Indianapolis Race Review and Analysis
An interesting day in Indiana. The Nascar Cup Series made its yearly stop at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. To say the least, this was a rodeo type of Verizon 200 at the Brickyard. In a challenging, persevering, and intriguing way, Tyler Reddick takes home the checkered flag in Indianapolis. This is Reddick’s 2nd career win, and 2nd of the 2022 season.
(Tyler Reddick Post-Race)
An interesting business decision by Ross Chastain occurred on a final overtime restart in Indianapolis. Ross Chastain, who has been the most named driver in headlines, when it comes to controversy, involves himself in something new. With two laps to go, and a win on the line, the field headed into the tight, Indianapolis Road Course turn 1. Chastain, who didn’t want any part of the turn 1 beating, and banging, took another route. Chastain took the Nascar access off-road to avoid the restart carnage. Chastain found himself battling with Tyler Reddick for the race win. This move would later be penalized by Nascar, in what was one of the most interesting business decisions this weekend. Austin Dillon was also penalized for using the access road behind Chastain.
Let’s rewind back to our stage 1 winner. Chase Briscoe, at his home track, the Mitchell, Indiana native took home his 3rd career stage win. Briscoe, after picking up the stage 1 win, would later on fluctuate his way throughout the rest of the race, as he came home 23rd. Briscoe is having a career year, in his second season driving full-time in the Cup Series. The 27-year-old is set to make his first career playoff appearance this September due to his 1st win back in March, at Phoenix Raceway. The stage 2 winner was Christopher Bell, for Joe Gibbs Racing. Bell, who has turned his season around since the start of the summer, captured his 1st career stage win. Christopher Bell will also make his 2nd playoff appearance this September, after collecting his first win of the 2022 season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Bell paced the field throughout the second half of stage 2 until he cut a tire down with 6 laps to go in today’s race. Bell went on to finish 12th.
(Tyler Reddick in front of the crowd)
Throughout today’s 82-lap race, a lot of on-track issues occurred. The inside of Chris Buescher’s #17 Violet Defense Ford caught fire on pit road before the end of stage 1. Chris Buescher was able to rebound for a 10th place finish after an early scare. Alex Bowman had a flat left front tire on his #48 Ally Chevrolet. Bowman was later spun by Kevin Harvick exiting turn 7 which ended his afternoon. Alex Bowman who has had a miserable last several weeks finishes 32nd. In his last 6 races, Bowman has accounted for a 36th place finish in Nashville, a 12th place finish at Road America, 32nd at Atlanta, 35th at New Hampshire, 11th at Pocono, and 32nd place finish this afternoon. Kevin Harvick #4 for Stewart Haas Racing saw trouble this afternoon. He was spun by Alex Bowman, which was later paid back by the 22-year veteran. This occurred on lap 20, which didn’t set Harvick up for any success later, as he finished 33rd. Aric Almirola, also for Stewart Haas Racing, saw trouble this afternoon. Almirola had a flat tire on lap 24, which ended his day. Almirola comes home 38th, after a dreadful day in Indianapolis. AJ Allmendinger, Cole Custer, and Harrison Burton all spun on lap 27. That didn’t impact their afternoons too much as all three drivers ended up in the top-10 to finish today. On lap 41, Brad Keselowski missed turn 7, which caused his #6 Castrol Ford to spin out. Later on, in the race at lap 53, Keselowski spun on the back stretch heading into turn 7. Keselowski, who will need a win in these next four races finished 20th. On lap 61, with 21 laps to go in today’s race a huge wreck between Kyle Larson, and Ty Dillon occurred. Heading into the tight, and vigorous turn 1, Kyle Larson seemed to lose control of his car, as his breaks started to fade. He barrelled, and smashed into Ty Dillon sending both cars into the grass. Luckily, both drivers were ok, as a violent hit occurred during today’s race. Ty Dillon finished 34th, followed by Larson in 35th.
(Tyler Reddick leading the field in Indianapolis)
Drivers who had good afternoons were Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, AJ Allmendinger, Michael McDowell, Cole Custer, and Chris Buescher. Austin Cindric just recorded his best finish since his Daytona 500 win back in February.
Cindric’s #2 team is hitting stride just before the playoffs, as he finishes 2nd. Harrison Burton, another rookie in the Cup Series finished 3rd. Burton hasn’t had many bright spots this season but when road courses and superspeedways pop up on the schedule Burton is always a contender. Todd Gililland finishes 4th for Front Row Motorsports. Just like Cindric, and Burton he is another rookie driver in the Cup Series. Bubba Wallace had a career day as he records his 3rd top-10 in three straight races. Wallace finished 5th, which is his best result on a road course in the Cup Series. Joey Logano finished 6th for Team Penske, after an up and down evening battling his way to the front. In what was the perseverance story of the day, AJ Allmendinger finished 7th. Allmendinger relayed to his crew multiple times how he was exhausted, and worn out. Allmendinger even told his crew that how he was feeling could cause him not to finish today’s race. Allmendinger did finish all of today’s 82 laps, as he came home 9th. Allmendinger also won the Xfinity Series race in Indianapolis on Saturday. Michael McDowell finished 8th for Front Row Racing to cap off a stellar afternoon for their two-car team. Cole Custer finished 9th for Stewart Haas Racing. Custer has been great on road courses, as that paid dividend this afternoon. Chris Buescher finished 10th, in a bounce back day for RFK Racing. Buescher saw trouble early, but that didn’t stop him from capturing a top-10. Honorable mentions go to Kyle Busch in 11th, Christopher Bell in 12th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 13th, Denny Hamlin in 14th, and Erik Jones in 15th.
(Tyler Reddick burning it down)
In my opinion, today was pretty good in Indianapolis.
We saw a tight, hard strategy, nail-biting type of race
this afternoon. The debate of whether Nascar should
go back to the oval configuration still is alive.
Roger Penske, who is owner of Team Penske, and
Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced that Nascar
will return to the road course layout in 2023, but in 2024
we could see a race on the oval track for the first time
since 2020. Michigan up next will be a show
to watch, as we narrow in on the highly anticipated
Daytona Coke Zero 400 regular-season finale.
Taking all action into consideration, I’d rate
today’s race a 9.3 out of 10.
(A look at the playoff picture Post-Indianapolis)
The Great Lake state of Michigan! The Nascar Cup Series will head to Michigan International Speedway, for the FireKeepers Casino 400. The Camping World Truck Series will have the weekend off. The Xfinity and Cup Series will make the trip out to Michigan. Located in Brooklyn, Michigan, this 2-mile track produces a unique type of on-track production. Practice and qualifying for the Xfinity Series will start at 9:05am ET. Followed by the New Holland 250 Xfinity Series race at 3:30pm ET that
afternoon on USA Network. The Cup Series will have practice followed by qualifying starting at 12:35pm ET.
The FireKeepers Casino 400 will be at 3:00pm ET,
Sunday, August 7th, only on USA Network.
( All images credited to https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/cup-series.)
For next week's race information please view the link down below:
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