1. Was the return of the Brickyard 400 a success?
When moving to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course did not revive any interest or fanfare in NASCAR coming to Indy, the decision was made to bring the oval and the Brickyard 400 back.
In terms of the actual racing on track last Sunday (July 21), it wasn’t great, but there were no expectations of it being great given the Next Gen car’s struggles on flat tracks and the struggles that stock cars have faced at Indy in general. Even then, the frantic, fuel-mileage finish between Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson (until it went into overtime) provided some of the late-race excitement that had been lacking most of the day.
But even if the racing was subpar, the return of the Brickyard 400 passed with flying colors in all other areas. IMS saw its largest crowd for a NASCAR race since the 2017 Brickyard 400, and the TV ratings also came back strong, as NBC’s broadcast averaged 3.6 million viewers — the highest total since 2020 and higher than any Cup race run on the road course layout.
Those numbers include the broadcast getting yanked to USA Network on two occasions due to NBC’s coverage regarding President Joe Biden’s decision to not pursue a second term. With all things considered, those numbers were a massive success for NASCAR, NBC and IMS.
Combine those ratings with the prestige of winning on the Indy oval, and you’ve got a once-maligned crown jewel that has a path for success going forward.
And while there seemed to be some openness in alternating between the oval and road course layouts at Indy down the road, those plans look to be on hold for now. Hours before Sunday’s race, it was announced that PPG had signed a five-year agreement to be the presenting sponsor of the Brickyard 400, which will keep the race on the oval until at least 2029.
2. Why are so many JGR engines failing?
Christopher Bell had the fastest car at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway last month and was looking to pass Blaney for the lead with 20 to go until his engine started to blow up. He still made it to the finish under power with a top 10, but it was a gut punch that such a great day had ended with a mechanical issue that, for the most part, has fallen by the wayside with the Next Gen car.
What looked to be an aberration drew some concern one week later, as Denny Hamlin’s car suffered a terminal engine failure after running two laps at Sonoma Raceway.
The next three weeks at Iowa Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway presented no engine issues for any of the JGR cars. Whatever problem its cars had looked to be fixed, right?
Apparently not.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Chicago street circuit on July 6, Chandler Smith was off the pace immediately and ran a total of five laps before retiring with an engine failure. The mechanical woes then returned the next week, as Ty Gibbs detonated an engine in the final stage at Pocono Raceway after winning the pole.
And then, in the most recent weekend at Indy, things got weird.
It started with Xfinity practice, where Sheldon Creed had to go to a backup car for the race after blowing a motor. Unlike the Cup race, the Xfinity race at Indy used superspeedway engines, and JGR did not even have a backup superspeedway engine prepped for Creed, who still drove the car to a fifth-place finish.
The Cup race the next day saw the second consecutive week of engine issues for Gibbs and the No. 54 team. The car did make it to the finish, but Gibbs was down on power like Bell at Gateway and could only a muster a 23rd-place result in what has become a tight battle for the final playoff spot.
It would be one thing if these types of failures were the norm, but they are not. And while every team has an engine or mechanical failure from time to time, no other team has had this many failures in quick succession. It doesn’t seem to be a Toyota issue either, as the Cup teams of 23XI Racing and Legacy Motor Club have had zero issues this summer.
What is going on, and why is a powerhouse team in JGR succumbing to it?
Whatever the reason may be, the team needs to figure it out, and fast. Gibbs was 87 points above the playoff cut line after a third-place finish at Chicago, but that margin has now been cut to 42 points after back-to-back engine issues. There are only four races left in the regular season, and the team can’t be having quality control issues in the midst of a playoff battle and a run to the championship.
3. Is Kyle Busch trying too hard?
Indy marked Cup start no. 700 for Kyle Busch, and it was a memorable one for all the wrong reasons.
With just one top 10 and an average of 25.2 in his last nine starts, Busch and the No. 8 team were looking for something — anything — to stop the bleeding and restart the heart.
It looked like Indy was going to be that race, as Busch and crew chief Randall Burnett executed a pit strategy that put them in the lead before halfway and inside the top 10 for the closing laps. Busch was running sixth with five to go, which — for all intents and purposes — might as well be a win.
But Busch had a fast car in the closing laps, and he wanted to make up as many spots as he could. He tried to pass Hamlin multiple times for fifth in the final 10 laps, only to get boxed out by dirty air each time.
With 3 to go, Busch’s spotter Derek Kneeland keyed the radio to remind Kyle that sixth is still a good day and that he shouldn’t get overaggressive and risk crashing the car.
Right on cue, Busch spins out in the very next turn after divebombing Hamlin to the inside.
On one hand, I get Kyle’s frustration. Race car drivers are competitive at heart, and they’ll go for any position they can. And with the year the No. 8 team has had, I can’t blame Kyle for trying everything he can to maximize his finishing position each week.
That said, he wasn’t going to win, and he already has a triple-digit deficit to the playoff cut line. The haphazard moves Busch made to finish fifth instead of sixth presented far more risk than reward, and he paid the price with a 25th-place finish and a damaged car.
Arguably no one needs a break more than Busch and the No. 8 team, and they now have two weeks at their disposal to rest, relax and reset for the final 14 races. A playoff berth may be out of the cards, but a coveted 20th consecutive season with a win is on the line for Busch, and it’s a streak that means more than the world to him.
Therefore, Richard Childress Racing needs to figure where it’s lacking, and fast, in the speed department. At the same time, Busch needs to stop forcing the issue like Indy if a win isn’t in the cards or if the car doesn’t have the speed in needs. In most cases, cool, calm heads will prevail.
4. What’s next for Spire and Corey LaJoie after this week’s bombshell?
Spire Motorsports won the Rodney Childers sweepstakes this summer, and the expectation was that he would work with Corey LaJoie, whose contract expired in 2025.
But in a surprising turn, it was announced on Thursday (July 25) that LaJoie will not return to the No. 7 car and instead leave Spire altogether.
The questions surrounding this move are two-fold: where will LaJoie go, and who will take his place?
For LaJoie, there aren’t many Cup rides that are still available. Neither Kaulig Racing car has definitive plans for 2025, nor does the No. 15 entry for Rick Ware Racing. The third Front Row Motorsports car does not have a driver, but the team has indicated that they will be pursuing a younger lineup.
Two Stewart-Haas Racing charters have yet to be sold, but the most likely landing spots appear to be 23XI Racing and Trackhouse Racing, both of which seem to have clear favorites in the running if the charters are indeed sold. If it’s not with one of the above teams, LaJoie may need to drop down to Xfinity or the Craftsman Truck Series for next year.
As for Spire, there aren’t many big-name free agents on the market. They’ll most likely take their pick of a driver waiting in the wings of Chevrolet’s development program, and Childers himself may have a say in the start of his long-term, post-SHR future.
That said, there is a star driver that has driven for Spire countless time in the Truck Series and even sold his former Truck team to them. That driver is none other than Busch, who is signed through 2025 at RCR for now. That said, it’s been a tough year for Busch, and crazier things have happened. LaJoie will be leaving his contract with Spire a year early, and Tyler Reddick left RCR with a year left on his contract to join 23XI Racing in 2023.
If there’s anything the last few years have shown, it’s that the existence of a contract does not mean that it’s inflexible. But unless it’s said otherwise, expect Busch to stay put at RCR and for Spire to promote a driver from the lower ranks to replace LaJoie.
About the author
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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Indy was bad from two standpoints. First, Cup cars just don’t race well at the Speedway, they never have and I doubt they ever will. Looking at all the empty seats in the stands, it’s pretty apparent the fans know this two. The second reason was how do you make a bad race worse, make it a fuel mileage race. Why have so many races on big tracks become 2/3 throttle fuel runs this year? Maybe NASCAR should consider mandating smaller fuel cells for the tracks over 2 miles.
I thought the Toyota engines were all coming from TRD, or does JGR do their own engines or get “special” ones from TRD?
Sounds like special ones. And I have no doubt the 23’s appear special too.
“averaged 3.6 million viewers — the highest total since 2020 and higher than any Cup race run on the road course layout.”
OK, I guess I am in the minority in preferring the road course, but that’s ok, I will still watch and enjoy.