By Curt Cavin, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The most comprehensive motorsports weekend of the season is on tap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as NASCAR and INDYCAR unite at the Brickyard.
The road racing extravaganza features three days of thrilling on-track action, with NASCAR’s Cup and Xfinity Series, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone showcased on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile permanent road course.
NASCAR will be back at the Racing Capital of the World for its 29th year. This will be the third road race for the Cup Series, the fourth for the Xfinity Series.
Two-time and reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano headlines an all-star cast of stock car drivers in Sunday’s 82-lap Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC). Logano leads Team Penske’s three-car operation, alongside Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric. 2022 Daytona 500 winner Cindric triumphed in the Xfinity Series’ Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard presented by Advance Auto Parts in 2021 at IMS.
This will be the Cup Series’ fourth non-oval race of the season. Three different drivers have won the races — Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing at Circuit of the Americas, Martin Truex Jr. of Joe Gibbs Racing at Sonoma Raceway and series newcomer Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing in the new Chicago street race. Reddick won last year’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard, edging Cindric by 1.065 seconds.
Like the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ Scott McLaughlin, van Gisbergen is a New Zealand driver with three Supercars Championships on his resume. Van Gisbergen is one of several international drivers in this weekend’s Cup Series field, including teammate Daniel Suarez of Mexico, Rick Ware Racing’s Jenson Button of England, Legacy Motor Club’s Mike Rockenfeller of Germany and Reddick’s teammate, Kamui Kobayaski of Japan.
Button won the Formula One World Championship in 2009, and he competed in the COTA and Chicago races this season. This will be the NASCAR debuts of Kobayashi and Rockenfeller, a pair of accomplished sports car drivers. Rockenfeller is a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner.
Chris Buescher of RFK Racing is the Cup Series’ hottest driver, having won the past two races, including Monday’s rain-delayed event at Michigan International Speedway.
Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing again represents his home state at IMS. The native of Mitchell, Indiana, won the Xfinity Series’ inaugural road race at IMS in 2020, and his team is co-owned by three-time Cup Series champion and two-time Brickyard 400 winner Tony Stewart of Columbus, Indiana.
The Xfinity Series action will be held Saturday, with the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard presented by Advance Auto Parts set for 5:30 p.m. ET. USA Network will have the broadcast of the 62-lap race.
The field includes a pair of veterans of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Conor Daly and Sage Karam will be teammates at Alpha Prime Racing. They will drive the No. 44 and 45 Chevrolets, respectively.
While Briscoe and Cindric won the first two Xfinity Series races at IMS, former open-wheel standout AJ Allmendinger won last year’s Xfinity Series race for Kaulig Racing. Allmendinger, the 2021 winner of the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard Cup Series race, will compete in both NASCAR races this weekend.
First on the track Friday is the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, which races in Indianapolis for the third event this year. The two leading contenders for the season championship – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden – were the winners of the May races at IMS.
Twenty-seven car-and-driver combinations are set for the Gallagher Grand Prix, which opens for practice Friday at 9 a.m. ET. Saturday’s 85-lap race airs at 2 p.m. on USA Network, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. NTT P1 Award qualifying is set for 12:30 p.m. Friday.
Palou won the GMR Grand Prix by 16.8 seconds, the first of his four series wins this season. He led a race-high 52 laps with three Arrow McLaren Racing drivers – Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist – earning positions in the top five. Pole winner Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing finished fourth, his second consecutive top-five finish. Eight drivers led the race that experienced just one caution period.
This will be the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ 15th race on the IMS road course dating to 2014. Team Penske has won eight times, with reigning series champion Will Power capturing five wins and six poles. Simon Pagenaud (2016, 2019) and Newgarden (2020) are the other winners for Roger Penske, who has owned IMS since Jan. 6, 2020.
Newgarden returns to IMS for the first time since winning the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 28. He is hoping to erase Palou’s 84-point series lead to win his third season championship, but only four races remain. Palou is aiming for his second series title in the past three years.
Power and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon will be trying to extend two of the longest streaks in INDYCAR SERIES history. Dixon has won at least one race in 18 consecutive seasons – 20 overall – while Power’s run of seasons stands at 16. Neither has won a race this season. While Power has won five IMS road races, Dixon has won once, in the inaugural INDYCAR-NASCAR doubleheader in 2020.
Also, Dixon will break the series’ ironman record when he starts Saturday’s race. The six-time series champion is tied with Tony Kanaan with 318 consecutive series starts.
Also on Friday, INDY NXT makes its first Brickyard Weekend appearance. Series points leader Christian Rasmussen of HMD Motorsports with DCR headlines the field for Friday’s 35-lap race at 4:50 p.m. (Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network).
Originally posted on indianapolismotorspeedway.com