It’s the first of back-to-back road courses for the NASCAR Cup Series as the drivers take to the Indianapolis road course.
Just three races remain before the NASCAR playoffs, and three tricky venues will have to be conquered by those still looking to claim a spot in the 16-driver playoff field.
After this weekend’s race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, the drivers face the challenge of Watkins Glen before heading to Daytona for the final race of the regular season.
It’s certainly in the best interest of those looking to make it in to do so before Daytona to avoid the element of luck that comes with superspeedway races.
One driver who has firmly clinched his spot is Chris Buescher. After settling into a spot among the last four drivers in the playoff field, Buescher and RFK Racing have found magic the last two weekends, picking up surprising back-to-back wins at Richmond and Michigan.
Buescher has now vaulted himself to eighth place in the playoff standings and has saved himself the trouble of trying to scratch and claw his way into the postseason. Now he’ll hope his teammate and car owner Brad Keselowski can do the same in the final three regular-season races, with Keselowski currently sitting in 13th in the playoff standings.
SVG looks for another win
With the return of a road course this weekend we also get the return of Shane van Gisbergen, the Supercar driver who took the NASCAR world by storm last month by winning in Chicago in his first Cup Series start.
SVG is once again teaming up with Trackhouse to run the No. 91 car at IMS this weekend, but he will also get his first taste of oval racing.
In addition to running the Cup Series race on the road course, he’ll also compete in the Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday night on the oval configuration. The oval experience will be key for SVG as he seeks a full-time Cup Series ride in 2024, and will need experience on NASCAR’s most abundant track type.
While he is excited to jump back in a Cup car, expectations are a bit tempered this time around given the familiarity other drivers have with this circuit and the use of double-file restarts, something he didn’t experience at the rain-soaked Chicago race.
That being said, he’s already shocked the world once, so let’s see if he can do it again.
Chase and Denny get together! 😮
AJ takes the lead!
A wild #NASCAROvertime finish at @IMS in 2021. pic.twitter.com/JKFILSInRp
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 10, 2023
The Track
The IMS road course is a 2.43-mile, 14-turn course that runs through the infield at IMS while also utilizing parts of the oval track. This will only be the third time the Cup Series has run on the road course, having done so the last two years. A.J. Allmendinger won in 2021, while Tyler Reddick grabbed the win last year.
Brad Keselowski holds the track record in a Cup Series car with a time of 1:30:114 set during last year’s race.
For Sunday’s race, Stage 1 will cover the first 15 laps of the race while Stage 2 will cover the next 20. Stage 3 will consist of the final 47 laps of the race.
While morning rain could affect running on Saturday, it looks as if things will be dry for the race on Sunday, something we haven’t been able to say much lately in the NASCAR Cup Series.
A Lap of the IMS road course
The lap begins on the normal front straight, except backward. Drivers head down toward Turn 4 on the oval layout but make a sharp 90-degree right to cut into the infield at Turn 1. This is where you can expect a lot of carnage and excitement, with drivers looking to all fit into a tightening track surface.
Turns 2-4 then loop the drivers quickly left then back around 180 degrees to hit the chicane at Turns 5 and 6. The run out of the chicane is critical as a long straight is next down to a 90-degree left turn at Turn 7. Turns 8-10 are a series of slow, technical corners that require patience and precision to navigate correctly.
After that drivers are spit back out onto the oval layout for a brief moment before the final jut into the infield with Turns 12-14 which lead back onto the main straight.
Points Standings
Ty Gibbs snuck into the top 16 last week but is only three points in the clear. Michael McDowell is three points behind him while Daniel Suarez is just five points behind the rookie.
A.J. Allmendinger and Chase Elliott will both likely need a win to clinch a spot, so look out for the two road course experts to be firmly in the fight in the next two races as they look to make a final playoff push.
- Martin Truex Jr.*, Joe Gibbs Racing
- William Byron*, Hendrick Motorsports
- Denny Hamlin*, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Kyle Busch*, Richard Childress Racing
- Kyle Larson*, Hendrick Motorsports
- Ross Chastain*, Trackhouse Racing
- Christopher Bell*, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Chris Buescher*, RFK Racing
- Tyler Reddick*, 23XI Racing
- Ryan Blaney*, Team Penske
- Joey Logano*, Team Penske
- Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing
- Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*, JTG Daugherty Racing
- Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
- Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
*= 2023 race winner
Predictions
Though I mentioned Allmendinger and Elliott above, I think another outsider gets it done this weekend at IMS. Austin Cindric won in the Xfinity Series at the IMS road course in 2021 and finished second there last year.
He’s not one of the favorites, but I think he’s in a good spot to pick up a surprise win this weekend for Penske.
- Austin Cindric, Team Penske
- Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
- Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
- Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing
How To Watch – NASCAR at Indianapolis (All times ET)
- Practice: Saturday, August 12 – 11:35 a.m. – NBC Sports streaming
- Qualifying: Saturday, August 12 – 12:35 p.m. – NBC Sports streaming
- Verizon 200 at the Brickyard: Sunday, August 13 – 2:30 p.m. – NBC
