply it to Cup Series cars.
The weekend after Chicago, Kobayashi made his way to Italy to lead the No. 7 Toyota team to victory in the WEC’s 6 Hours of Monza. He was back stateside soon thereafter to resume his NASCAR immersion. “That’s just been his dedication to do it the right way,” Lauletta says. “It’s been really fun to watch.”
MORE: Paint Scheme Preview: Indianapolis
The preparation included a trip to Virginia International Raceway on July 19, when Kobayashi made his first Next Gen laps in a special test. Reddick, the defending Indy Road Course winner and his 23XI teammate, accompanied the team to provide feedback and pointers.
For Reddick, it was light-duty work.
“It didn’t take long at all,” Reddick told NASCAR.com, noting how soon Kobayashi found speed. “I was really impressed, just by how quickly he took to adjusting to the car. I mean, it was Lap 3 running pretty much what we thought the pace was going to be for the weekend, and then he just continued to shave seconds off that as we went. So just really impressed by his car control, his feel for the limit of this car, of the tire.”
Finding a rhythm with a heavier car is one aspect of Kobayashi’s learning curve, but another is the full-contact driving style that he can expect — especially on late-race restarts, and especially as the field funnels into the tight first turn with momentum from the main straightaway. Visiting drivers experienced that in March at Circuit of The Americas, and IMSA champion Jordan Taylor was among those who said “The aggression definitely caught me off guard. I think I had more contact today in one race than probably my entire career combined.”
Reddick was able to steer clear of the late-race chaos at COTA to score the win. Part of his work with Kobayashi has been to prepare him for the sometimes-bruising nature of NASCAR road-course racing. Kobayashi seems to grasp it, saying, “It’s big drama every time.”
“We’ve been going over that some, and that will continue to be a topic as we get closer,” Reddick said. “Certainly it’s a little bit more chaotic, drivers are just more aggressive, and there’s less penalty for contact over here in comparison to what he’s used to doing. These cars just don’t really take a lot of damage, when you have door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper contact. So just kind of walking him through that, getting him an understanding of that, will be important, but he kind of got to get a taste of how chaotic it can be in Chicago.”
The rest of the prep, Kobayashi says, boils down to studying the procedurals.
“Just, I need to do the best I can do,” he said. “It’s just small details which are different, like pit-lane speeds, obviously, the restarts — every little detail that might be a problem for me, but apart from that, I’m pretty confident.”
***
23XI Racing has fielded the No. 67 car in just one other race, placing action-sports dynamo Travis Pastrana in the seat for his year’s Daytona 500. Pastrana had just one full season of Xfinity Series competition 10 years ago but found his way to an 11th-place finish in his Cup Series debut.
The result was one positive aspect, but Lauletta said Pastrana’s participation brought a new audience to the NASCAR world. A similar expectation stems from Kobayashi’s first start, which he said has stirred up interest back in his home country.
WATCH: The Preview Show: Predicting Indy outcomes
David Wilson, Toyota Racing Development (TRD) USA president, said at the unveiling of the No. 67 effort at Le Mans that “we are absolutely open to using this as a platform to bring in other drivers on occasion.” He cautioned, however, that the challenge remained in doing it the right way. Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 initiative has taken a measured approach to highlighting international stars, and Sunday’s race will mark just its fourth start in two seasons — two for van Gisbergen and two for former F1 star Kimi Räikkönen. Lauletta said 23XI will also pick its spots where it makes the most sense.
“We think not only does it help us on the track because we’re learning things, particularly the races that we’re picking that will help our core programs of the 23 and the 45, it’s also helping us as a brand to kind of build our fan base and build our reach,” Lauletta says. “And so, when opportunities come up in the future, we don’t want to do it too often where we do start to take our eye off the ball of our two full-time championship-fighting efforts and race-winning efforts, but when an opportunity for those two things of on-track competition and learning and building our brand come about, we certainly now we’re comfortable enough that we have the infrastructure and the people that we can react.”
Having that support system in place is one matter; another is having the latest re-issue Air Jordan high-tops at the ready as a finishing touch.
“Just having gifts to welcome him to our team and have him feel like this is an important endeavor for us, we want them to feel like they’re part of the family,” Lauletta says. “So he’s been a joy, great to have around and just a professional in every way.”
That footwear bears Jordan’s name, but not his autograph. Not yet, anyway.
“I’m waiting for him to sign my shoes,” says Kobayashi, ready for his first meeting with his team co-owner and his first Cup Series start.
Everything you need to know for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Indianapolis, the 24th points-paying race of the 2023 Cup Series campaign.
Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | Indianapolis 101
📍 Location: Speedway, Indiana
📐 Track length: 2.439 miles
🎟️ Buy tickets: Find weekend passes, seats for the race
💰 Cup Series race purse: $9,158,803
📏 Race distance: 82 laps | 199.998 miles
🔢 Stages: 15 | 35 | 82
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🚪 Entry list: Cup Series drivers entered
📋 Starting lineup: Suárez on pole at Indy
🚗 Pit stall assignments: See where drivers will pit
🏆 Most recent winner: Tyler Reddick, summer 2022
Key things to watch 🔑
Saturday’s sessions
Entering the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course five points below the elimination line, Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez sent a strong message by taking the Busch Light Pole Award in qualifying. Suárez earns his third career NASCAR Cup Series pole at the most important time of the year as he hopes to solidify his spot in the postseason. The driver of the No. 99 Chevrolet will start alongside 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick. Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch complete the top-five starters. | Read the full practice, qualifying recap
Big story line
Can an international driver reach Victory Lane? Including the American-born drivers, seven countries will be represented in Sunday’s race. Joining Daniel Suárez (Mexico) in a field with an international flavor are Shane van Gisbergen (New Zealand), Brodie Kostecki (Australia), Jenson Button (United Kingdom), Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) and Mike Rockenfeller (Germany). In contention for a playoff spot, Suárez needs a win the most out of this group. The Trackhouse Racing driver is five points out from a postseason berth, with only three races remaining in the regular season. Prioritizing stage points will certainly help Suárez’s case as time runs out on the regular season, but a win at Indy would help him rest easier for the next couple of weeks. Chicago Street Course winner van Gisbergen makes his second career Cup Series start in Trackhouse’s Project 91 car, looking to win two races in two starts. Suárez and van Gisbergen are two of six foreign-born drivers to win a Cup Series race. Kostecki (Richard Childress Racing) and Kobayashi (23XI Racing) probably have the best chance of becoming the seventh international driver to win at the premier level, despite the huge challenges ahead in their Cup Series debuts. | Relive SVG’s history-making moment in Chicago
History tells us…
AJ Allmendinger will be someone to watch. Whenever NASCAR heads to a road course, Allmendinger is always one of the early favorites to win. In 2021, he gave Kaulig Racing the organization’s first and only win in the Cup Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Last year, he finished seventh. Entering Sunday’s race, Allmendinger is only one of two drivers to finish in the top 10 in both Indy road races. In his last seven road-course starts, the driver of the No. 16 Chevrolet has five top-1o finishes. More is on the line this year at Indy because Allmendinger is only 24 points below the elimination line. Given his comfort level at these types of tracks, Indy and next weekend at Watkins Glen seem like Allmendinger’s best chances to punch a ticket to the postseason by simply winning. The one possible paint point? His uncharacteristic 26th-place starting position. | Preview Show: Will a familiar face kiss the bricks?
He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…
Chris Buescher. With only a few weeks remaining until the 2023 Cup Series playoffs, RFK Racing is building plenty of momentum at the right time. Buescher comes to Indianapolis riding a two-race win streak, after visiting Victory Lane in back-to-back weeks at Richmond and Michigan. On Sunday, the No. 17 team could win its third consecutive Cup Series race. While Buescher enters the Indianapolis race weekend with 20-1 odds of taking the checkered flag again, his recent success on road courses means another win cannot be ruled out. The RFK driver currently has eight consecutive top-10 finishes on road courses, which is the longest streak among active drivers. Given Buescher’s hot streak the last couple of weeks, look for him to make it nine straight top 10s turning left and right, including a realistic shot at his third win of 2023. | Kyle Petty: ‘We are witnessing the birth of Chris Buescher’
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• At-track photos: See the best images from Indianapolis weekend | Photos
• Bubble Watch: Road-course aces get their chance to shine | See where drivers stand
• Paint Scheme Preview: See the schemes for Indianapolis | Pick a favorite
• Power Rankings: RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher gained four positions after going back-to-back at Richmond and Michigan | Latest driver rankings
• Stacking Pennies: Corey LaJoie chats with Australian Supercars driver Brodie Kostecki ahead of his Cup Series debut | Listen to the podcast
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🔮 Advance to Victory Lane: Racing Insights projects the finishing order
Prior to this season, 19-year-old Payton Talbot had never raced at a NASCAR track.
This summer, while racing at both the newly-NASCAR sanctioned Fonda Speedway and Utica-Rome Speedway in New York, he unexpectedly has found himself at the top of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division II national standings.
The South New Berlin, New York driver has six wins and 10 top fives in 12 races at Fonda, where he’s leading the points in the track’s Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman standings. At Utica-Rome, he has three wins and has finished in the top five in all nine races to also put himself in first in the Vernon, New York track’s Worthington Industries Crate 602 Sportsman standings.
“Honestly it’s been a breakout year for us,” Talbot said. “We ended up with eight wins last year, but this year we’ve had a really good year so far.”
Talbot is in his 10th year of racing, but it’s still a pretty new sport to him and his family. No one in his immediately family raced.
When he was growing up, Talbot spent time with Ed and Sally Wilson while his parents were at work. They weren’t his biological grandparents, but he became so close to the couple he started calling them Pops and Grandma Sally.
The Wilsons owned a late model team in the 1980s and 1990s, and they would often show old videos of their races to Talbot when he was as young as 2 or 3.
“They basically raised me while my mom and dad were working, and they were always into racing, so they got me started,” Talbot said. “They backed us financially-wise and everything.”
Talbot said he was “pretty obsessed” with racing from those videos and watching NASCAR. He was such a big Tony Stewart fan he still drives the No. 14.
When he got a little older, Talbot’s dad took him to a go-kart track.
“We just spent the day there, and ever since then, we were pretty hooked on it,” he said.
Talbot traveled up and down the East Coast and midwest racing go-karts for about five years before he made the switch to a sportsman car when he was 14. His family found a used car they raced until this year.
The young driver didn’t expect to have so much success so quickly. He is the defending sportsman champion at Fonda, where he’s been racing since 2019.
He credits his success at both tracks this summer largely to a new chassis his team built in the spring, plus consistency and better decision making as a driver.
“I’ve really enjoyed this car so far; it’s been really good,” Talbot said. “Mike here at Fastline Performance sets us up with really good stuff.
“I feel like I can make, I don’t want to say better decision, I feel like I was decent last year, but I feel a lot more comfortable this year with this car. I definitely think I’m a little more consistent, for sure.”
At both Fonda and Utica-Rome, where Talbot has been driving since 2021, there are experienced, good drivers he has been battling in the standings. Matt Janczuk has seven wins and is second in the standings at Utica-Rome, 26 points behind Talbot.
Chad Edwards is 25 points behind Talbot in the points at Fonda.
Talbot said competing against good drivers only makes him better.
“Matt, he’s tough anywhere he goes,” Talbot said. “He’s a competitor every single night. You walk into any track, and you know you’ve got to beat him. Matt is one of the best sportsman drives out there for sure.
“Chad’s been really, really tough at Fonda; he’s good anywhere he goes, too. … You’ve got good guys at every track, and then you’ve got guys that you know you’ve got to walk in and beat. They’re both tough. It definitely makes me a better driver, makes you work a lot harder, for sure.”
Talbot will get a chance to defend his Fonda title this weekend when the track hosts its Benjamin Moore Paints Championship Night.
There are still six races remaining at Utica, where Talbot said he’s struggled a little more than Fonda. He’d be happy to just finish strong there, and continue to collect national points.
“Matt Janczuk being at Utica-Rome for so long, he’s tough to beat,” Talbot said. “We got three wins early on in the year, and he’s got seven on us since then, so he’s going to be tough to beat… but all we can do is our best. If we run second to him, it’s still better than running fourth or fifth or losing points, for sure.”
Talbot is sponsored by Teds Body Shop, LMC Industrial Contractors, Parker Excavating, Broedel Energy, Fastline Performance, Bicknell Racing Products, Dig Race Products, Precision Hydraulic & Oil, Terrys Custom Coatings, Training Tails Dog Training + Daycare, J&D Farms, MIR Raceline, Competition Carburetion, Next Generation Graphix and DNA Designs.
Competing for a national title was never a goal for Talbot coming into this season. Having never raced NASCAR before, he said he never expected to even be close to having a shot. But with just a few weeks left in the season, he has a 42-point lead in the Division II national points and the most wins of any driver in the top five.
He tries not to look at the points, but he’s hoping his consistency at two tracks will give him the boost he needs.
“As long as we can go out here and do what we do on a normal week, it’s just about focus,” he said. “You don’t want to put any added pressure on yourself. That’s when mistakes happen. I haven’t watched a lot of the points… it would be awesome to stay where we are, for sure. I don’t know, I think it’s going to be tough, but we’re going to try our best, for sure.”
Racing will return to Utica-Rome Speedway on Friday for the track’s Algonkin Motel/Slade Automotive & Friendly Family of Dealerships night, featuring modifieds and all divisions.
Fonda’s championship night on Saturday will feature all divisions plus Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series.
While the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series try to clarify their playoff scenarios on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, 10 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers will start their quest for a title in the first of seven postseason races — Friday’s TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
After the playoff reset, Regular-Season Champion Corey Heim tops the standings with 2,030 points entering the Round of 10. Second-place Zane Smith, the defending series champion, has 2,022.
MORE: Meet the playoff field | Indy schedule
Two drivers face elimination in the opening round, and Heim is thankful for the extra 15 points he earned as Regular Season Champion.
“I think from a logistical viewpoint, as far as the amount of playoff points that put us ahead, it definitely means a lot — just being able to have that buffer going into the playoffs, and not have that close counter with the playoff cutline right from the start,” Heim said during Truck Series Media Day on Tuesday.
“I feel like it is nice to start the playoffs off with a little less stress and being able to go from there. I feel like, at the same time, if you have one bad race, one DNF and you are kind of back to earth again. I feel like that there’s positives and negatives to it. I think that kind of stems from the playoff format as it is, but it’s certainly not a bad thing to be the Regular-Season Champion.”
Fifth-place Grant Enfinger (2,017 points) is the defending winner of the race at the historic 0.686-mile short track. Another victory there would give him a ticket to the Round of 8.
“I’m excited to get the playoffs started, and I feel good about starting it out at IRP,” Enfinger said. “Our GMS Racing guys are working hard to bring us just as good of a Chevy as we had last year.
“I think that IRP is a great track for the Truck Series. It has multiple grooves we can choose, but it’s still a tough short track with a lot of character.”
