Indianapolis Motor Speedway will not produce the best race of the NASCAR Cup Series season on Sunday. But what it will be is back on the Indianapolis oval.
“I’m glad we’re back on the oval where we should be,” Brad Keselowski said.
It is a common sentiment throughout the series; one called for by many over the last three years. NASCAR moved its Indianapolis events to the infield road course in 2021, which at the time made sense. Cup Series competition at Indianapolis was lacking, and road courses were popular.
The pendulum has now swung back in the other direction. Fittingly, it brings Indianapolis back to the schedule 30 years after NASCAR’s first invasion of the Brickyard.
“I think it’s good for the sport,” Kyle Larson said. “That race means a lot more on the oval, so I’m happy to have a crown jewel race back, and hopefully, we can have a good showing.”
Indianapolis is prestigious. It is hallowed ground; a place coveted by many who dreamed of driving an open-wheel car around the Speedway. No matter how hard some might have tried over the last three years, the road course didn’t bring the same sense of affection. A winning driver might still have kissed the bricks and proclaimed they won at Indianapolis, but no, they didn’t really win at Indianapolis.
Daytona. Charlotte. Darlington. Indianapolis. The four major events on the NASCAR schedule. Or crown jewel events, as Larson noted.
“I would imagine kissing the bricks after winning on the oval means way more than winning on a road course,” Larson said.
Keselowski will be one of three active Indianapolis oval winners in Sunday’s race. Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson are the other two. It’s a stat that stumped Keselowski initially, but it made sense after considering how many of his peers have retired in recent years. He is glad to be in the group that will race on Sunday and not amongst those no longer on the scene.
“The feeling of winning it is (one) I’ll never forget,” Keselowski said of his 2018 triumph. “It had been a rain out, so I remember going down that frontstretch on a Monday and just hauling the mail. The track was so fast with those cars down the straightaway. And just knowing that we were going to win it, and that feeling of ‘finally.’
“It was really thrilling for me. I’ll never forget that day. It’s a special track to win at.”
Larson has never won at Indianapolis but appreciates what the track is and how much it would mean to succeed there.
“The sound is different – the echo is really cool,” Larson said of the recognizable Indianapolis frontstretch with its grandstands on both sides. “That place and what Roger (Penske) and the whole Penske organization has done to take it from being the best to even better is pretty incredible. The facility is just so nice, and the history there is what really makes it special.”
Busch won two consecutive races at Indianapolis in 2015 and ’16.
“It’s pretty special,” Busch said. “It’s awesome to win at the Brickyard. It’s such a tough place and [tough] to figure out. It took me a long time, but once we got it, we seemed to hone in on the things that we knew that we needed to be good that we could find again each time going back. I should have had three in a row there, but that last one [ED: When he wrecked on a restart while battling Martin Truex Jr for the lead] always stings.”
Whoever triumphs on Sunday will have earned the dirty but satisfying kiss that awaits them during the celebration. No race is easy to win, and Indianapolis will be no different. As special as the Speedway is, and as much as the series will revel in being back on the oval, the racing product leaves much to be desired. But it offers something else, as Hamlin breaks down.
“If you’re crazy about side-by-side racing, it’s probably not going to be too exciting for you, but it’s still a big event,” Hamlin said. “Over time, it’s been the cars with the best engines, aerodynamics, execution of pit road, all those things that equal a winner at that track. It will be an execution-type race. You’re going to need to qualify well, but you never know what can happen – strategy is a big deal there.
“I do hope that these cars have enough drag down the straightaway to create slingshot-type passes like we’ve seen on the IndyCars at that track. The only thing that will limit that is, I think our corner speeds are a hair too fast for the second-place guy to stay close enough to make that work. It’ll be tough, but I think on new tires, you have a shot to see something great. Other than that, the purist needs to be looking at the strategy part of it.”
No matter how much time passes, or if the car design and rules package change, NASCAR stock cars are still not a match for the fast 2.5 miles of flat Indianapolis Motor Speedway. No matter – the racing is not the main attraction. One goes to Indianapolis because it’s Indianapolis.
And so, the series will celebrate oval racing Sunday, but don’t be surprised if that’s the only story.
“I’m super-excited,” William Byron said. “This was a decision a lot of drivers wanted. It’ll be difficult to pass, which isn’t abnormal with this car, but it’ll come down to strategy, execution, and qualifying.
“I’m excited for it. The track is fun to make laps on. I’m sure it’ll be tricky with the Next Gen car; probably a little bit edgy. But it’ll be everything we want as drivers to be back on the oval with the history that it has.”