{"id":22084,"date":"2024-07-21T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2024-07-21T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=22084"},"modified":"2024-07-20T17:38:17","modified_gmt":"2024-07-20T21:38:17","slug":"nascar-cup-series-brickyard-400-preview-predictions-and-how-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/21\/nascar-cup-series-brickyard-400-preview-predictions-and-how-to-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400: Preview, Predictions And How To Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Brickyard 400 returns for the first time since 2020 on Sunday, and will be the backdrop for a crucial race amid the playoff bubble battle. Stars such as Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney will look to add a crown jewel to their resume, while Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace will continue to fight for the final spot in the 16-driver playoffs.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Watching cars roll through Gasoline Alley gives us chills. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7CsU5FA70U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/7CsU5FA70U<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR (@NASCAR) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR\/status\/1814714025680445738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>The Track &#8211; Indianapolis Motor Speedway<\/h2>\n<p>The 2.5 mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway remains one of the most famous sporting venues in the world. Originally paved with bricks, only a single strip of bricks remain at the start\/finish line, being the namesake of the &#8220;Brickyard 400.&#8221; The Cup Series hasn&#8217;t raced on the oval at IMS since 2020, and Sunday&#8217;s race will be the first at the oval with the Next-Gen car. There&#8217;s plenty of intrigue surrounding the race, and for good reason &#8211; the racing product on Sunday could determine the future of the track&#8217;s use in NASCAR going forward.<\/p>\n<h2>Current NASCAR Cup Series Standings:<\/h2>\n<h3>Regular-Season Championship:<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Chase Elliott, 703<\/li>\n<li>Kyle Larson, 700 (-3)<\/li>\n<li>Tyler Reddick, 688 (-15)<\/li>\n<li>Denny Hamlin, 683 (-20)<\/li>\n<li>William Byron, 646 (-57)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Both Elliott and Larson were knocked out of winning contention by speeding penalties at Pocono, but were able to claw their way back into the top-15. Meanwhile top-six efforts by Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick bring them into the regular-season title fold, with William Byron lurking in the shadows if misfortune befalls the top-four.<\/p>\n<h3>Playoff Standings:<\/h3>\n<p>13. Martin Truex Jr (+137)<\/p>\n<p>14. Ty Gibbs (+67)<\/p>\n<p>15. Chris Buescher (+44)<\/p>\n<p>16. Ross Chastain (+27)<\/p>\n<p>17. Bubba Wallace (-27)<\/p>\n<p>18. Chase Briscoe (-75)<\/p>\n<p>19. Kyle Busch (-102)<\/p>\n<p>20. Todd Gilliland (-127)<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t count Bubba Wallace out just yet. Three straight top-13 finishes have the Mobile, Alabama native right back in the playoff hunt. At the other end of the spectrum is Ross Chastain, who now finds himself on the bubble after a crash at Pocono. Everyone below Wallace will likely need a win in order to make the playoffs, but don&#8217;t count out Kyle Busch just yet &#8211; with a 19-year winning streak and a playoff berth on the line, all it takes is one vintage KFB race for the driver of the No. 8 to be back in contention.<\/p>\n<h2>Brickyard 400 Preview:<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Fastest in practice.<br \/>Fastest in qualifying. <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TylerReddick?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TylerReddick<\/a> wins the <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BuschLightPole?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#BuschLightPole<\/a> for tomorrow&#39;s race at <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IMS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@IMS<\/a>! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LGnuwgPQB6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/LGnuwgPQB6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NASCAR (@NASCAR) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR\/status\/1814727368306794755?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Tyler Reddick has been the fastest man in Indiana so far, topping both the practice and qualifying charts at IMS. In a race where track position will be key, starting up front and having a car good enough to stay there could be the catalyst for Reddick&#8217;s second win of 2024. His team owner, Denny Hamlin, will start opposite of him on the front row, and with Indianapolis being the only crown jewel race missing from Hamlin&#8217;s collection, Indianapolis could be the setting for a classic Toyota battle.<\/p>\n<p>The Hendrick trio of Chase Elliott, William Byron and Kyle Larson could have something to say about that, however, as the three drivers will start third, fourth and fifth, respectively.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/NASCAR\/status\/1814665338895700302<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Ford&#8217;s best bet to snag a win at the Brickyard could be <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/07\/18\/ryan-blaney-quickly-becoming-one-of-nascars-best-drivers\/\" target=\"_self\">Pocono winner Ryan Blaney<\/a>, who will start higher than any other Ford driver for Sunday&#8217;s race.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>How to watch the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:<\/h2>\n<p>Coverage of Sunday&#8217;s race will begin at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, with the green flag waving shortly after 2:30. MRN&#8217;s coverage will start at 1:30 p.m. ET, while SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will also provide race coverage.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Brickyard 400 returns for the first time since 2020 on Sunday, and will be the backdrop for a crucial race amid the playoff bubble battle. Stars such as Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney will look to add a crown jewel to their resume, while Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace will continue to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5221,"featured_media":22125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,1664],"tags":[662,148,59,1039,816],"class_list":["post-22084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-nascar","category-nascar-cup-series","tag-brickyard-400","tag-denny-hamlin","tag-hendrick-motorsports","tag-indianapolis-motor-speedway","tag-tyler-reddick"],"modified_by":"Hayden Murdock","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}