NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Can Be King of the Brick Road Course at Indianapolis?
For only the second time ever, NASCAR Cup cars will take to the Indianapolis Road Course this weekend. Last year’s inaugural running of the Verizon 200 was memorable to say the least; curbs coming up and late drama between the leaders ended with AJ Allmendinger and Kaulig Racing in victory lane. Can the 16 team pull off the upset again? AJ is now NASCAR’s all-time winningest road course racer. However, here are some others to keep an eye on for Sunday’s win.
Ross Chastain
Through three road course races so far in 2022, nobody’s been more consistent than Ross Chastain. The winner at COTA in March, Chastain backed up his first career win with an eighth at Sonoma and fourth at Road America. As one of just three drivers this year with three road course top-10s, Chastain’s 4.0 average finish leads the series. Trackhouse has also won two of the three road races this year. The chances are high for a watermelon to be smashed at the Brickyard.
“I am looking forward to the Indy road course,” Chastain said. “Several years ago I wasn’t very good at road courses, but now I’ve learned so much about how to drive road courses that I look forward to them. I’ll be running the Xfinity car on Saturday, which will be good to get some reps in before the big race on Sunday. My teammate Daniel Suarez is really good at road courses, so if all goes well it should be a good weekend for Trackhouse.”
Pocono marked Chastain’s first race not in the top-10 since the Coca-Cola 600 in May. After being crashed out late battling for the lead, the 1 aims to be P1 again at Indy. Extra track time in the Xfinity car could pay off big for Sunday. Chastain may do whatever it takes to get a chance to kiss the bricks.
Chase Elliott
It’s a road course race, so of course Chase Elliott is a favorite heading into Indianapolis. The seven-time road course winner heads into the Brickyard on perhaps the best streak of his career. Over the past five weeks, the Napa 9 car has finished in the top two each time, including three wins. Winning Pocono in an unconventional manner, Elliott hopes to reassert himself as road course king at the Brickyard.
“I feel like that’s probably been one of my worst road courses, personally,” Elliott said. “Never really felt like I got a hold of the track last year. I ended up kind of by happenstance running the Xfinity Series race last year as a sub in. It was unfortunate circumstances there, but I was grateful to have run that race because I was really bad on the Cup side until I got some extra reps, so I think that was helpful.”
“So going back, I need to do some homework this week on how to be better up there because I do not feel very good about that track and just never got in a good groove there last year at all and was never really on offense. I felt like I was on defense more than I was making moves and moving forward. That’s not a place you want to be, especially at those tracks or anywhere for that matter. It’s certainly something I want to improve at and I want to put some effort into this week to try to do that.”
Despite not feeling the best about the Indy Road Course last season, Elliott still finished fourth after leading 14 laps. Elliott has all the momentum in the world coming into year two at this technical track. With five-straight top-twos, Elliott enters as a high favorite for the Indy win.
Denny Hamlin
If not for being wrecked by Chase Briscoe late last year, Denny Hamlin was on his way to winning Indy. Hamlin enters this year’s Brickyard road course race with a double-dose of vengeance on his mind. Not only is Hamlin trying to win one that got away in 2021, he also wants to erase last week’s DQ from everyone’s memory.
“I really liked the track last year,” Hamlin said. “Although I do personally prefer the oval at Indy a lot more just because of the tradition and prestige and what it meant as a crown jewel race on our schedule. They have done a great job with the road course though. It’s a fun layout to race on. I would have obviously liked it a lot more last year if the race ended up a little differently, but I’m looking forward to going back this weekend. As a manufacturer, we still have a fair amount of work to do on our road course program. We felt like we made some small gains at the last one, but we still have a long way to go to get where we need to be and where we’re capable of running.”
In a rare shot at an unprecedented feat, Hamlin hopes to become the first man in NASCAR history to win their 600th Cup Series start. After the highs and lows of Pocono, Hamlin will try and silence the haters this weekend by getting his first win at Indianapolis.
Kyle Larson
Prior to last year’s curb debacle, Kyle Larson looked to be the class of the field at Indy. The 5 team won three road courses last season, and Indianapolis was a chance for a fourth that got away. Even though Larson still finished third that day, the 5 comes back to Indy eyeing victory lane.
“From what I remember of Indy from last year, the restarts were really intense because turn one is a really wide and deep braking zone, so you can get four or five-wide before it narrows down in the corner,” Larson said. “You have to find the confidence to brake deep so you don’t get bombed and that is difficult. It’s nice that it doesn’t have any elevation. It’s a fast-paced, ‘flowy’ type road course.”
Much like Elliott, Larson was among the best in the inaugural Indy Road Course race, as the 5 led a race-high 28 laps. He was third in 2021, and looks to be two spots better this time. Should the 5 be towards the front on a late restart, Larson could take the second win of his championship-defense season.
Kyle Busch
A two-time Brickyard 400 winner, Kyle Busch hopes to make it an Indy hat trick on the road course. As was the case with many, the curbs derailed Busch’s shot at a strong finish last year. After perhaps their best showing of 2022 at Pocono, the 18 hopes to be strong again. Road course or oval, Busch should not be counted out this weekend at Indianapolis.
“It’s definitely not what the oval is,” Busch said. “Certainly not the Indy 500 or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that was always known for being the 2.5-mile oval, and all the history that came along with that from the 500 to the Brickyard 400 over the years, as well. It’s another racetrack where it’s a different racetrack at the same venue. We had a good run going there last year and obviously the rumble strips coming up really hurt our finish. No matter what course it is, you go out there and race it the best you can and hope for a good run. We’ll go out there with our M&M’S Peanut Butter Camry and try to learn a bit more in practice and hopefully be in a position at the end for a good finish.”
Scored 20th a year ago, a promising day for Busch ended with the turn six curbs. Ideally with no curb issues this year, Busch hopes to score the victory he was denied in Pocono last week. Even with uncertainty over his future, Rowdy can still take command at Indy.
Ryan Blaney
After the chaos ensued last year, Ryan Blaney was a winning contender, eventually finishing second to Allmendinger. An underrated road course racer, a win now for Blaney would be very timely. Despite being fourth in regular season points, the 12 is at risk of not making the Playoffs. Should there be more surprise winners, Blaney could be below the cut line after week 26. After crashing out of Pocono, Blaney hopes to rebound by delivering Penske a win at his house. Blaney managed to be one of the few left standing once the dust settled last year; it may take victory for him to secure a postseason berth this time. Out of the winless drivers coming into Indy, Blaney has the best odds at becoming the newest winner of 2022.
Every road course so far in 2022 has seen a first-time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series. While that streak’s chances of continuing are low, we could very well see a 15th different race winner at Indianapolis. Coverage of the second running of the Verizon 200 begins Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, the IMS Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Don’t miss a lap of action, as the Playoff picture can be blown up again at the Brickyard.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images for NASCAR
