NASCAR Cup Series Highlights | 2026 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis

Good afternoon from Indianapolis motor speedway, the racing capital of the world. Today it's a crown jewel, the brickyard 400. One guy at the top of the list, Denny Hamlin, 0 for 17 when it comes to racing in the brickyard 400. He wants it really bad. Starting on the pole, Carson Josvar. He got his first career win earlier this year. So did Ty Gibbs. So did Corey Heim. They would love to deliver here today. Front row, Josvar and Suarez. His teammates from Spire. We are green in the brickyard 400. Always fun to watch them come down the back straight away, fighting for position into turn three. Yeah, there will be a lot of late blocks just like you see right there down into turn three. Down into turn one. A lot of clean air up front. But dirty air for everybody back here. All these cars trying not to lose any momentum and present opportunities for others to pass. See Cole Custer fighting on the outside here. He's been on the outside for a couple of corners here. Three wide with the 12 of Blaney. Blaney hesitated. Now he drives down there underneath the 43 of Erik Jones. Chase Briscoe coming with him in the 19. You see how much the draft comes into play, even a track where you have to get out of the gas in the corners. Blaney kind of got stuck on the bottom with no help to push on board here with Chris Buescher looking ahead. The 19 of Briscoe on the outside. Erik Jones in trouble out of the gas. There's a lot of cars on the racetrack that are held up behind a couple of the cars, right? You're stuck behind them, can't make the pass, get to pit road, have a great stop, go out, run a few laps. Really, really strong. You'll leapfrog those cars as they come to pit road. Here's Ty Dillon possibly breaking one of the rules here, getting a little bit to the right side of that line. You're not allowed to go across there, Steve. Absolutely right. The dotted line is in play. The solid is out of line. He crossed over it. Penalty for the 10 pass through execution. We talk about execution. That's a missed opportunity. The 5 of Kyle Larson now on pit road as well, Marty. Larson on pit road. He needs just a little bit more turn as the run goes on. Another thing that will be interesting, Larson was really quick but stuck behind the 67 of Haim Gibbs. A couple of the cars who are still on the racetrack. As they cycle to pit road, does this present an opportunity for the 5 car to leapfrog a few positions? If you're going to pit four times or more, you come right now. That's enough fuel. That's all you need to put in. You save your driver. But if you think you can somehow do this on three very long pit stops with empty gas tanks, you stay on the racetrack. Throw a blanket over the top three. And Byron's thinking, I can unlatch myself. I've already got service. I need to get by these three in front of me if something happens. Oh, Hamlin squeezes three wide to the bottom. This is outstanding. Coming to the corner. Meanwhile, 77 in. Josevar getting his stop, Marty. Terrific racing on the track. Meanwhile, I think Luke Lambert started to realize, Steve, what you guys were talking about. We're losing way too much time in this traffic. They brought Carson Josevar to pit road. It was a flawless stage one to that point. Got two free. The longer he ran, though, well, as you see on the right side, that's going to be perhaps too fast. But on the left, the 77, he's on the access road. If you look at the map, the five of Larson has already passed him. Look at this up here. The five of Larson in front of the 77, I believe already. There is the Larson. We're going to have to go to the rear camera if we want to see the 77 leaving pit road. Everything is about fuel. The rear tire changer will probably run around the gas man. He might even stand there and wait for the gas man to get done with the first can. Kyle Larson on the racetrack will easily bypass the 11 because he's going to have a much longer stop. Kyle Larson got about 14 gallons put in his car. Denny Hamlin got nearly 20 gallons of gas put in his car. So that wasn't just bad pit work by Denny Hamlin. That slow left side is waiting for that second. Oh, man! Unreal! Larson was going to cycle to the race lead as Heim made his pit stop. First caution of the day for Kyle Larson. You come back here and you think, man, this is where we're going to turn things around. You see the tire go out. You see the car spin around. Kyle Larson helpless. Might be the day where he ends the winless streak. The struggle continues. That's a really, really hard hit. Ready for the restart. Going to be a one-lap shootout to end stage one. Gibbs, Hosovar, front row. Heim on row two. They had great fortune in the cycle. We'll continue to go through all the strategies as we get the restart here. Two and a half miles to the green and white checkered flag. Gibbs jumps away. Side by side for second. Looks like Heim is going to take that spot away. Hosovar wants to get in line. Can't do it. Michael Mcdowell, great execution through the green flag pit stops. He's trying to get third from his teammate. Side by side. Down the back straightaway. Big run coming from behind him, Byron. He's going to go low here. Looking for an opportunity to go three wide. It's not there. Hamlin grabbing a few spots back there, moving in behind Byron in sixth. Here's the other thing to think about. Stage points. There's some guys up there that really need them right now. Ty Gibbs has been great at getting them all season long, and he's going to get ten right here. Opening stage of the brickyard 400 goes to Ty Gibbs. Heim second. Mcdowell, Hosovar, Byron, the top five. This is ****** in the 88. Quit ****** blocking. 10-4. I see it. Big picture here, Ben. Get the four to your inside here. Watch yourself. Don't play games with them. Just try to mind your own business. Drivers are funny. If our steering wheel is off a quarter turn, we want to fix it. Evidently, he left pit road early in the race. To start the race, he didn't have the right spot. He's taking another shot at it here. Gets it wrong. He's messing with it. And, oh, hello, grass. That can't be comfortable. Got it all situated down. It was well planned. It was on the apron as he was trying to get up to speed, but I'm sure his heart rate went up a little bit. Really good launch on the left side. Connected together to 71 of Mcdowell and Gibbs off into the corner. Mcdowell's going to get that second spot away from Heim. I mean, Mcdowell's won here on the road course. He's a daytona 500 champion. He said, I want an oval win at Indy. He's up the second on the restart. Looking about the 10th row back. Chaos back. Oh, here we go. We're going to all pop out of line. Look out. Hang on. Look out. Who was that? Dancing back there for position. Zane Smith, I believe. Zane Smith almost mowed some grass. Indeed. Logano to the inside of the 12. His teammate, Blaney. Well, Dale said on the restart, the drivers are going to be jerks and the aggression level is up. Bubba Wallace looking out of line. He was down low. Now back to the middle of the racetrack. These drivers, you think they're running 100 miles an hour. You can't imagine. This is 180 miles an hour. Way up the racetrack back there. Yellow. Is that Noah Gregson, maybe? Yellow hooded car. That's the 4. Starting to calm. This is why it's so wild. It's starting to calm down. Look at this move right here. They keep going. Wow, that was close. Josh Berry trying to get around to on the outside and turn three on board bottom right with Bubba Wallace. Watch this view right here. Oh, that was Josh Perry. That was into the back of Zane Smith. Oh, we have an issue with the nine. Is this another flat tire? Right rear looks flat to me. Teammate Kyle Larson brought out the first caution of the day and the nine limping around. See what happens. 47 to his outside. Nine comes up. Barely contact there, and he says it's killed. Hit hard on the right rear. Oh, here we go. I was wondering if this would force the leader to come to get those fresher Goodyear tires, which is a little bit different shift from last year when the tires didn't seem to matter a ton. Ty Gibbs doing a nice job getting down to pit road speed. Halfway through stage two, and the race leader says the time is now for my green flag pit stop. Corey Heim now takes over the race lead, 54 coming down for service. Here he is, Marty. Once Ty Gibbs got the lead, he was quick in that 54th, and he was a little bit too free out front with that clean air that he did not have the advantage of earlier in the race. But he didn't want to make a big adjustment to it. Four tires here. They're going to wait on fuel as well. 25 to go here in stage two. Talk about athleticism. That hand from the second hand from behind the wall to the front was low, and that gas man took that 110 pounds from his elbow and threw it up in his shoulder. Absolute athleticism from the fuel man of the 54. So I want to watch. Watch this fuel, this fueler right on the right hand side. He's going to hand the stop. He's going to hand it back. Watch when he gets the second one. Man, they throw it, like, on his shoulder, and that's 110 pounds he's throwing around up there. Did you hear that? Yeah. What did he keep repeating in the pre-race show earlier today? It's all about just trusting the process. Trusting what Chris Gale is telling me. Second stop of the day for Denny Hamlin. Sets him up to do it on one more stop today. Said it was a little bit tighter this run, but he was in traffic a little bit longer. Kenneth Purcell, the fueler, will nod when it's full. There's the nod. Denny Hamlin heads back out on the racetrack. 54 goes through the frame. So that shows you what coming early does for Ty Gibbs. He's going to easily have the lead. I mean, lookit. It's going to be a mile away. So basically he's going to cycle to second. I mean, when everything began, Denny Hamlin was fifth, but by jumping in front of this group and Haim having to pit, that will put Hamlin second behind his teammate. This battle continues. Not a battle for position, but certainly something that could affect. Look at Denny driving away up toward the back bumper of this 54 car. Luke Lambert, at some point, man, there's nothing you can do. You've already made your pit stop, right? You're just waiting for the 67 to pit. I think right now I'm probably letting my driver know I'm maybe trying to calm him down. I don't think you need to push, Joseph R. I'd be afraid of a mistake, getting frustrated. I'd probably flip to the other side. As much as I want him to go by, I'm more concerned with a mistake or an overdrive. We talk about Gibbs and Hamlin and where they will fall in. We're not going to win the race on lap 89. Passing Corey Haim. So take care of your stuff. 11 to go this time. We'll see what Gilliland and his team do as we wrap the stage. Wow! Yes! The hurricane always delivers a story. Outstanding. Haim said, I'm pitting. And Joseph R. Said, I got your pit stop right here. Unbelievable. You've got to love the character. Come back to yellow on the racetrack. 78 spun around. Caution, late stage one. Caution, late stage two. 78, Daniel Dye. Let's see what happens here. He's already spun around. Yeah, this looks like another left rear tire. You see it's off the wheel. Great call. Yep. Chastain wins the stage. Gilliland behind him. Great points day for Ty Gibbs. Final stage of the brickyard 400. Joseph R. Has got his hand out the window waving to his teammate. He's going to try to prepare for a jump. Maybe to go three wide if he gets a good push here. Green again at Indy. The help's not there for Joseph R. Haim and Denny side by side. He concedes. Now Haim has to stay within touch and behind him, Joseph R. He's already told him how happy he is with him today. Joseph R. Is there. He's going to have a run. Grease waiting in the wings. In fifth. That red number 60. Suarez peeking out of line into turn three. Joseph R. Is going to be seeing red. Same car in front of him again with a block. And the caution is out with Ty Gibbs leading. There's the debris without a doubt. Ty Gibbs leading him down. Service with 44 to go. Right on the edge of the window. Grease with an early stall. He's going to try to exit his pit stall here. Cleanly. Surprised that Grease took four tires. Marty. Adam mentioned it. It's going to be very tight to the end here, but most teams think they can make it. So you're going to see Ty Gibbs in that 54. They're going to have to go with four. We've talked about their fuel deficit all day long. But for the 11 of Denny Hamlin, the 77 of Carson Joseph R., it's going to be right sides for Hamlin, right sides for Corey Haim as well. And a drag race between driver and owner off of pit road, and Corey Haim takes the lead here on pit road. Haim wins the race off. They've got to go down outside the top five before you see Ryan Priest there who does get four tires, and right behind him, it was Bowman. Here's the race off the pit lane, Haim in front of Hamlin. That's a hell of a race off of pit road, but why does the 60 take the four tires? There was their chance to basically take the lead of the race, Steve. I agree. Oh, man. Crew member contact on the 23. We talked about how narrow this pit road is, but I'm with you, Dale. Man, that's a scary situation. I've been one of those guys before. Those cars do not give. I agree. Unless they think those fresh left sides are going to make a difference. I haven't seen it yet today. I really think that Priest, he's going to wish he had that one back. I could be wrong. He's got his hand out the window, waving to the car behind him for the push. Both rows lined up really well, headed down, and oh, Logano's going to look low. That's going to give Denny the chance. Denny outside lane, big restart, number 11. He's on point at Indy. Denny Hamlin will have to send a fruit basket to Joey Logano because as soon as he pulls Reddick knocks the six of Keselowski way up the racetrack. It's time. Gloves are off. Back here. I don't know if this will stay green. Look at him. Look at a host of our right down the middle. He and Gibbs connected Gibbs trying to come back after that extended stop when they had to wait. Oh, Blaney. Into the wall. Think about the end season challenge. Oh, my goodness. Where's the grill? Oh, man. He's coming. Steve Gilliland is not even sure what he's going to see if he sees that 12 car on board with him now. What an upset we could have. Let's go all the way back to the restart here. 22 Logano. You think he's going to stick with this 67, but no, he tries to go three wide little contact right here. That allows Denny easy access into turn one for the lead. Brad gets knocked up the racetrack here. Reddick dives in there, sticks it in the left rear quarter panel, sends Brad up the track. That's what bottles all this up on the back straightaway. Look at that number 12 car, the 77 gets a push from the 54. Here comes big runs from behind the 42, the 41. Look at the white car, the 42. It's down in the middle, in the middle of the sandwich there, turns the 12 around. Into the outside wall. That's a move that John Hunter doesn't take. Two restarts ago, but this could be the last restart, and John Hunter is trying to make up positions. It's late. It's aggressive. There's no doubt. He dove it in there. Blaney's not going to like it, as he shouldn't. But if you're John Hunter, if you're Jimmie Johnson, I believe you need your driver at that level of aggression. But, you know, you go down in the garage, and everybody tells you all weekend, if you're going to make hay in this race, go get it on a restart. It speaks to what Steve was saying there. Good work from the spotter right there for the 12, giving him great information. Inside lane, 64 career wins. Outside lane, one. Hamlin and Hime. The Guinness going to get it, isn't he? It's a pretty solid launch on the outside line. They are not connected on the inside line. A good push by the 22. Hime. Looked out of line. Here comes Hime. Outside lane. Power move. 67. Denny's trying to get back to the inside. He's going to have to live. Big run coming from behind. What a restart for Corey Hime to jump to the race lead. Bell looking outside. Here they are. Big run to turn three. That could have gone worse for Denny Hamlin. Now he's spinning off the 22. Logano to the inside. Three wide to the corner. Logano inside. Trying to get Hamlin. He's got it. Still there. Hamlin's had a weakness all year. It's been restarts. They have looked better lately. That block from Hime killed the momentum from Hamlin. Now he's all the way back and forth. Under attack from Briscoe for fifth. Briscoe side. Down the front straightaway. Hime clearly into the lead. We're good and organized. When Denny launches, the 20 doesn't launch with him. I saw Denny didn't have his hand out the window to try to signal to the 20 when he might throttle. That might have been a difference maker right there to be able to allow the 20 of Chris Bell to know when Denny was going to go. Denny takes off. He's not getting pushed by the 20. The outside line was locked together. Tough block right here by the 67 of Hime. You've got to do it for the race win. Denny lifts. Allowing Hime to carry on through the corner. Going back to the challenge drivers for a million dollars. One position. One car separating them. A.J. Allmendinger. You see Gillen right there. A.J. And then Blaney in the 12. Still hanging in there. We saw the batter beaten. Right side of the car destroyed the fence. The game within the game. Drama for the $1 million in the in-season challenge. A champ going against the upset minded Todd Gillen. Getting tight up here with Hime and Bell. Bell is closing the gap. He's going to be in position now where he'll get the toe down the back straightaway or down the front straightaway. being able to possibly make some moves. 67 will have to become defensive. That draws the 22 into that even more man. And it has been a steady climb deal. You saw right away, but the 22 advantage continues close to the 20 spin in many laps off a turn four, but just not enough. Talk about Heim chasing his second career win in the first ever Brickyard right there for the 20. He's got an opportunity. Look at the 67 movement in the race car. He is driving the wheels off that car through turn two. And that energized Bell. He saw it. He knows there's a chance inside of two tenths. Christopher Bell knocking on the door. The battle for the lead going to be two laps to go in the Brickyard 400. I'm in front of Logano waiting in the wings. Another slide out of the back of the 67 good run down the front straightaway for C Bell. I'm gonna have to block here. Five miles to the checkered flag in Indianapolis into turn one. Ah, C Bell couldn't turn to make the crossover. The 22 Logano's right there to pounce. You said block Corey Heim with a defensive line in turn one works sideways to turn to trying to get a little bit of a draft off this car down the back straightaway. That's gonna help somewhat coming to the white flag. Couple more important corners you need to back up for and concentrate on the exit. Make sure you get off of the corner. Do not allow that 20 car to run you down on the front straightaway off the turn for back to the white flag. One lap to go. Presented by credit. One bank. Corey, I'm leading it in the Eddie to hot spotter on top of the building there for the 67 coaching this driver through the final laps. Turn one to turn to down the back straightaway for the final time. Jeff Gordon got his second career victory here in 1994. First ever Brickyard 400. I'm trying to do the same today. Here he is off the turn four. It's time. Corey, I'm gonna win the end season challenge. There it is off the turn for Todd Gilliland coming back to the checkered flag in front of Ryan Blaney. $1,000,000 for Gilliland. He's answering the bell. He wins it. Naval Base Coronado. And now he's got a crown jewel victory, burning it down in Indy after taking the checkers in the Brickyard 400.