Brickyard Weekend is back, and this season’s Cup Series racers are looking for the chance to claim a Verizon 200 victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).
Throughout NASCAR history, Brickyard Weekend at Indy Motor Speedway has been a weekend to remember, and this year is no different. This post will give you details on how to watch the Verizon 200, as well as what to expect from the race.
HOW TO WATCH THE INDIANAPOLIS VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD
- Date: August 13, 2023
- Time: 2:30 pm ET
- Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- Where to watch: NBC (channel 12 on DIRECTV)
VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD PREVIEW
The Verizon 200 marks the 24th race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, with only two more remaining before playoffs begin. Which means drivers who haven’t secured a playoff spot yet will have even more pressure to make it to Victory Lane.
And a win at the Brickyard isn’t just any win; it’s a win at one of the oldest and most well-known tracks in all of motorsports.
HISTORY OF BRICKYARD WEEKEND
From 1994 up until 2020, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has hosted the Brickyard 400, a race loved by drivers and fans alike. The Brickyard 400 was raced on a 2.5-mile oval track for a total of 400 miles.
In 2021, however, NASCAR and IMS decided to change the race, switching to a combined road course that we expect to see in the upcoming race. Along with this change, the track also turned Brickyard Weekend into a motorsport event for everyone. Throughout the weekend, fans can watch the NASCAR Cup Series race, along with Xfinity Series and IndyCar races.
This weekend is one of the best in the NASCAR season, so make sure not to miss it!
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY OVERVIEW
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the best in the business and hosts the Indianapolis 500 (IndyCar) and the Verizon 200 (NASCAR). A few interesting facts about the first track to be called a “speedway” include:
- The track is the third-oldest automobile track in the world.
- IMS is called the Brickyard because it used to be paved entirely with bricks. In 1961, the bricks were paved over, apart from the 3-foot strip marking the start/finish line.
- Indy Motor Speedway has the highest fan capacity of any sports venue in the world.
- After opening in 1909, the track hosted the National Aviation Meet, where Wilbur and Orville Wright – along with record-setter Walter Brookins – tested some of the first planes.
As for the layout, this track is one of the more unique ones for the NASCAR Cup Series. The 14-turn, 2.439-mile combined road-course takes drivers for the ride of their life, making it one of the most exciting 85 laps of the NASCAR season.
PAST WINNERS
August 13, 2023, will only be the third chance in NASCAR Cup Series history to claim the Verizon 200 victory. In the inaugural race, it was AJ Allmendinger who passed the checkered flag first, after leading only 2 of the 95 laps. Behind him was No. 12 Ryan Blaney, followed by No. 5 Kyle Larson.
Allmendinger drove well and is especially skilled in road-courses, but wasn’t a shoo-in, by any means. In fact, the 2021 race was only his fourth start in the Cup Series that season. The 2021 race at the Brickyard was the first of its kind, which you could definitely tell by the race performance.
The race was a disappointment for Denny Hamlin, who was leading the race until the final two laps. After being hit by Chase Briscoe on Turn 10, Hamlin was unable to get his place back, and ended up finishing 23rd.
The 2022 race had a whole new set of top contenders, with Tyler Reddick winning the top prize. The 2022 Verizon 200 was another event full of twists and turns (literally and figuratively) and ended in an overtime fight for the finish.
Reddick was up against Ross Chastain for the title after a restart on Lap 85 put him in fifth place. Chastain took the access road to get ahead of Reddick, and while it was a creative strategy, it ended up hurting him in the end. NASCAR assessed and gave a 30-second penalty to Chastain, causing him to finish 27th.
Behind Reddick came Austin Cindric followed by Harrison Burton. Neither of them led any laps throughout the race, but it was their steady drive that pushed them to the top 3.
DRIVERS COMPETING IN THE VERIZON 200
| Entry | # and Name | Entry | # and Name |
| 1 | No. 1 Ross Chastain | 21 | No. 23 Bubba Wallace |
| 2 | No. 2 Austin Cindric | 22 | No. 24 William Byron |
| 3 | No. 3 Austin Dillon | 23 | No. 31 Justin Haley |
| 4 | No. 4 Kevin Harvick | 24 | No. 33 TBA |
| 5 | No. 5 Kyle Larson | 25 | No. 34 Michael McDowell |
| 6 | No. 6 Brad Keselowski | 26 | No. 38 Todd Gilliland |
| 7 | No. 7 Corey Lajoie | 27 | No. 41 Ryan Preece |
| 8 | No. 8 Kyle Busch | 28 | No. 42 TBA |
| 9 | No. 9 Chase Elliott | 29 | No. 43 Erik Jones |
| 10 | No. 10 Aric Almirola | 30 | No. 45 Tyler Reddick |
| 11 | No. 11 Denny Hamlin | 31 | No. 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 12 | No. 12 Ryan Blaney | 32 | No. 48 Alex Bowman |
| 13 | No. 14 Chase Briscoe | 33 | No. 51 Andy Lally |
| 14 | No. 15 Jenson Button | 34 | No. 54 Ty Gibbs |
| 15 | No. 16 AJ Allmendinger | 35 | No. 67 Kamui Kobayashi |
| 16 | No. 17 Chris Buscher | 36 | No. 77 Ty Dillon |
| 17 | No. 19 Martin Truex Jr. | 37 | No. 78 Josh Bilicki |
| 18 | No. 20 Christopher Bell | 38 | No. 91 Shane Van Gisbergen |
| 19 | No. 21 Harrison Burton | 39 | No. 99 Daniel Suárez |
| 20 | No. 22 Joey Logano |
One name we’re excited to see is Shane van Gisbergen, who is racing with Trackhouse again for Project 91.
After winning the inaugural Grant Park 220 race in Chicago earlier this summer, Gisbergen has been a hot topic for the motorsport community. That’s partly because he’s the first driver since Johnny Rutherford (1963) to win their NASCAR Cup Series debut race.
HOW TO WATCH THE VERIZON 200 AT THE BRICKYARD
The Verizon 200 at the Brickyard is coming up on August 13, at 2:30 pm ET. For fans at home, you can catch the race live on NBC (Ch. 12 on DIRECTV).
WATCH NASCAR WITH DIRECTV
Make sure to check back here on DIRECTV Insider for more NASCAR content, including race results, standings and NASCAR deep dives.
Until then, you can catch up on all your favorite sports and entertainment content with DIRECTV. The CHOICE™ Package is designed for sports lovers in mind and offers the most regional and local sports channels. Plus, you can get DIRECTV via Satellite or via the Internet.
So, start your engines and get DIRECTV today. You won’t regret it!
The content is featured on https://www.directv.com/insider/ is editorial content brought to you by DIRECTV. While some of the programming discussed may now or in the future be available affiliates distribution services, the companies and persons discussed and depicted, and the authors and publishers of licensed content, are not necessarily associated with and do not necessarily endorse DIRECTV. When you click on ads on this site you may be taken to DIRECTV marketing pages that display advertising content. Content sponsored or co-created by programmers is identified as "Sponsored Content" or "Promoted Content."