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To win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is to become known all over the world as a great race car driver. It's why racers from all across the globe home to compete in the Indianapolis 500 each May, with drivers from 12 different countries having achieved the Speedway's ultimate glory and crossed the Yard of Bricks first at the end of 500 miles. But while victory at Indianapolis is the bottom line for some, there are others for whom a win at this track is a means to an end.

The NASCAR Cup Series makes its annual trip to Indianapolis this weekend for the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard, the third Cup race on Indy's road course configuration as part of a conjunction weekend with the NTT IndyCar Series. With three races now remaining in the regular season and four playoff spots remaining up for grabs, Indianapolis marks the first of two-straight road course races that could end up having a major impact on who does and doesn't make the playoffs -- That is, if NASCAR's regulars can defend their territory from some international racing stars looking for a repeat of what happened in Chicago.

How to watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Indianapolis

  • Date: Sun., Aug. 13
  • Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- Speedway, Ind.
  • Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
  • TV: NBC
  • Stream: fuboTV (try for free)

What to watch

Ever since NASCAR switched from racing on Indianapolis' traditional oval configuration to racing on its infield road course, the sharp turn one of the Indy road course has become notorious for extremely dense traffic and divebomb moves with predictable results -- especially on late race restarts, which have proved chaotic in both races run on this track so far.

In an effort to make restarts more orderly, NASCAR has made a modification to the restart zone. The restart zone has been moved to between turns 13 and 14, well before the field enters the front stretch and even further from the entry to turn one. Unlike at most racetracks where drivers are forbidden from changing lanes before the start/finish line, NASCAR will permit drivers to change lanes once they are past the restart zone.

The intended effect of this change should be to thin the field out before the entry to turn one, preventing the disorderly restarts that have been seen here in the past where drivers have tried to funnel into the sharp and narrow corner while being three, four, and sometimes even five wide with predictable results. The new restart zone at Indianapolis resembles the one that was used on the Chicago street course, which helped alleviate traffic on restarts and the quality of the racing overall.

News of the week

  • Noah Gragson has parted ways with Legacy Motor Club while he works through NASCAR's reinstatement process following his indefinite suspension for liking a racially insensitive meme on his Instagram account. The No. 42 Chevrolet will be driven by Mike Rockenfeller at Indianapolis as well as next week at Watkins Glen.
  • Front Row Motorsports has locked down its driver lineup for the 2024 season, announcing that both Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland will return to the two car team next season. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith, who had been a candidate to move up to Cup with Front Row, is exploring his options for next season which include a potential return to Front Row's Truck team.
  • While Stewart-Haas Racing enjoys some improved performance on their Cup Series teams, their Xfinity Series team was issued an L1-level penalty by NASCAR after the sanctioning body discovered that the splitter on Cole Custer's car in pre-qualifying inspection at Michigan had been illegally modified. Custer's team has been docked 20 driver and owner points as well as five playoff points, while crew chief Jonathan Toney has been fined $25,000.

Drivers to watch

Yet another road course race in NASCAR has attracted a bevvy of talent from international racing series, beginning with Shane van Gisbergen. After becoming the first driver in NASCAR's modern era to win in his Cup Series debut at Chicago, SVG will make his second start in Trackhouse Racing's Project91 car as he begins to transition from V8 Supercars to NASCAR. But this weekend, he's got company.

Fellow V8 Supercars driver Brodie Kostecki has followed Gisbergen from Australia to the United States and will make his Cup Series debut in the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. Japan's Kamui Kobayashi, a former F1 driver and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, will also make his NASCAR debut in the No. 67 Toyota for 23XI Racing. British racing great and 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button returns for his third start in the Rick Ware Racing No. 15, and all will be joined by German driver Mike Rockenfeller, a late addition in the Legacy Motor Club No. 42.

All of these drivers will have a much greater spotlight on them this weekend after Shane van Gisbergen's victory at Chicago, with special attention being paid to Gisbergen as he tries to go two-for-two in his Cup career. That's more than just an easy narrative -- In the month that's passed since Chicago, special attention has been paid to Gisbergen's unorthodox right foot braking and clutch manipulation technique, which made him especially fast through the corners.

Whether or not one of NASCAR's regulars can emulate and master that technique -- or if one of the international drivers follows Gisbergen's lead -- could be the difference between whether another upset like Chicago occurs, or if order is restored and a full-time Cup driver wins on a road course again.

Pick to win

Tyler Reddick (+500): I'll say this first: I don't see Shane van Gisbergen pulling off a repeat of his Chicago upset. While I don't doubt that he'll once again be very competitive, I think that racing on a traditional road course will mute some of the experience advantage that Gisbergen had when it came to street course racing, and I also think that the top teams in Cup will adjust to what he was doing at Chicago and won't be taken by surprise again.

Tyler Reddick dominated this race a year ago, and there's been a focus on him and his team this week after an error by his pit crew likely cost him the win at Michigan. Given that Reddick has been one of NASCAR's best road racers and won at Circuit of the Americas earlier this year, I think now is a good a time as any for redemption from last week and Reddick's second win of the year.