Chase Elliott trailed leader Michael McDowell by 1.394 seconds when the duo received the white flag in Sunday’s Verizon 200 at The Brickyard, but the NASCAR champion’s last lap charge fell short by a mere 0.937 second.
The checkered flag gave McDowell his first victory this year and a playoff berth, while Elliott was left still needing a win with two races left in the regular season. Elliott’s last two chances to make the playoffs come down to races Aug. 20 at Watkins Glen and Aug. 26 at Datyona.
“Michael did an outstanding job getting through traffic and I didn’t,” Elliott says.
The Georgia driver, who led only one lap, said his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet needed to be a “little better” through the course’s back half and get off turn 14, the last turn before the front straightaway “a little better just to have myself in a better spot getting into (turn) one.”
‘Heartbreaking’ Day for Suarez
A pit stop miscue with 34 laps remaining in Sunday’s Verizon 200 at The Brickyard proved costly for Daniel Suarez who had to settle for a third-place finish.
Suarez, who earned the pole for the event and had the No. 1 pit, was running in the top three with eventual winner Michael McDowell and Chase Elliott when they all came to pit road for their final stop. All four received four tires and fuel, but when Suarez’s jackman lowered his car after the left-side tires were changed, the front tire came down on the tire changer’s air hose. The jackman, who had already run to the car’s right side, dashed to the left side, jacked up the car to free the air hose and then returned to the right side.
“Just a little bit heartbreaking, but that’s part of the sport,” Suarez says. “We win and we lose as a team, and that’s all I can say.”
In reviewing the incident, crew chief Travis Mack said the air hose had a weird loop in it.
“There’s three guys involved,” Mack says. “You’ve got Daniel stopping in the box, the tire changer who’s holding the hose and then you’ve got a guy behind the wall throwing the hose. So, it’s definitely a team thing, a team issue that we’ll work on this week. We’ll look at the film and see what we could do better next time.”
The pit stop resulted in Suarez returning to the track nine seconds behind McDowell and runner-up Elliott.
Prior to the pit road incident, Suarez said McDowell was “pretty good” in the middle part of a run and he was better at the end of the run.
“It was gonna be a good fight,” Suarez says. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t get to see it.”
Shane van Gisbergen proved his Chicago success was no fluke, as he scored a top-five finish on Sunday.
Amazing Weekend for Van Gisbergen
Shane van Gisbergen showed over a three-day period in Indianapolis that he’s not just a street course wonder.
On Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, van Gisbergen recorded a 10th-place finish in the Verizon 200 at The Brickyard. Coupled with his victory in the inaugural Chicago street course event, van Gisbergen now has two top-10 finishes in only two NASCAR Cup races.
“I guess everyone’s expectations are high because of Chicago, but the top 10 is still awesome,” Van Gisbergen says.
Shane van Gisbergen made his second Cup Series start a good one.
“The race was pretty tough. A lot more contact and pushing around. I got pushed out of the way by Alex Bowman, but I blocked him and then he pushed me straightaway. I learned pretty quick not to block that early. I was enjoying it the whole time.”
Van Gisbergen notes the NASCAR pace is “very intense the way you have to drive the car.”
“These things you have to hustle the whole time,” Van Gisbergen says.
Van Gisbergen noted everyone was more aggressive than in the Chicago race, but he expected it.
“It wasn’t bad stuff or overly aggressive, it’s just how the racing is,” Van Gisbergen says. “Everyone was fair.”
While in Indianapolis, van Gisbergen also made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. In his first-ever race on an oval, van Gisbergen finished 19th, the first truck one lap down, to winner Ty Majeski, whose victory advances him to that series playoffs second round.
“I’ve had a smile on my face all weekend,” Van Gisbergen says. “That truck race was fun, just constantly learning … just getting better and better all week, understanding the lingo. It’s been fun.”
Kyle Larson’s busy week finished with an eighth-place finish in the Verison 200.
A Hectic 24 Hours for Larson
Kyle Larson maintains his racing schedule is so busy that he really doesn’t have time to think about the emotions involved with some of his ventures.
Kyle Larson was happy with a top-10 at the Brickyard.
The weekend of the Verizon 200 at The Brickyard was a prime example of Larson’s hectic lifestyle. After qualifying sixth at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he boarded a plane and headed for the prestigious Knoxville Nationals sprint car race in Iowa. Larson dominated that 50-lap event to become the eighth driver to win a multiple Knoxville Nationals title.
Larson arrived back in Indy at 4 a.m. Sunday and at 11 a.m. was at the unveiling of the cars he will drive in the 2024 Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600. That was followed by a 30-minute press conference before he changed clothes and headed for the Verizon 200 at The Brickyard grid.
In the 82-lap NASCAR Cup race that had 79 laps—77 laps consecutively—of green-flag racing, Larson finished eighth to winner Michael McDowell.
“It was a tough race,” Larson says. “It was way hot. Temps were hot, and then your body starts cramping up a bit.”
Larson’s mistake in turn 12 early in the race left him with a flat-spotted right front tire.
“I felt like it could have affected my right-hander, but, thankfully, it didn’t,” Larson says. “There were more right-handers than lefts, but all the left-handers I had no grip. So, I was really tight. Just kind of had to get through that run.
“I gave up a few positions right before green-flag stops. We cycled ahead of the 20 (Christopher Bell) and the 91 (Shane van Gisbergen). I wish I wouldn’t have made that mistake, maybe I would’ve ended up third or fourth. Glad we were able to salvage a top-10 out of it.”
Ty Gibbs kisses the bricks after his Xfinity Series win on Saturday night.
Up-and-Down 24 Hours for Ty Gibbs
Ty Gibbs claimed victory in Saturday’s NASCAR’s Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway but had to settle for 12th in Sunday’s Verizon 200 at The Brickyard Cup event.
In the Xfinity Series race he led twice for 28 laps in the 62-lap race and easily defeated Sam Mayer by 7.959 seconds.
In the Cup event, Gibbs qualified 10th and was ninth following the event’s lone caution flag that consumed laps 3-5 in the 82-lap race. He then spun on lap 6 after a tag from Shane van Gisbergen and wasn’t in the top 10 the rest of the event.
Gibbs is now 49 points below the playoff cutline with two races remaining in the regular season.
Results
NASCAR Cup Series Race – Verizon 200 at the Brickyard
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course
1. (4) Michael McDowell, Ford, 82.
2. (3) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 82.
3. (1) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 82.
4. (2) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 82.
5. (9) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 82.
6. (13) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 82.
7. (12) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 82.
8. (6) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 82.
9. (7) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 82.
10. (8) Shane Van Gisbergen(i), Chevrolet, 82.
11. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 82.
12. (10) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 82.
13. (16) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 82.
14. (39) William Byron, Chevrolet, 82.
15. (20) Austin Cindric, Ford, 82.
16. (27) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 82.
17. (21) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 82.
18. (19) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 82.
19. (25) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 82.
20. (22) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 82.
21. (24) Harrison Burton, Ford, 82.
22. (11) Brodie Kostecki, Chevrolet, 82.
23. (38) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 81.
24. (37) Mike Rockenfeller, Chevrolet, 81.
25. (34) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 81.
26. (26) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 81.
27. (35) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 81.
28. (31) Jenson Button, Ford, 81.
29. (14) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 81.
30. (29) Andy Lally, Ford, 81.
31. (30) Ryan Preece, Ford, 81.
32. (32) Josh Bilicki(i), Chevrolet, 81.
33. (28) Kamui Kobayashi(i), Toyota, 81.
34. (18) Joey Logano, Ford, 81.
35. (36) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 81.
36. (5) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 80.
37. (23) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 80.
38. (15) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 80.
39. (33) Aric Almirola, Ford, 79.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 92.319 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 9 Mins, 59 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.937 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 1 for 3 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Suarez 1-5;M. McDowell 6-16;C. Elliott 17;C. Bell 18-26;A. Dillon 27;D. Hamlin 28-35;M. McDowell 36-48;D. Suárez 49;*. Van Gisbergen(i) 50;C. Bell 51-52;M. McDowell 53-82.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Michael McDowell 3 times for 54 laps; Christopher Bell 2 times for 11 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 8 laps; Daniel Suárez 2 times for 6 laps; Austin Dillon 1 time for 1 lap; Chase Elliott 1 time for 1 lap; * Shane Van Gisbergen(i) 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 34,99,9,45,5,8,20,48,91,19
Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,34,99,6,9,8,45,48,14,5
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