NASCAR News and Reviews: Indianapolis

A big week of racing comes ahead for Indianapolis as NASCAR makes its annual visit to Indianapolis Motor Speedway but with a twist. Or you could say, twists and turns. The NASCAR Xfinity Series will make a return to the road course configuration after a successful race last year, and for the first time ever, the NASCAR Cup Series will race on the road course, moving away from the traditional Brickyard 400 oval race. The NTT IndyCar Series will also race at Indy during this weekend as well.

To start things off with recent news, Max Papis was going to make a return to NASCAR racing with Rick Ware Racing in the #17 Chevrolet, competing in the Xfinity Series. However, a day after the announcement, Papis was tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be able to race. J.J. Yeley will take his ride instead.

For the Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150, there will be many road course ringers making a start in this race. Spencer Pumpelly will pilot the #0 for JD Motorsports, Kyle Tilley will drive the #5 for B.J. McLeod Motorsports, Ryan Eversley will drive the #6 for JD Motorsports, Mike Skeen will drive the #15 for JD Motorsports, Austin Dillon is in the 23 for Our Motorsports, Will Rodgers in the #24 for Sam Hunt Racing, Sage Karam will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut for Jordan Anderson Racing, Loris Hezemans, a NASCAR Euro Series driver, will make race for Reaume Brothers Racing, Andy Lally will drive the #78 for B.J. McLeod and Kevin Harvick will drive the #99 for B.J. McLeod as well.

Ty Gibbs comes off winning at Watkins Glen last weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing and will pilot the #54 again this weekend. The playoff picture has Brandon Jones 10th in standings and is 74 points to the good, Jeremy Clements 11th and is 40 points to the good, and lastly, Michael Annett has the final spot currently and is 30 points to the good. Riley Herbst is the first one out, who is 30 points out. This could be a good opportunity for someone like Jeremy Clements to sneak out a win or get a good result that can help him towards the playoffs. Clements has one career Xfinity win back in 2017 at Road America. Then you have some road course ringers like Will Rodgers or Andy Lally that could pull an upset as well. All eyes will be on that #54 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing, however. With Ty Gibbs, behind the wheel, that car has won the last eight of ten races with him, Kyle Busch, and Christopher Bell. Austin Cindric will always be a huge threat as well when it comes to road courses.

Alex Gray’s Pick Four:

Ty Gibbs

Austin Cindric

AJ Allmendinger

Jeremy Clements

Moving on to the NASCAR Cup Series, this will be one of seven road course races on the NASCAR Schedule. Kevin Harvick is the defending winner at Indianapolis but that was on the oval configuration. This will be another first for the NASCAR Cup Series as the top stars of racing take on the Indy Road Course. AJ Allmendinger will make a start for Kaulig Racing, Austin Cindric will make his last scheduled start for the season in the Penske #33, as he will prep to replace Brad Keselowski next season. Kyle Tilley will drive for LiveFast in the #78 and Timmy Hill will make a start for MBM. Some names you can quickly bring up for starters have to be Chase Elliott, who is the driver to beat on road courses. However, there has been another Hendrick driver to enter the picture and that is Kyle Larson. Larson won at Sonoma and last weekend at Watkins Glen. Martin Truex Jr has a couple of wins on road courses as well and he will always be a factor. Then you got two guys who have shown speed and I think could steal a win, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric.

Alex Gray’s Pick Four:

Chase Elliott

Kyle Larson

Martin Truex Jr

AJ Allmendinger

The Xfinity Race will be at 4 PM Eastern on Saturday (8/14), following the NTT IndyCar race on NBCSN, and the Cup Series race will be at 1 PM Eastern on Sunday (8/15) on NBC.