● The seeds of the Brickyard 400 were planted on Monday, June 22, 1992. It was the first of a two-day tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway where the viability of racing NASCAR Cup Series stock cars on Indy’s 2.5-mile rectangular oval was explored. Just a day removed from his victory in the Miller Genuine Draft 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Davey Allison joined eight of his Cup Series counterparts – Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip, Ricky Rudd, Ernie Irvan, Mark Martin and Kyle Petty – to run full-bodied stock cars on a track that was specific to low-slung, open-wheel Indy cars and the iconic Indianapolis 500. On the second day of the test, the nine drivers raced in a pack to simulate drafting, all while an estimated 40,000 fans looked on. Elliott in his Ford Thunderbird was fastest on both days, yet his best lap was still 63 mph slower than Roberto Guerrero’s pole-winning speed of 232.482 mph for that year’s Indianapolis 500. The speed discrepancy didn’t matter. Big American iron thundering around the famed Brickyard whetted appetites, and on April 14, 1993, NASCAR president Bill France Jr. and Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George announced that the inaugural Brickyard 400 would be held on Saturday, Aug. 6, 1994. It would be the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Speedway since 1916. Rising star and Indiana icon Jeff Gordon won the race to score the second of his 93 career victories, beating Brett Bodine by .53 of a second. For the next 26 years, the Cup Series raced on the oval before a three-year sojourn on Indianapolis’ 2.439-mile, 14-turn infield road course. It was not the same, and with the current-generation car putting on great shows at intermediate-style tracks across the nation, the decision to return to Indy’s 2.5-mile oval was made. The 2024 Brickyard 400 will mark the 28th Cup Series race on the big track, but the first since 2020.
● Noah Gragson doesn’t have a NASCAR Cup Series start on Indy’s 2.5-mile oval, but he does have one NASCAR Xfinity Series start on the big track. The driver of the No. 10 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing made his Indy debut in 2019 and finished third after starting 13th.
● Gragson raced at Indy three other times in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but they were all on the road course. From 2020 through 2022, Gragson never finished outside of the top-10. His best finish came in his first road-course start at Indy – third in 2020. He finished fifth in 2021 and 10th in 2022.
● Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, site of last weekend’s NASCAR event, shares some similarities to Indianapolis. Its 2.5-mile layout boasts just three corners, with its turn two, best known as the Tunnel Turn, modeled after the corners at Indianapolis, with just eight degrees of banking. Gragson has made four Xfinity Series starts at Pocono, with three finishes of sixth or better. In fact, his last Xfinity Series start at Pocono was his best. On July 23, 2022, the Las Vegas native started ninth but worked his way to the lead after 25 laps. He wound up pacing the field three times for a race-high 43 laps, including the final 22, to take the win by .281 of a second over runner-up Ty Gibbs.
● DYK?: The last NASCAR Cup Series team to win on Indy’s 2.5-mile oval was Stewart-Haas Racing. In fact, the team co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and Haas Automation founder Gene Haas won the last two Brickyard 400s, each courtesy of Kevin Harvick. And not since 2017 has a manufacturer other than Ford won the Brickyard 400, as Brad Keselowski drove a Ford to victory lane in the 2018 Brickyard 400 before Harvick’s back-to-back Brickyard wins in 2019 and 2020.
● The “Stewart” in Stewart-Haas owns two Brickyard 400 victories. The Hoosier hotshoe grabbed a coveted Indy win in 2005 before securing a second triumph in 2007. Both victories came with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Ford Mustang Dark Horse
This year marks a return to the oval at Indy. While you don’t have any NASCAR Cup Series starts on the 2.5-mile oval, you do have one NASCAR Xfinity Series start on the oval (2019, when you finished third). So, what’s it like to race on the most renown oval in all of motorsports?
“It’s tough. It’s like the Tunnel Turn at Pocono, you’ve just got to be good with your timing. It’ll be different with all the horsepower and everything in the Cup cars. We ran the high-downforce, drag package where you drafted the whole time and pretty much ran close to, if not wide open, all the way around there. Our speeds probably weren’t as high at the end of the straightaways, but definitely drafting and getting pretty tight behind guys, so some of that stuff might be applicable for this weekend. But it’s all about timing and getting around that racetrack and maximizing your corner speed.”
Indy is big, flat and fast. How do you make a fast lap around that place, and then duplicate that fast lap 159 more times?
“You’ve just got to try and maximize your exit speed and get the car to turn and pointed correctly, and get on the gas early to make straightaway speed.”
You get a 50-minute open practice on Friday of the Indy race weekend. What are you able to do in that session that you aren’t able to do in your typical 20-minute practice session prior to Cup qualifying?
“Just get way more laps on the track to get comfortable with it. You get to make some changes, more adjustments, than you normally would.”
Indiana in July is hot and humid. How do you deal with the heat, and how far out before a race weekend begins do you start preparing yourself for the heat?
“You start hydrating Wednesday, Thursday if your race is on Sunday, drink Pedialyte and just sit outside a little bit more than you would during the week. I’ve felt good during the hot races. Obviously, they’ve been hot and it takes a long time to cool off after them, but inside the car I’ve felt good, and that’s what matters.”
What’s the hottest race you’ve ever competed in? What were some of the things you were dealing with in that race?
“Probably the worst shape I’ve ever been in in a racecar, as far as, ‘Man, I don’t know if I can keep doing this,’ it’d probably be Gateway or Iowa back in 2018. It was really hot, but I think I’ve just gotten more used to it now. With my experience, I feel like I’d be able to get back in that same race and it’d probably be no big deal. I’ve definitely fine-tuned my hydration plan, and I have more reps at longer races. I don’t know if I just wasn’t acclimated back in the Xfinity Series, but it was pretty tough. With my experience and reps behind the wheel now, it wouldn’t be a piece of cake, it still would be hot, but I would be able to bear it a lot better.”
● Event: Brickyard 400 (Round 22 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 21
● Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
● Layout: 2.5-mile rectangular oval
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps/400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 50 laps / Stage 2: 50 laps / Final Stage: 60 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / IMS / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
TSC PR
