Chase Briscoe has finished second in each of the past two races this season.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend with one driver looking to claim the In-Season Challenge championship and another driver seeking to complete a career grand slam.
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading into Sunday’s race.
23XI Racing —Good news: Tyler Reddick won the pole, led 40 laps and finished second at Indianapolis last year. … Reddick has an average finish of 5.0 at Indy in both of his starts on the Indy oval. … Reddick has three top-10 finishes in the last four races this season. … Bubba Wallace placed fifth and won a stage last year at Indianapolis. ... Wallace has finished in the top 10 in his last three starts on the Indy oval. … Riley Herbst won last year’s Xfinity race at Indianapolis. Bad news: The organization remains winless this season (it had one victory at this point last year). … The organization has had fewer top-five finishes, fewer top 10s and led fewer laps compared to this time a year ago.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland finished sixth at Indianapolis last year. … Noah Gragson finished ninth at Indy last year. … Zane Smith placed 17th last year at Indy. Bad news: Gilliland has place outside the top 20 in eight consecutive races. … Gragson has one finish in the top 25 in the last eight races.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer finished fifth in his only Cup start on the Indy oval in 2020. Bad News: Custer has been no higher than 34th in the points since the second race of the season.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: For the second year in a row, Chase Elliott is the points leader heading to Indianapolis. … Elliott took the points lead from William Byron last weekend at Dover. … In the last five races, Elliott went from being 104 points out of the lead to holding a 16-point advantage. … Kyle Larson won last year’s Indianapolis race in double overtime. Bad news: Byron has an average finish of 25.3 in the last six races, ranking 31st among the 36 full-time drivers. … Byron has finished 27th or worse in his last two starts on the Indy oval. … Alex Bowman has never finished better than 21st in six Indy starts on the oval. … Bowman has finished on the lead lap once on the oval at Indy.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 11th on the oval at Indy last year, the second-best result for the organization at that track (Chris Buescher placed ninth there in 2017). Bad news: Stenhouse has two top-20 finishes in the last eight races this season.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Ty Gibbs will race Ty Dillon for $1 million in the final of the In-Season Challenge at Indianapolis. … Gibbs has finished in the top 10 in each of the last three races. … Chase Briscoe won and Denny Hamlin was second at Pocono, a track that has some similarities to Indianapolis. … Hamlin has a series-high four wins this season after his victory last weekend at Dover. … A win at Indy would make Hamlin the fifth driver to ever win the sport’s four crown jewels (Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500), joining a list that has Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick. … Briscoe has finished second in each of the last two races. … Briscoe has placed either first or second in three of the last five races. … Briscoe’s eight top-five finishes this season are a career-high. … Christopher Bell finished fourth at Indy last year. Bad news: Bell has finished 16th or worse in five of the last seven races.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: Ty Dillon’s Cinderella run through the In-Season Challenge continues with him racing Ty Gibbs for the $1 million prize Sunday at Indianapolis. … Dillon finished 19th in last year’s race at Indy, while Gibbs placed 23rd. … Dillon has scored four consecutive top-20 Cup finishes for the first time since 2022. … Dillon’s only Xfinity win came at Indy in 2014. Bad news: AJ Allmendinger is coming of a 37th-place finish at Dover after a suspension issue, snapping a streak of three consecutive top-20 finishes.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: The organization has four top-five finishes (it had none at this time last year) and 10 top 10s (compared to four at this time last year). Bad news: Erik Jones’ average finish of 26.6 at Indianapolis is his worst among tracks he has made multiple starts. … John Hunter Nemechek has placed outside the top 20 in three of the last four races this season.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon’s 15th-place result at Dover was his best finish since Texas in May. … Kyle Busch has finished 11th or better in the last three races. … RCR Xfinity driver Jesse Love will make his fourth career Cup start, driving the No. 62 for Beard Motorsports this weekend. Bad news: Busch has not led a lap in the last nine races, tied for the longest streak in his career.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware finished 18th at Indy last year, one of his best finishes in a limited Cup schedule in 2024. Bad news: Ware is coming off a 36th-place finish at Dover, his worst finish since Bristol in April.
RFK Racing — Good news: Brad Keselowski has five top-10 finishes in the last nine races after having no top 10s in the season’s first 12 races. … Keselowski is one of three former winners on the Indy oval entered this week (Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson are the others). … Chris Buescher has six top-10 finishes in the last 10 races. Bad news: Ryan Preece has an average finish of 27.3 at Indianapolis, his worst among active tracks. … Preece lost 13 points to the playoff cutline at Dover and is now 16 points out of the final playoff spot.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: The organization has twice as many top-five finishes (four) and top-10 finishes (eight) as it did at this point last season. … Michael McDowell has had back-to-back top-20 finishes for the first time since March. … Justin Haley also has had back-to-back top-20 finishes for the first time since March. Bad news: Carson Hocevar has finished 29th or worse in five of the last seven races.
Team Penske — Good news: Ryan Blaney finished third and Austin Cindric placed seventh in last year’s race at Indy. … Joey Logano has three consecutive top-15 finishes for the first time since April. Bad news: The organization has not had a top-five finish in the last four races, one short of its longest drought of the season. … Blaney has three top-10 finishes in the last nine races.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Daniel Suarez has an average finish of 12.8 on the Indy oval, his best among all tracks with multiple starts. Bad news: Saurez has finished outside the top 25 in three of the last four races. Ross Chastain has only three top-10 finishes in the last 10 races. … Chastain has never finished better than 15th in four starts on the Indy oval. … Shane van Gisbergen has one top-20 finish in his last five starts on oval tracks this season.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry has started in the top 15 in three of the last four races on oval tracks this season. Bad news: Berry finished 35th last year at Indy in his only Cup start on the oval there. … Berry has failed to finish two of the last four races this season.
Category: General Sports
