We have just one more race before the engines quiet and the drivers and teams get a well-deserved two-week break for NBC’s coverage of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
And what a race it will be, as the Cup Series finally returns to the big track, the two-and-a-half-mile, rectangular-shaped oval at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway after three years of running the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course layout – more formally known as the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit.
This will be race No. 22 of the 2024 season, and with 11 drivers having already secured wins, the pressure on those on the points bubble or in need of a win to secure a playoff berth is ratcheting up week-by-week. And for those on the edge or below the cut line once the checkered flag flies on Sunday, there will be something of a painful wait until we fire up the engines at Richmond Raceway on August 11th, which in itself will be a fascinating occasion with the softer option tire available to the teams.
Only two current drivers have wins on the main track at Indianapolis, with Brad Keselowski winning in 2018 and a wheelman in desperate need of a win this Sunday (July 21) afternoon, Kyle Busch, who won back-to-back in 2015 and 2016.
The last winner before the switch to the road course was Kevin Harvick back in July, 2020 – a race that played out in front of empty stands due to the pandemic.
One driver who will not have fond memories of that July afternoon is Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin. The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota was leading the field with seven laps to go and looking likely to sail away to a much coveted race victory before a blown tire and an absolutely vicious fiery hit prematurely ended his day.
Erik Jones and Alex Bowman also blew tires and wrecked out on the afternoon in question.
Blown tires have been something of a theme at Indianapolis. The 2008 race, the first for the “Car of Tomorrow”, was marred by a number of blown-tire wrecks. It was so bad that NASCAR had to throw a competition caution every 10 to 12 laps, with the average green flag run lasting a measly nine circuits.
Hamlin, who has eight top-10 efforts in 15 attempts, expanded on his intense desire to win at the Brickyard – and complete his set of crown jewel races – on his always-compelling “Actions Detrimental” podcast this past Monday:
“I want to win it bad,” Hamlin said. “I also know that I need to control what I can control, do my job on the racetrack, off the racetrack. This is gonna be a race that can be frustrating. You can have a very, very fast car and if you put that fast car in 10th place, it’s gonna be tough. It’ll be tough to come back from that.
“It comes from executing right when you unload to the checkered flag. I just got to make sure I do my job to the best of my ability and if we do, we’re gonna have a great shot. But I want to win bad.”
And the oddsmakers seem to agree, rating him as a 4-1 favorite for Sunday, with Kyle Larson at 6-1. Last weekend’s winner and 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney and 2012 champion Brad Keselowski are both rated at 15-2. Chase Elliott, who tops the points standings, rounds out the top five with 9-1 odds for the victory.
Corey LaJoie, driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, is another driver relishing the opportunity to turn laps at the iconic venue: “This is one of those few moments in a year where you’re like, ‘I’ve got the coolest freaking job in the world,’” he said.
LaJoie is also optimistic about the on-track product.
“That’s what’s unique about our cars now, is you might even see somebody get a run and go to somebody’s right rear,” he noted. “I think this car is going to allow some things that look different than what people are used to seeing … I think the Next Gen car is going to really provide some good racing, more so than we’ve seen here. I think it will be a better visual experience for the fans, for sure.”
Worth noting, too, that none other than Rick Hendrick will serve as the honorary pace car driver this Sunday afternoon.
“Time goes by fast,” Hendrick said in a team release. “I can’t believe it’s been four decades since we started Hendrick Motorsports and 30 years since Jeff (Gordon) won the inaugural Brickyard 400. I’ll never forget the excitement around that event and the thrill of winning a race at Indianapolis.”
And one lucky driver will have that exact thrill this weekend. The only question that remains is who.
About the author
Danny starts his 12th year with Frontstretch in 2018, writing the Tuesday signature column 5 Points To Ponder. An English transplant living in San Francisco, by way of New York City, he’s had an award-winning marketing career with some of the biggest companies sponsoring sports. Working with racers all over the country, his freelance writing has even reached outside the world of racing to include movie screenplays.
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The only good race this weekend in Indianapolis will be just to the west at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The big track sucks for stock cars and has sucked for stock cars since the inaugural Brickyard 400.
I agree! Stock cars on a square track with flat corners, just does not seem to work. It didn’t work at Homestead, so they fixed the track, It didn’t work at New Hampshire (and haven’t fixed it). And it doesn’t work at Indy, but they can’t “fix” Indy without ruining it for Indy cars (and the road course wasn’t the answer). I love Indy, some of my best memories in racing are from crewing races on the road course there. The place is just magical, but it never has seemed suited to stock cars.
LaJoie’s looking forward to turning laps at Indy, I just hope he can manage to complete 400 miles without turning around backwards, like he usually does.
Well, hopefully the next gen car will race better at the big track than previous attempts, but that’s an extremely low bar. Because, as you said, stock cars absolutely suck on the big track. For years that was the race that I had the least desire to watch. And yes, IRP puts on a good show, I wish all three series ran there instead.