INDIANAPOLIS — The Cup Series is back on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time since 2020 and many drivers are excited to be there instead of on the track’s road course.
“I think in the back of the everybody’s mind you win on the big track here, this is the Brickyard,” reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney said. “… I always say the road course, we’re racing at Indianapolis. When we’re on the big track, it’s the Brickyard. I feel like everybody’s mindset is that way because that’s how the Indy 500 has been run for over 100 years.”
NBC coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET. Race coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Here are three things to watch in today’s race:
Restarts
Both multi-car crashes last weekend at Pocono were caused by issues on restarts and today’s race will see drivers race down a long straightaway and but into a tighter Turn 1 at Indy than Pocono.
The pressure is intensifying with five races left in the regular season. Passing is expected to be a challenge, so drivers will use restarts to gain as many positions as possible.
“I feel like everyone is going to race really aggressive, especially with what we saw at Pocono,” William Byron said. “It was already on the tipping point there for aggression.”
So is it time for someone to talk to the drivers?
“For me personally, once I crash once or twice I’m like, ‘OK maybe I should do something a little different,’” Byron said. “That’s just how I’ve always been. I think we’re smart enough at this level to self police, but it’s going to get aggressive and probably have hurt feelings and things like that.”
Said Chase Briscoe of the restarts: “We can run side-by-side for five, six laps sometimes, literally door-to-door with each other. The car side drafts so extremely, and I definitely think that restarts are going to be unlike anything we’ve experienced at IMS, especially in the Cup era.”
Narrow pit road
NASCAR reduced pit road speed from 55 mph to 45 mph from the last time Cup raced on the oval at Indy.
The 2020 race saw a pile-up on pit road that led to a car hitting a member of Ryan Blaney’s pit crew.
The width of the pit road that cars travel is 24 feet — narrowest on the circuit. The pit box width is 15 feet. That’s tied for the second narrowest in the series.
“I’ve been in two wrecks (on Indy’s pit road) and that’s mainly been mainly from people almost missing their pit box,” Ricky Stenhouse Jr. said. “(Pit road) is so narrowed that you’re focused on the cars in front of you, you’re focused on the wall next to you. Sometimes you can lose sight of your pit stall. … You have somebody kind of check up while they’re still in the (acceleration lane) vs. maybe when they pull left. So you’ve got to be on your toes.”
Typically, the top cars spread out along pit road when making selections, but a concern with getting blocked further up pit road has the top 12 qualifiers clustered in the first 17 pit stalls closest to pit exit.
Top teams at the top
The top four drivers in the points are all starting in the top five in today’s race.
Chase Elliott is the points leader. He has a three-point advantage on teammate Kyle Larson, leads Tyler Reddick by 15 points and has a 20-point advantage on Denny Hamlin.
Reddick will start on the pole and have Hamlin, who owns his 23XI Race car, beside him on the front row. Elliott starts third and Larson is fifth.
So what will it be like for Reddick to start on the front row with his boss?
“Well, if I tear it up, he’s paying for it,” Reddick joked. “It’s his car. I try not to use that against him. I honestly feel like we race each other very fair but hard.
“I’ve learned a lot about racing from him as well. I feel like we have a good level of trust and respect for one another, but obviously, when we come to a place like this, I know how badly he wants to win here. And I know how bad I want to win here. It’ll just be something we’ll have to manage throughout the day, and we’ll just see how it goes.
“Obviously, he and the 11 team are stout. The 5 (Larson), the 9 (Elliott), those are guys that have been good all year long. But yeah, I wonder if that’s something he thinks about while we’re racing. Like ‘man, if he uses me up?’ Is he thinking about fixing up his race car or worried about his race?”