Multiple cars were damaged on Lap 78 of a scheduled 82 laps in Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard when curbing came apart in Turn 6 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
While Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe were battling for the lead, Joey Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford — which ended up crashing hard into the tire barrier — William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota all sustained damaged after hitting the curb. Also involved in the chain-reaction wreck were Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, James Davison, Justin Haley, Ryan Preece and Daniel Suarez.
“Yeah, I am OK,” Logano said. “Thank God those tire packs were there. The hit wasn’t that hard at all. The tires absorbed a lot of it. I don’t believe in luck, but that time I feel like it was just bad luck. Wrong place at the wrong time and unfortunately it ended our day.”
The red flag was displayed as track workers cleaned up debris from the wreck, and that included a tow truck hauling away the damaged curbing. The red flag lasted for 19 minutes, 14 seconds.
Eventually, the race was restarted and extended to overtime, and after two overtime attempts, AJ Allmendinger for Kaulig Racing came across the start-finish line as the winner.
Monday, August 16 6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon, FS1 (re-air)
Tuesday, August 17 6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Wednesday, August 18 3 p.m., IMSA Auto Racing Special Lamborghini Super Trofeo: Road America, NBCSN
4 p.m., IMSA Auto Racing Special Mazda MX-5 Cup: Road America, NBCSN
5 p.m., IMSA Auto Racing Pilot Challenge: Road America 120, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., NASCAR Classic: 1988 Daytona 500, FS1 (re-air)
Thursday, August 19 5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Friday, August 20 6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
8 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Gateway, FS1
9 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Toyota 200 presented by CK Power at Gateway, FS1
On MRN
6 p.m., ARCA Menards Series Henry Ford Health Systems 200 at Michigan
8:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Toyota 200 presented by CK Power at Gateway
Saturday, August 21 2:30 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Toyota 200 presented by CK Power at Gateway, FS1 (re-air)
10 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Toyota 200 presented by CK Power at Gateway, FS2 (re-air)
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series New Holland 250 at Michigan, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN5)
On MRN
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series New Holland 250 at Michigan
Sunday, August 22 1 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Michigan, FS1
2 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Countdown to Green, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
3 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN5)
6 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Post-Race Show: Michigan, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
On MRN
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan
William Byron scored the Busch Pole Award for Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (1 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Byron laid down a lap of 100.044 mph in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the second round of qualifying to score his second pole of the season and the seventh of his career. He won the pole in July at Road America as well.
“Hopefully we have the speed in the race on my end to back it up; but definitely been doing a good job in qualifying,” Byron said after he locked down the pole position. “I’m glad we got qualifying back because I feel like that’s one of our strengths on the No. 24. So, I’m looking forward to the race. And, like I said, hopefully we can keep it up there.”
Byron is one of three Hendrick cars that will start in the top five of Sunday’s race. Road-course aces Chase Elliott will start third (99.518 mph) and Kyle Larson will start fourth (99.433 mph). Elliott and Larson have combined to win four of the five road-course races so far this season with Elliott scoring wins at Circuit of The Americas and Road America while Larson has grabbed victories at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Elliott has seven road-course wins in his Cup career.
Rookie Chase Briscoe will start on the front row next to Byron in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford as he qualified second (99.561 mph). Briscoe won the Xfinity race last year on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile layout and has all three of his top 10s this season on road courses.
Daniel Suarez (No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet, 99.291 mph) will line up fifth with Martin Truex Jr. (No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 99.211 mph) sixth. Joey Logano, AJ Allmendinger, Ross Chastain, Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick and Michael McDowell will line up seventh through 12th, respectively.
Notable drivers to start outside the top 12 include: Saturday’s Xfinity Series winner Austin Cindric (starting 13th), Denny Hamlin (starting 14th), Ryan Blaney (starting 16th), Christopher Bell (starting 17th), Kurt Busch (starting 20th), Kyle Busch (starting 21st), Alex Bowman (starting 24th), Kevin Harvick (starting 25th) and Brad Keselowski (starting 31st).
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — NASCAR officials will remove the orange rumble strip at the exit of Turn 6 before Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying and race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
The rumble strip posed an issue during Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race on the 2.439-mile road course after a Lap 1 crash damaged the front end of a number of cars when they got off-course, including Brandon Brown, Harrison Burton, Kevin Harvick and Brandon Jones.
The Cup Series will be on track Sunday beginning with Busch Pole Qualifying at 9 a.m. ET on CNBC, IMS Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, followed by the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at 1 p.m. ET on NBC, IMS Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
INDIANAPOLIS – It was essentially a storybook ending for Austin Cindric Saturday afternoon in the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard and the 22-year old with Hoosier roots appropriately celebrated his first win at the renowned Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course by singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” as he took a victory lap.
Cindric easily outpaced the NASCAR Xfinity Series field by 2.108-seconds to take his series-best fifth victory of the year and 13th of his career. It marked the second win on the day for Team Penske, which won an NTT IndyCar race earlier in the day at the renowned Indianapolis facility now owned by Roger Penske himself.
The president of Team Penske, Tim Cindric, met his son in Victory Lane to celebrate – hugs, high-fives and pat-on-the-backs everywhere. Indiana is the Cindric family home for generations.
“Unbelievable and first of all I’ve got to thank Roger Penske for every opportunity I’ve had in my career and every opportunity he’s given race fans to enjoy this beautiful facility,” a grinning Cindric said.
“To win at this facility is amazing,” Cindric said, adding, “What this place means to me, I can’t even put into words what this means.
“Proud to be here, proud to win for Roger and proud to win at the speedway. There’s nothing bigger.”
Cindric led a race-best 29 of the 62 laps on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile Indianapolis road course, taking the lead for good with 17 laps remaining and pulling away to a nearly four-second advantage at one point. Polesitter and Stage 2 winner AJ Allmendinger finished runner-up for the second consecutive week at a road course track.
Allmendinger’s Kaulig Racing teammate Justin Haley – also an Indiana native — won Stage 1 and finished third.
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott rallied to a fourth-place finish despite finding out only hours earlier that he would substitute for Michael Annett, in the JR Motorsports No. 1 Chevrolet so Annett could continue recovering from a leg injury.
“I was actually still asleep this morning when I got the call,” Elliott said, noting that when he saw Hendrick Motorsports Vice President Chad Knaus had called, he momentarily worried he’d slept through NASCAR Cup Series practice and was getting fired.
Instead, he rallied to an impressive finish and got some time on the track in advance of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
Another JR Motorsports driver, Noah Gragson, finished fifth. NASCAR Cup Series regular Austin Dillon, Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst, Harrison Burton and road racing star Andy Lally rounded out the top-10.
That was an important finish for Herbst, who entered the 13th in the championship, one position outside the Playoff hunt. His work – which included 11 bonus points in the stage finishes – was good enough to move up into that 12th position, 10 points ahead of Annett.
The other two drivers still in Playoff contention with only two races remaining to set the 12-driver field, Brandon Brown and Ryan Sieg, both had troubles Saturday. Brown was scored 34th of the 36 cars and did not finish after his car suffered damage in a first-lap incident. Sieg spun out in the opening laps then had a tire go down later in the race, finishing 32nd. They are now -41 (Brown) and -73 (Sieg) points behind Herbst.
Burton’s top-10 result was also impressive considering he was among eight drivers who got caught up in a first-lap mishap – cars going airborne as they ran over a “speed bump” on the track’s outside skirt. Lally, an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship star and the 2011 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year, has made only four previous starts on the season and now has a pair of top 10s.
Certainly, however, the day and the moment belonged to Cindric who ran his fastest laps of the race in the final few circuits — the victory one of the most cherished moments in his young career.
“It’s a racer’s dream,” Cindric said. “It’s not the win, it’s getting to compete. I think everyone that walks into this place knows what this means.”
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Michigan International Speedway next week for the New Holland 250 (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Note: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage is clear without issues, confirming Cindric’s win.
Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (⏰ 1 p.m. ET | 📺 NBC | 📻 IMS Radio, SiriusXM)
Everything you need to know for Sunday’s race, the 24th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series event of the 2021 season.
Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, a 2.439-mile circuit located in Speedway, Indiana Practice: Martin Truex Jr. tops the session
Qualifying: Sunday, 9:05 a.m. ET on CNBC and NBC Sports App Green flag: 1:13 p.m. ET TV/Radio: NBC/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Forecast: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80 degrees. East northeast wind six to nine mph, according to NOAA.gov Grand Marshal: Mike Ruhnke, vice president of enterprise sales, Verizon Race Distance: 82 laps, 200 miles Stages: 15 | 35 | 82 Pit-road speed: 40 mph Caution car speed: 45 mph Indy Road Course 101: Get the full lowdown
Entry list: See who’s in the field Pit-stall assignments: See who is pitting where| Expert breaks down pit-road challengesJamie Squire | Getty Images
Five to watch
Here are five big story lines we’ll be following at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course:
1. Is anything more exhilarating right now than the battle atop the Cup Series regular-season standings? Kyle Larson pulled even with long-time points leader Denny Hamlin after winning at Watkins Glen International last weekend. But despite zero wins in 2021, the No. 11 wheelman impressively manages to remain a regular-season championship contender. His consistency has gotten him this far, but with only three races remaining, he almost certainly needs more to quell Larson’s blistering pace. Following Sunday’s race at Indy, it’s a two-race shootout to end the regular season — Michigan International Speedway (Larson should be favored here) and Daytona International Speedway (Hamlin should be favored here). Fifteen playoff points are on the line, along with another trophy for the case. Deadlocked at 917 points each, it will be very important to see how the situation shakes out this weekend.
2. Adding to the playoff story line, it’s still unbelievable to see 58-time Cup winner Kevin Harvick locked in the bubble battle with others vying for a bid into the Round of 16. While pretty safe (for now), the last thing Harvick needs is a new 2021 winner this weekend with Daytona’s unpredictability looming large. Likewise, Richard Childress Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon are in a friendly slugfest to be the last one in. Reddick has fared better than his counterpart on road courses throughout his career so far and needs another solid performance to build on his 15-point cushion. But heading to a brand new track this weekend and based on Dillon’s past success at Daytona, this battle is still anyone’s game. Still, keep an eye out for the underdogs who could still have their say. See the full playoff outlook here.
3. After last Sunday’s dust-up at The Glen between Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, could we see more tension this weekend? Both drivers perform exceptionally well at road courses and are trending in a positive direction heading into the playoffs. So it’s highly likely that they will be together at the front of the pack at some point during the Indy race. Will push lead to shoving? It’s entirely possible we see their dirt-track rivalry make its first real appearance on asphalt.
4. Don’t forget about the great season Martin Truex Jr. is having. With three wins and sitting second in the projected playoff standings, his overall body of work is as good as almost anyone. Somewhat hidden in the shadow of the road-course dominance by Hendrick Motorsports’ Larson and Chase Elliott is Truex’s stellar road-course resume. Truex Jr. has eight top 10s in the last 10 road races (including third place in two of the last three) and three wins in the last 14. A victory lap around Indianapolis could certainly be in the cards for the No. 19 team.
5. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course is the fifth new track on the NASCAR Cup schedule so far this season — Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt, Circuit of The Americas, Nashville Superspeedway and Road America are the others. To this point, Chase Elliott is the only driver with multiple wins at the new venues, unsurprisingly winning at COTA and Road America. Could the defending Cup Series champion continue the trend this weekend? We already know he’s especially gifted at road courses and has the stats to back it up. He’s won at six of the last nine road courses and has four consecutive top-two finishes. Another road-course win would pull him even with Tony Stewart at eight and one away from tying Jeff Gordon’s all-time record of nine. Not bad to already be mentioned alongside two NASCAR Hall of Famers, huh?
Race-day staples
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.
• Betting odds for Indianapolis | See the odds
• Indy betting: Larson closing the gap to Elliott | Find out why • Trouble brewing for Team Penske with long odds at Indy? | Read more • Take a shot at winning cash prizes with the free-to-play Jackpot Races app | Hit the jackpot
• Full guide to 2021 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | Get the FAQ
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Learn the new track
It’s NASCAR’s inaugural weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Get familiar with the track.
•14 turns: Turn-by-turn breakdown of the course | Learn every corner • Around we go: Take a lap around the track with Austin Cindric | See every corner • Down a narrow road: Pitting here is tougher than you think | Hear why
• An old timer’s tale: The magic behind kissing the bricks | See the history
Fast facts
Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• Sunday’s race marks the 137th road-course race in NASCAR Cup Series history. • All three manufacturers — Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota — have at least five wins this season. Chevrolet has the most with 12. • The last nine road-course races have been won by drivers under the age of 30. • Kyle Larson has won two races in 2021 from the pole position, making him the only driver to win from the starting spot this season. • Kurt Busch has four finishes of sixth or better at the last six races on road courses, including three finishes of fourth.
Catch the pack
Read up on all the headlines from the week leading up to Sunday’s race.
• Same venue, same meaning: Joey Logano says ‘everyone’ wants to win at Indy | Read more
• A heartfelt tribute: Remembering longtime broadcaster Bob Jenkins | See the tribute
• Double duty: Kyle Larson starting third at Knoxville Nationals | Read more
• Homecoming: Family memories ride with Austin Cindric into Indy Road Course weekend | Read more
• Special scheme: Martin Truex Jr. supporting awareness at Indy | See how
Say what?
The best quotes from big names in the sport heading into this weekend’s race.
• “There is just a different vibe at Indianapolis – the history, the fans, the facility. I think it’ll be cool to run the road course layout this weekend and we all want to say we won the inaugural event. With my racing (in Iowa) this week, I’ll be watching a lot of tape of other series on the road course layout to familiarize myself with it ahead of practice on Saturday.” — Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
• “The biggest focus, honestly, has been the change to the race track and trying to be ready to go and run the road course. It will obviously be my first race at the speedway as a crew chief, so I’ll try to definitely take care of my family and make sure they all have the opportunity to go. I made it pretty clear to all of them, but the task at hand is the race and I’m gonna be pretty into that. They can go to the race and have a good time, but I’m all business for the weekend.” — Jonathan Hassler, crew chief of the No. 21 Ford Mustang of Matt DiBenedetto
• “I love Indianapolis no matter what shape it is in. Whether it’s an oval or a road course, whether it’s in an IndyCar or a stock car. I love going there and seeing so much history. It’s funny, the oval at Indianapolis in a Cup car is like racing on a road course. So now we will be racing on the road course. I love that we are adding more and more road courses. There are a lot of fans that love road course racing and it’s adding different markets. As for us at Trackhouse Racing, every time we get an opportunity to turn left and right we are better. We get another chance this weekend in Indianapolis.” — Daniel Suarez, driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet
• “I’ve got a lot of homework to do this week to get prepared and be ready for practice on Saturday there. It will be fun. It’s always exciting to go to new tracks and I like road courses as well so it should be good.” — Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on going to the Indy Road Course for the first time.
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — It still isn’t over between Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson.
On Tuesday, Larson took to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to share his thoughts on the incident between the two drivers late in last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International and not hearing back from Bell after reaching out in particular.
“I reached out and tried, but I guess he’s not willing to talk to me, which is kind of whatever,” Larson said on Tuesday evening. “I think any adult in the field would at least have a conversation with you, but he doesn’t care to. So, we’ll move on from it and if he wants to get me back, that’s fine. Whatever. I’m not going to worry about it. If it makes him sleep better at night to ignore me and want to crash me or whatever, so be it.”
After Saturday’s practice for Sunday’s Cup Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course (1 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Bell reacted to Larson’s comments earlier in the week.
“On-track incident, whatever. Him crying to the media because I didn’t reply to his sorry text message … come on,” Bell said in the Indy garage area. “… The on-track incident, no, it did not cross the line. Him going to the media complaining I didn’t respond, yes, that crossed the line.
“How many times have I called, first off, or sent a text message and not gotten a reply? Probably more times than I got a reply,” Bell added. “I didn’t think it was a big deal at all.”
Although Bell is over the tangle that sent him spinning after contact with Larson for second place, Larson’s words were more damaging.
“Never have I ever sent a text message at midnight and complained that the guy didn’t message me back,” Bell said. “First off, I will always try to make an effort to talk to him face-to-face, or if I can’t talk to him face-to-face, call them and more than likely leave a voicemail. If I really want to talk about it and I feel like it needs to be discussed, I’d tell them to call me back or whatever. But I didn’t really think that needed to be discussed or talked about. He sent me a text message, albeit at midnight, I read it, was moved on from the on-track incident, then him running his mouth is a little uncalled for. It is what it is.”
While Bell was confident the incident wasn’t his fault on Sunday after the race, it didn’t stop him from looking back at data to make sure it re-enforced his perspective.
“I went back and looked at it on SMT, which is real data, and I was a car-length-and-a-half above the normal bottom line,” Bell explained. “That was compared to my normal bottom line and his normal bottom line. He hit me and spun me out and I left him a lane-and-a-half to not do that.”
Bell also indicated that he did not consider texting back a response when he read Larson’s text.
“I didn’t think it was necessary,” Bell said. “I was asleep. I didn’t even see it until the next day. It’s very frustrating to hear that Larson has called me and I’m not answering the phone. That’s so far from the truth. If he really wanted to talk about it, I’ll be glad to talk about it.”
Larson noted that if Bell wanted to retaliate down the road, he wouldn’t lose sleep over it. According to Bell, he doesn’t feel like it’s going to alter how the two drivers have competed against each other on asphalt and dirt tracks across the country for over 10 years.
“We always race each other extremely hard, so I don’t know if it’s really going to change anything,” Bell said. “He’s just another guy. Just another competitor out there.”
Martin Truex Jr. topped the board in the lone NASCAR Cup Series practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Truex posted a lap of 98.021 mph in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to pace the practice. In fact, he was one of two JGR cars in the top five for the session ahead of Sunday’s race at Indianapolis (1 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“We ended up first, and I’m really happy with the car,” Truex said after the session. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow and seeing what it brings.”
William Byron took second in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (97.487 mph) followed by Kyle Larson in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (97.445 mph). Truex’s JGR teammate Denny Hamlin (97.148 mph) took fourth while Team Penske’s Austin Cindric closed out the top five (97.137 mph) in what will be his final Cup start of the season before he goes full time with Team Penske in 2022.
Larson, who was last week’s winner at Watkins Glen, is locked in a battle atop the standings with Hamlin for the regular-season championship as the two are tied with the Hendrick driver holding the top spot on a tiebreaker thanks to his five wins to Hamlin’s zero.
AJ Allmendinger, who won the pole for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, had a potential transmission issue early in practice, according to NBC’s coverage on TrackPass. However, he was able to get back on track for more laps with about 20 minutes to go and placed 16th in the session. Allmendinger is driving the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet this weekend — a car that is running a limited schedule before going full-time in the Cup Series for 2022.
Road-course ace Chase Elliott placed 23rd in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. The reigning Cup Series champion has seven road-course wins in his Cup career with two of them coming on tracks new to the circuit this season with victories at Circuit of The Americas and Road America.
Bubba Wallace got off course with about five minutes left in the session to bring out the lone caution period of the 50-minute session. Wallace has yet to score a top-10 finish on a road course in his Cup career.
Andy Lally took laps in the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Ford in relief of Kyle Tilley, who sat out practice to rest a shoulder injury, according to the team’s Twitter account. It was revealed after practice that Lally would fill in for Tilley all weekend in the No. 78 Ford.
Tough decision to make, but I’m stepping out of both the Xfinity & Cup cars this weekend. Big thanks to @AndyLally and @DAV15ON_ for stepping in to help. Gutted, but picked up an injury that needs taking care of.
These were the first laps for the Cup Series on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile course. Last year, only the Xfinity Series ran this layout at Indianapolis. Sunday’s Cup race marks the sixth road-course race of the season.
The Cup Series will next be on track Sunday morning for qualifying at 9:05 a.m. ET (CNBC/NBC Sports App) ahead of the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at 1 p.m. ET (NBC).
The NASCAR Cup Series has fallen in love with road courses in 2021. For many years, the circuit would visit only two tracks of this ilk — Sonoma in California, and later in the summer, Watkins Glen in New York.
Not this year.
This weekend, the Cup Series will visit the famed Brickyard — but not to race on the conventional rectangular oval track as it had since the mid-1990s. This year, it will do battle on the Grand Prix Road Course for the first time. This will be the sixth weekend this year the series visits a road course, and there’s one more to go (Charlotte’s road course in the postseason).
So who has the best shot at making memories this weekend? We discuss.
Restrictor-plate tracks? Check. Short tracks? Check. Regular oval tracks? Yep, check the box there, too. And road-course circuits? Nobody is better in today’s NASCAR than Elliott. So is it any wonder he tops the NASCAR racing odds once again this weekend at one of the more unique — and iconic — venues in America?
Elliott is 25 years old and has won 13 career NASCAR Cup Series races already. His old man Bill — you know, Awesome Bill from Dawsonville — won 44 races in 828 starts spanning 1976 to 2012. Dad’s in the Hall of Fame, where is Chase’s career going to end up? Who knows, but it’s certainly off to a great start.
A strong finish here would be just one more career notch in the proverbial belt.
OTHERS: Like Elliott, Kyle Larson (+280) is perched at or near the top of the racing odds every weekend. He’s multi-dimensional, and as of this weekend he finally caught up with Denny Hamlin at the top of the season’s standings (they’re tied, but Hamlin hasn’t won a race so Larson is the leader on a tiebreak). Larson has won five points races this year (and the All-Star Race) and has 16 top-10 finishes on the season.
Martin Truex, Jr. (+600) is next up in the odds, and he has much more experience at the track than the above two youngsters. He and Kyle Busch (+1000) are worth keeping an eye on.
THE DARK HORSE THREAT
Kevin Harvick (+2500)
OK, so Indy’s road course isn’t the same as Indy’s legendary speedway that has been in use since 1909. So what? Harvick can handle any venue (58 career wins). Harvick’s three wins at the Indy venue rank third all-time behind Jeff Gordon (five) and Jimmie Johnson (four). Could that good fortune when he’s in Indy translate to a special day on the road course on Sunday? Time will tell.
After this weekend, Harvick would have only Michigan and Daytona remaining to clinch a win and lock himself into the playoffs. He’s had success in his career at those two tracks, but why not wrap things up this weekend, right?
THE INTRIGUING LONGSHOT
Chase Briscoe (+3300)
NASCAR’s top three series have only visited the Indianapolis Grand Prix circuit one other time — last year in the Xfinity Series. Why not go with the guy who won that race and led 30 of the 62 laps — Briscoe? While road-course ace A.J. Allmendinger (+2000) is also an intriguing pick, Briscoe’s the only guy in the field who has won a NASCAR race at the locale.
Briscoe has three top-10 finishes in the Cup Series this year, and all three have been on road courses. While anything can happen at Daytona (the final regular-season race), this may be Briscoe’s final chance to lock himself into racing’s postseason.
Click on the print icon to see how cars will roll out for qualifying on Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (9:05 a.m. ET, CNBC, NBC Sports App).
Race-day staples
