NASCAR Cup Series News & Notes – Indianapolis Motor Speedway

NASCAR Cup Series

Next Race: Brickyard 400
The Place: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Track Length: 2.5 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Sunday, July 27
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
The Purse: $11,055,250
TV: TNT Sports, 1 p.m. ET
Radio: IMS, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 400 miles (160 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 50),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 100), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 160)

Where To Watch NASCAR This Weekend:

Friday, July 25

NCTS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (FS1 at 3 p.m. ET)
NCTS Race: TSport 200 (FS1, NRN, SiriusXM at 8 p.m. ET)

Saturday, July 26

NXS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (CW App at 1 p.m. ET)
NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (truTV, IMS, SiriusXM at 2:30 p.m. ET)
NXS Race: Pennzoil 250 (CW Network, IMS, SiriusXM at 4:30 p.m. ET)

Sunday, July 27

NCS Race: Brickyard 400 (TNT Sports, IMS, SiriusXM at 2 p.m. ET)
NCS Race: Brickyard 400 – In-Season Challenge Altcast (truTV, IMS, SiriusXM at 2 p.m. ET)

Indianapolis Storylines and Insights: NASCAR Cup Series

This weekend marks the 29th running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval (1994-2020, 2024-2025). From 2021-2023, the series ran three races on IMS road course.
Five races remain in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season before the Playoﬀs – Indianapolis (2.5 mile oval), Iowa (7/8 mile short track), Watkins Glen (2.45 mile road course), Richmond (3/4 mile short track) and Daytona (2.5 mile drafting track).
The stages for the Brickyard 400: 50-100-160.
Chevrolet won 12 consecutive Brickyard 400s from 2003 to 2014 but won only two of the last seven.
Three organizations won nine of the last 10 Brickyard 400s: (Hendrick Motorsports-four wins, Stewart-Haas Racing-three wins, Joe Gibbs Racing-two wins).
The driver who led the most laps won only three of the last nine Brickyard 400s.
The ﬁnal lead change came in the last eight laps ﬁve of the last seven Brickyard 400s.
Six Brickyard 400s went into overtime including ﬁve of the last seven.
Toyota only has two wins at Indianapolis (oval and RC), both were by Kyle Busch in 2015 and 2016.
Richard Childress Racing is the only team to win on the Oval and the Road Course at Indianapolis in the Cup Series.
Katherine Legge is set to become the 21st driver to start in both the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400.
A driver won their way into the Playoﬀs in the ﬁnal ﬁve races of the regular season every year since 2020.
Bubba Wallace has been on the regular season Playoﬀ bubble (16^th or 17^th in the standings) more than any other driver in the Next Gen era (23 times).
William Byron’s average ﬁnish of 25.33 over the last six races ranks 31^st among full-time drivers.
Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers with seven wins in Crown Jewel races.
Denny Hamlin can become the fifth driver all time to complete the Grand Slam of Crown Jewel events with a win this weekend, joining Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt.
Three drivers won the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season, most recently Jamie McMurray in 2010.
Three drivers won the Coca-Cola 600 and Brickyard 400 in the same season, most recently Jeﬀ Gordon in 1998.
Three former Brickyard 400 winners are active this weekend: Kyle Busch (2015, 2016), Kyle Larson (2024) and Brad Keselowski (2018).
Chase Briscoe won the pole for both the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 this year.
Only one driver won their ﬁrst Cup race in the Brickyard 400: Paul Menard in 2011.
Kyle Busch has not led a NASCAR Cup Series lap in the last nine races, tied for the longest streak in his career (June-August 2005).
A driver won on the Indianapolis oval from below the cutline once in Playoﬀ history – 2017, Kasey Kahne won from 181 points below the cutline.
Only one driver has pointed their way into the Playoﬀs this late in the regular season – 2019, Clint Bowyer was 2 points below the cut after race 24.
In 2024, three drivers that were above the cutline this late into the regular season ended up missing the Playoﬀs – Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, and Bubba Wallace.
Chase Elliott moved from 104 points back in fourth to leading the regular season points by 16 in the last ﬁve races.
Ty Gibbs ﬁnished in the top-10 in the last three races of 2025, the longest active streak by any driver.

NASCAR Cup Series Clinch Scenarios Following Dover Motor Speedway:

Already Clinched

The following five drivers have clinched a spot in the 16-driver postseason field: Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Shane Van Gisbergen.

Can Clinch Via Previous Wins

The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Chase Elliott, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Shane Van Gisbergen:

William Byron: Would clinch regardless of finish
Ryan Blaney: Could only clinch with help
Chase Briscoe: Could only clinch with help

The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, Josh Berry, Ty Gibbs or Kyle Busch:

William Byron: Would clinch with 12 points

The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Michael McDowell:

William Byron: Would clinch with 8 points

The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by AJ Allmendinger:

William Byron: Would clinch with 6 points

The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Erik Jones:

William Byron: Would clinch with 2 points

The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by John Hunter Nemechek or somebody lower in the standings:

William Byron: Would clinch regardless of finish

Can Clinch Via Win

The following drivers would clinch on their win alone:

William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry

The following drivers could clinch with a win:

Tyler Reddick: Would clinch with 58 points

Understanding the NASCAR Cup Series In-Season Challenge:

The top 32 in driver points following Nashville were eligible for the In-Season Challenge (Shane van Gisbergen, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst and Cody Ware failed to qualify among full-time drivers).
The three races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono established the seeding for the challenge based on the best driver finishing positions over those races.
The five races (or Rounds) for the In-Season Challenge are Atlanta, Chicago, Sonoma, Dover and Indianapolis.
The drivers will compete in a bracket-style tournament until the final two drivers face off in the finale at Indianapolis with the best-finishing driver winning $1 million. The two drivers in the final round of the 2025 In-Season Challenge are Ty Dillon vs. Ty Gibbs.

Tale Of The Tape – NASCAR Cup Series In-Season Challenge Round 5 Matchup: Dillon Vs. Gibbs

Ty Dillon – No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet – (No. 32 seed)
Dillon has made 266 career Cup Series starts, including five at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In five starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he has put up two top 15s and an average finish of 17.2 (10th-best among active drivers).
Dillon has a best finish of 13th at Indianapolis in the Cup Series.
His lone win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series came at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (oval).
Dillon beat the following drivers to make the final round: Denny Hamlin (Rd. 1), Brad Keselowski (Rd. 2), Alex Bowman (Rd. 3) and John H. Nemchek (Rd. 4).

Ty Gibbs – No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – (No. 6 seed)
Gibbs has made 108 career Cup Series starts, including one at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In his series debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Gibbs started sixth and finished 23rd.
Gibbs has a win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course).
Gibbs beat the following drivers to make the final round: Justin Haley (Rd. 1), AJ Allmendinger (Rd. 2), Zane Smith (Rd. 3) and Tyler Reddick (Rd. 4).

NASCAR & Indianapolis, Etc.

Historical and Significant Events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in 1909 by a partnership of four local businessmen whose primary purpose was to develop a track that would be a testing facility for the growing Indianapolis auto industry (by 1913 the Indianapolis area was the second largest automobile producer in the US).
A test track required long straightaways and gradual turns to fully test the capabilities of the cars of that time. Carl Fisher a former bicycle racer, car racer and industrialist was the driving force for the project.
Outside of the city limits at Crawfordsville Road four adjoining tracts of ﬂat farmland totaling 320 acres were for sale. The property was acquired for a total of $72,000.
Railroad tracks ran past the property directly to downtown Union Station. The track is located in Speedway, a separate self-suﬃcient municipality within the city of Indianapolis. Formed in 1926 it provides its own town services.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company was incorporated in March 1909. The original design was for a three mile speedway with a two mile road course through the inﬁeld, but the length was changed to 2.5 miles to allow for grandstands. Plans for the inﬁeld road course were quietly forgotten.
Four major events for the opening season in 1909 were scheduled, including balloon (the inaugural event), motorcycle and auto races.
The track surface was graded then built up with layers of gravel coated with asphaltum oil. The surface quickly proved to be woefully inadequate. Violent crashes and serious injuries led to the cycle event being canceled before the ﬁnal scheduled day of races. The problems with the track led to the famous resurfacing.
Carl Fisher immediately canceled all future races. It was decided to resurface the entire track with paving bricks. The work was completed in a remarkable 63 days. Roughly 3,200,000 bricks were utilized in resurfacing the 2.5 miles giving rise to the name that sets the track apart from every other in the world.
The track has had major resurfacing six times the most recent in 2004. The 1961 resurfacing replaced all but a three foot strip of the original bricks at the start/ﬁnish line, “The Yard of Bricks”.
After four years of inactivity during WWII the track was in total disrepair. The track was resurrected by Terre Haute IN businessman Tony Hulman who purchased the facility from Eddie Rickenbacker for a reported $750,000. Ownership has remained in the Hulman family until November 2019 when Roger Penske bought IMS and the IndyCar series.
In 2002 Indianapolis was the ﬁrst track to install a SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barrier, ﬁrst tested during the Indianapolis 500 that year. The Speedway and IRL worked with engineers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to develop a ‘soft wall’ that was practical for racing.
“Yellow Shirts”: In 1948 IMS established its own security staﬀ, featuring dark-blue uniforms and pith helmets. Over time the hot wool uniforms were traded out for short sleeved shirts and dark blue was changed to the very recognizable yellow. Since 1975 the safety patrol at IMS have worn the very recognizable yellow shirts and baseball caps.
How big is Indy? Indianapolis Motor Speedway covers 560 acres, these eight things that would all ﬁt inside Indianapolis Motor Speedway: Vatican City, Churchill Downs, The White House, Taj Mahal, Liberty Island, The Rose Bowl, Yankee Stadium, Roman Colosseum.
The Dirt Track at IMS: In 2018 Indianapolis introduced The Dirt Track at IMS with the running of the Driven2SaveLives BC39 presented by NOS Energy Drink. The event made USAC history with an at the time entry of 118 Midget cars. The quarter-mile clay oval is located inside of Turn 3.