gettyimages-1234727954.jpg
Getty Images

Traditionally, the path most taken across the fabled yard of bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway goes through its famous 2.5-mile oval and its four corners. There is, however, another way to get to Victory Lane at Indianapolis -- It goes into and around one of the world's most famous racetracks, and it's a challenge that NASCAR has recently undertaken for itself.

The NASCAR Cup Series makes its annual trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Verizon 200 and its second-ever race around the track's 14-turn, 2.4-mile road course configuration. Last year's inaugural event was a chaotic affair, and it ended with A.J. Allmendinger scoring a major upset win that would have sent shockwaves through the playoff field had Allmendinger been a full-time Cup driver. Allmendinger's example, though, surely gives hope to those drivers who are trying to steal a victory to make the playoffs with just five races left in the regular season.

How to watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Indianapolis

  • Date: Sunday, July 31
  • Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- Speedway, IN
  • Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
  • TV: NBC
  • Stream: fuboTV (try for free)

What to watch

  • The cheating bug apparently spread throughout the garage area last week at Pocono, as three different teams had the book thrown at them by NASCAR for major technical infractions. And none were bigger than the penalties assessed to race winner Denny Hamlin and second-place finisher Kyle Busch, both of whom were disqualified after failing post-race inspection.

    Hamlin and Busch's cars failed tech after it was discovered that their teams had hidden extra layers of vinyl underneath the regular vinyl wrap on the front fascia, giving their cars an aerodynamic advantage over the rest of the field. Joe Gibbs Racing did not appeal either penalty, explaining in a statement that a change in their build process had not been properly vetted within their organization.

    Whether the Gibbs team's infraction was an honest mistake or an outright bending of the NASCAR rulebook, recent developments seem to suggest that teams are beginning to push the limits of the technical parameters they are allowed to operate in as they get more familiar with the Next Gen car. Expect special attention to be paid to both pre and post-race inspection this weekend.
  • There is a feature of last year's race on the Indianapolis Road Course that won't be seen this year, and few if anyone will miss it: One year ago, Turn 6 featured a temporary curb designed to help keep drivers from cutting that section of the course. But inadvertently, NASCAR and the speedway created a massive hazard zone.

    The first problem was that the curbs would launch any driver that ran over them into the air, but the second was much worse: Late in the race, the curbing actually began to come up, tearing the front splitters of cars away as they slipped under the curb while they drove through. It resulted in several massive crashes, severely thinning the field and turning the end of the race into a complete debacle.

    Mercifully, Indianapolis has made changes to the curbing, replacing the temporary curbs with the same sort of concrete curbs embedded into the course itself. In a conference call with reporters, Austin Cindric stated that he believed the issues seen in last year's race would not be a problem, particularly given differences between the Gen6 car last year and the Next Gen car this year.

    "Even if we were racing on the same track, I don't think we would have those problems with the Next Gen car," Cindric said. "Our cars last year were so low to the ground that the leading edge was the splitter -- The sharpest, smallest part of the car and one of the strongest. That is probably not surprising that temporary curbing eventually gets abused, but there's no more temporary curbs ... Do I have any concerns about durability for the track? Absolutely not."

  • There is one significant debut this weekend, as former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat will make his very first NASCAR Cup Series start behind the wheel of the No. 26 for Team Hezeberg. Kvyat -- the first Russian-born driver in the history of NASCAR -- after making 110 starts in F1 with three career finishes on the podium.

    Kvyat is one of three road course specialists in the field this weekend, joining Hezeberg teammate Loris Hezemans and Rick Ware Racing's Joey Hand.

Pick to win

(Odds via Caesars Sportsbook)

Chase Elliott (+350): Chase Elliott is listed as the favorite this week not just because of his proven skill on road courses, but also because he is in a summertime stretch where he can seemingly do no wrong. Since the off-week in mid-June, Elliott has two outright wins and has finished no worse than second in the last five races. That includes last week, when Elliott crossed the finish line in third but was awarded his fourth win of the season after Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were both disqualified.

Elliott is an easy pick for this weekend, but more ambitious bettors may want to keep their eyes on Chase Briscoe (+1400). The Indiana native won on the Indy Road Course in the Xfinity Series in 2020, and last year had one of the finest runs of his rookie year in the Cup Series, contending for the win in the closing laps before being penalized for cutting the course on the final restart.