Race Lineup
The official 2024 Brickyard 400 NASCAR CUP Series race lineup, determined by qualifying results, shows the starting positions of all drivers at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Brickyard 400
Sunday, July 21st, 2024
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, IN
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15
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15
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8
- Thursday, July 18th, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
NASCAR Cup Series’ return to Indianapolis oval likely to be drama-filled affair
For the first time since 2020—and the first time ever in the Gen 7 race car—the NASCAR Cup Series will race on the historic 2.5-mile oval track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The return to the oval marks the 30th anniversary of the Brickyard 400, which immediately acquired status as one of NASCAR’s Crown Jewel races on its debut in 1994.
Jeff Gordon won the inaugural event. Denny Hamlin, who stopped a five-race skid last week with a runner-up finish at Pocono Raceway, hopes to add another marquee victory to his resume in Sunday’s 28th running of the event.
Hamlin already has scored victories in three of NASCAR’s Crown Jewel events, the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. With a win on Sunday, he would complete the racing equivalent of a Grand Slam, a feat accomplished only by NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson (who will race Sunday), Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Sr.
If Hamlin is eager to win on the Indianapolis oval, so is his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, who grew up in Lafayette, Indiana, and earned a mechanical engineer degree from Purdue University.
To win at Indianapolis, Hamlin knows he’ll have to survive an intense fight for optimum position on the track.
“It’s going to be tough,” said Hamlin, who is tied for the series lead with three victories this season. “It’s going to be wild on restarts. I think you’ll have restarts very similar to Pocono, where guys are trying to fit in spots that are not there—and you’re talking about a track that is even narrower than what Pocono is.
“We all know being on the outside is not going to be preferred, so you’re going to want to be on the bottom. What’s going to happen is we’re going to go down these long straightaways and everyone is going to try to go three-wide bottom, and you’re probably going to see a lot of wrecks late if there are restarts to bunch us up.”
Hamlin, who represented the Toyota camp in a tire test on the Indy oval in June, is securely in the Playoffs this year. The same can’t be said of Mitchell, Indiana, native Chase Briscoe, or of Michael McDowell, who won last year’s race on the Indianapolis Grand Prix Course.
With five races left in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season and four Playoff spots still available, Briscoe is 75 points below the current Playoff cut line, likely needing a victory to qualify for the postseason.
After the announcement of Stewart-Haas Racing’s dissolution at the end of the season, Briscoe landed a job as the successor to Martin Truex Jr. at Joe Gibbs Racing next year. But Briscoe would love nothing better than to win at the Brickyard for SHR co-owner Tony Stewart, who preceded Briscoe in the No. 14 Ford.
“I’m excited. It’s cool,” Briscoe said. “Especially with how this year’s played out, with it being the last year for SHR… I was talking to Tony and told him it was pretty special that I’m going to get to run at least one Brickyard 400 in the 14 car. That means a lot to me personally, and even Tony—I don’t think it had hit him yet that it was going to be his last time as a car owner at Indy, at least for the time being.
“Yeah, it’s cool that we’re going back to the oval, with the history of that race. And as a Hoosier myself, I feel that there’s a little more emphasis on it… It’s obviously a Crown Jewel for all of us, but when you grow up in Indiana—and we’ve seen the Tony Stewarts and Ryan Newmans and how much different it is for those guys—it’s the same for me.”
With the move to the oval, McDowell won’t get a chance to defend his victory on the road course. Given that he’s 22nd in the Playoff standings and 152 points below the current cut line, McDowell will have to win one of the next five races to compete for the Cup championship.
“It’s funny—I have mixed emotions about it,” McDowell said of the return to the oval. “Obviously, winning there last year and having a fast car, you’d want to go back and race on the road course. I know it’s going to be hard for you to believe, but I’m glad we’re going back to the oval.
“As far as tradition and history—just the magnitude of the event—it’s different on the oval than it is on the road course. Now, do I wish it was a doubleheader, or we had another race to go back there and run the road course? For sure. But I’m actually excited to race back on the oval.”
Both Briscoe and McDowell drive Fords, and Ford drivers have won the last three races on the oval. Brad Keselowski’s victory in 2018 broke an 18-race drought for the car maker, dating to Dale Jarrett’s victory with Robert Yates Racing in 1999.
- Friday, July 19th, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Friday Indianapolis Notebook
23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick set the pace in NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 practice Friday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, turning a lap of 182.582 mph in the No. 45 Toyota – out-pacing Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford by .177-second. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was third quickest in the No. 11 Toyota.
Reddick also posted the best 10-lap average speed, followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and Hamlin.
“It seemed pretty solid,” Reddick said of his car. “When you come to a place like this, that’s always something you hope for. I’ve been fortunate we’ve run the road course here and we’ve been really, really strong. Obviously it seemed like [fellow Toyota driver] Denny [Hamlin] had a really good test and we were able to get some good data from him.”
“Tracks like this, it’s always a question mark to some degree, you know? How close is your sim preparation going to be? But it seemed like everyone did a pretty good job. Pretty happy with how the car drives.”
The 55-minute session had a brief caution period for debris midway through, but was otherwise uneventful in the series’ return to the historic 2.5-mile Indianapolis oval for Sunday’s race.
JGR’s Christopher Bell and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman rounded out the top-five in practice for Sunday’s race – the first time the series has raced on the oval since 2020.
Series championship leader Chase Elliott was 12th quickest in Friday’s practice, his teammate Larson – who trails Elliott by a mere three-points in the standings – was sixth quickest.
Larson, who competed in May’s Indianapolis 500, is driving the No. 5 Chevrolet with the same paint scheme he was scheduled to drive later that that day in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After a rain delay at Indy, Larson didn’t arrive in time to race it before rain showers ended the Charlotte race early.
There are three former Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval-race winners entered this weekend – including four-time Brickyard champion Jimmie Johnson, two-time winner Kyle Busch and 2018 winner Brad Keselowski.
- Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG
- Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Tyler Reddick
- Age: 28
- Team : No 45 - The Beast Unleashed Toyota
- Owner: Michael Jordan
- Crew Chief: Billy Scott
- Tyler Reddick won the Pole Award for the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG with a lap of 49469 seconds, 181932 mph
- This is his eighth pole in 168 NASCAR Cup Series races
- This is his second pole and 14th top-10 start in 2024
- This is his first pole in two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- Denny Hamlin (second) posted his 11th top-10 start of 2024 and his eighth in 16 races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- Chase Elliott (third) posted his second top-10 start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway It is his 13th in 22 races this season
- Zane Smith (27th) was the fastest qualifying rookie
- Sunday, July 21st, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Kyle Larson kisses the bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Only two months after competing in the Indianapolis 500, Kyle Larson returned to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon to claim the trophy in one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ crown jewel events, the 30th Anniversary Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG – holding off the field in a dramatic double overtime finish.
Larson led only eight of the race’s 167 laps in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – seven of them coming in the overtime periods when he needed them most – ultimately holding off the race polesitter, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney on the white flag lap. A caution came out moments later to officially end the race after Ryan Preece’s Ford spun and became stalled on track.
The 31-year-old Californian Larson climbed out of and onto his Chevrolet Camero to wave his arms toward the grandstands and encourage the cheering crowd, clearly elated with his first win in one of NASCAR’s most prestigious races – a return to the 2.5-mile oval after four years racing on the infield road course. And it comes 30 years after his Hendrick Motorsports team executive Jeff Gordon won the inaugural stock car race at the historic 2.5-mile oval.
It’s the third NASCAR crown jewel win for Larson, also including the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and the sport’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
It comes only eight weeks after a 18th-place showing for Larson in his Indianapolis 500 debut. Bad weather delayed his trip to Charlotte to compete in NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600, the second half of racing’s “Double” so this week’s work at Indy felt like redemption.
“This is just such a prestigious place, such hallowed ground,” said the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson, who now leads the series with four wins this season.
“Pretty neat to get an opportunity to race here on the oval again. What a job by our team. I mean, never gave up at all.
“And to all the fans, I love it here,” he added with a grin. “I think everything has come full circle with what was meant to be and today was meant to be for us.”
For much of the closing laps, the third-place finisher Blaney thought it was meant to be for him and his No. 12 Team Penske Ford team. He was lined up on the front row alongside fellow Ford driver Brad Keselowski for the first overtime restart when Keselowski suddenly pulled onto pit road after running out of gas – not taking the green flag.
That opened a hole for Larson – who was positioned behind Keselowski for the start – to rush forward and claim the lead over Blaney. It was a position he would never relinquish.
“It’s no fun, had a really good shot to win today,” a visibly disappointed Blaney said. “Our car was fast. Thought we had really good strategy. Kind of was the front guy having to save a little bit of gas. I thought we put ourselves in a great spot.
“I know the 6 [Keselowski] was probably going to run out if it went green. Came to the restart, I couldn’t believe they stayed out. I knew there was no way they were going to make it. So, I obviously chose the top because he might run out in the restart zone. He runs out coming to the green so he gets to do to pit road and the 5 gets promoted.
“Luck of the day right there, I guess. I don’t know. I don’t know what to be mad about. Mad at losing this race because I thought we were in the perfect position.”
Reddick’s runner-up effort – passing Blaney on the white flag lap – keeps him right in the mix for the Regular Season Championship. Larson takes a 10-point lead into in the sport’s summer break and Reddick is only 15 points back with four races remaining in the regular season to settle the 16-driver Playoff field.
“Obviously a lot of cars and a lot of things had to happen for us to get second,” said Reddick, who led a race best 40 laps in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. “Honestly, it was a good day. Obviously return to the Brickyard, it’s tough coming up one spot short. Once we got off of turn two there, I knew I was pretty much it. He [Larson] was going to have to make a mistake.
“Glad we had a good recovery. Another solid points day. We didn’t close the gap on the 5 [Larson] that much, but a little bit on the 9 [Elliott]. In the big picture, it was a great day for the team.”
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell finished fourth and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace turned in an impressive fifth-place performance. Wallace also claimed his first stage win since 2022, leading the field at the second stage break.
There was never real rhythm to the race with varying pit stop strategies putting drivers out front. There were 13 leaders and 17 lead changes on the afternoon.
Denny Hamlin, who led 21 laps earned the first stage win – his sixth stage victory of the season and the first ever for the veteran at Indy. He finished 32nd after being involved in a multi-car accident during the first overtime restart and now is fourth in the championship standings, 43 points behind Larson.
Front Row Motorsport’s Todd Gilliland, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, Stewart Haas Racing’s Noah Gragson, and Hendrick Motorsport’s Chase Elliott rounded out the top-10.
It was an important points-grab for Bubba Wallace, who is still trying to become Playoff eligible. Wallace now trails Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain by only seven points for the 16th and final Playoff position. Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Chris Buescher is 15th in points, only 17 points up on Wallace.
- Drivers Entered: 39
- Laps Scheduled: 200
- Laps Actual: 167 - Race Shortened
- Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds
- Time of Race: 3 Hours 29 Minutes 9 Seconds
- Average Speed: 119.770
- Cautions: 10 for 34 laps
- Lead Changes: 18
- Green Flag Passes: 2,608 (19.6 passes per green flag lap)
- Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG
- Race Winner: Kyle Larson
- Age: 31
- Team : No 5 - HendrickCarscom Chevrolet
- Owner: Rick Hendrick
- Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
- Kyle Larson won the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG, his 27th victory in 352 Cup Series races
- This is his fourth victory and 11th top-10 finish in 2024
- This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in seven races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- Tyler Reddick (second) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway It is his 15th top-10 finish in 2024
- Ryan Blaney (third) posted his second top-10 finish in seven races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- Carson Hocevar (12th) was the highest finishing rookie
- Kyle Larson leads the point standings by 10 points over Chase Elliott
