The beginning of today’s “Verizon 200” at the Brickyard got off to a rocky start when Joey Logano crashed together with Justin Haley on just the second lap of the event, putting the No. 31 Chevrolet into the wall and forcing NASCAR to throw a yellow flag.
After the restart, the race went on a tear, running about 80 green flag laps in succession without a caution bunching the field back together. During the long green flag stint, it was Michael Mcdowell winning the first stage with the No. 34 Ford defending the lead from Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott.
Denny Hamlin, who was on an alternate pit strategy, took the second-stage win.
Chase Elliot and Daniel Suarez Come Up Just Short
Unfortunately, the No. 99 car with Suarez driving experienced a hiccup on the pit road after his lug nut gun got stuck under his car. That put the pole-sitter behind, virtually taking him out of the running for the win.
Meanwhile, Elliott, who missed a few races earlier in the year due to a snowboarding injury, was in the same predicament as Mcdowell. Needing a win to make the playoffs. Elliott, a seven-time road course winner, was catching Mcdowell in the closing laps but the No. 9 just ran out of laps.
In 2021, Michael Mcdowell was a lucky driver to escape a huge last-lap crash and win the Daytona 500. Today, the underrated driver with his underdog team, dominated the Cup Series race at the Brickyard to become a winner at the historical Daytona International Speedway and now, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!
Elliott will finish a disappointing second followed by Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman rounding out the top five.
Shane Van Gisbergen finished 10th in his second career start. SVG won in his NASCAR debut on the streets of Chicago in early July.
Next week, NASCAR heads to Watkins Glen in New York.
NASCAR Verizon 200 at the Brickyard Results
Indy Road Course Results:
Rookie – *
- Michael Mcdowell – Stage 1 Winner
- Chase Elliott – LLI Pick 1
- Daniel Suarez – LLI Pick 2
- Tyler Reddick
- Alex Bowman
- Chase Briscoe
- Martin Truex Jr
- Kyle Larson
- Christopher Bell
- Shane Van Gisbergen*
- Chris Buescher
- Ty Gibbs* – LLI Pick 3
- Ryan Blaney
- William Byron
- Austin Cindric
- Austin Dillon
- Ross Chastain
- Bubba Wallace
- Denny Hamlin – Stage 2 Winner
- Brad Keselowski
- Harrison Burton
- Brodie Kostecki*
- Kevin Harvick
- Mike Rockenfeller*
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr
- AJ Allmendinger
- Ty Dillon
- Jenson Button*
- Corey Lajoie
- Andy Lally*
- Ryan Preece
- Josh Bilicki
- Kamui Kobayashi*
- Joey Logano
- Erik Jones
- Kyle Busch
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Update
On Friday night, it was Ty Majeski winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park, leading 179 laps on his way to his first victory of the year and the third of his career.
With the win, Majeski locks himself into the next round of the playoffs.
Pole-sitter Christian Eckes took second, followed by Layne Riggs, Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth, Corey Heim, Matt Crafton, and Matt Dibenedetto completing the top ten.
Shane Van Gisbergen finished 19th in his first Truck Series start.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Update
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the defending champion of the series took the win in the “Pennzoil 150” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Although he’s only 20 years old, this is already his 12th career victory.
Sam Mayer, who won at Road America a few weeks ago, finished runner-up with AJ Allmendinger, last year’s winner at Indianapolis, placing third.
Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Parker Kligerman, Sheldon Creed, Kaz Grala, and Brett Moffitt also finished in the top ten.
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