2021 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard

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The 2021 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on August 15, 2021, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. It was the inaugural running of the Verizon 200 on the road course, and officially the 28th edition of NASCAR at the Speedway. Contested over 95 laps -- extended from 82 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 2.439-mile (3.925 km) road course, it was the 24th race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

2021 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Race 24 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
Date August 15, 2021 (2021-08-15)
Location Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana
Course Permanent racing facility
2.439 mi (3.925 km)
Distance 95 laps, 231.705 mi (372.875 km)
Scheduled Distance 82 laps, 199.998 mi (321.85 km)
Average speed 69.171 miles per hour (111.320 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Time 1:27.765
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 28
Winner
No. 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBC / NBCSN (Laps 93-95)
Announcers Rick Allen, Steve Letarte (booth), Mike Bagley (Turn 1), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Turn 7) and Jeff Burton (Turn 12)
Radio in the United States
Radio Performance Racing Network
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
Booth Announcers Doug Rice, Pat Patterson and Jeff Hammond
Turn Announcers Nick Yeoman (Turns 1–4), Mark Jaynes (Turns 5–9), Chris Denari (Turns 10–11) and Jake Query (Turns 12–14)

This race marked the first time a NASCAR Cup Series race was contested on the infield road course after the 2020 Xfinity Series race was held there the previous year as part of the INDYCAR/NASCAR doubleheader.

A. J. Allmendinger earned his first victory since 2014, as well as his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory, and the race also marked the first career NASCAR Cup Series victory for Kaulig Racing.

Report

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Background

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the track where the race was held.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana, (an enclave suburb of Indianapolis) in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400. It is located on the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road, approximately six miles (10 km) west of Downtown Indianapolis.

Constructed in 1909, it is the original speedway, the first racing facility so named. It has a permanent seating capacity estimated at 235,000 with infield seating raising capacity to an approximate 400,000. It is the highest-capacity sports venue in the world.

After running the support races last year on the road course, the Speedway moved the Cup Series feature division to the road course configuration. As a result, the July 4 weekend spot it held was occupied by Road America and the race was moved to mid-August.[8] As was the case during the pandemic-affected 2020 season, the NTT IndyCar Series will race on the Saturday card with the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. The events were part of four different divisions of racing within a week at the Speedway, with the Bryan Clauson Classic midget car events at the Speedway the next week.

 
The 2021 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard program cover, which includes the ensuing week's Bryan Clauson Classic on the dirt track.

Prior to the race, NASCAR had the rumble strip on turn 6 removed after it caused severe damage to several cars during the first lap of the Xfinity race the day before.[9]

 
Austin Cindric's #33 MoneyLion Ford before the race

Entry list

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
  • (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
No. Driver Team Manufacturer
00 Quin Houff StarCom Racing Chevrolet
1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford
7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford
14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
15 James Davison Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
16 A. J. Allmendinger (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota
24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
33 Austin Cindric (i) Team Penske Ford
34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford
37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
38 Anthony Alfredo (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford
41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
42 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Cody Ware (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet
52 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Ford
53 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford
66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota
77 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
78 Andy Lally (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford
99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

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Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 1:29.577 and a speed of 98.021 mph (157.750 km/h).[10]

Practice results

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Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:29.577 98.021
2 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:30.067 97.487
3 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:30.106 97.445
Official practice results

Qualifying

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William Byron scored the pole for the race with a time of 1:27.765 and a speed of 100.044 mph (161.005 km/h).[11]

Byron was the only driver in the 1:27 range during the entire event, and the first NASCAR race car to exceed 100 MPH average speed on the road course.

Qualifying results

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Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2
1 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:28.148 1:27.765
2 14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1:28.034 1:28.191
3 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:28.318 1:28.229
4 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:27.931 1:28.305
5 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 1:28.327 1:28.431
6 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:28.148 1:28.502
7 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 1:28.271 1:28.511
8 16 A. J. Allmendinger (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 1:28.144 1:28.518
9 42 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 1:28.288 1:28.562
10 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1:28.225 1:28.562
11 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1:28.248 1:28.596
12 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 1:28.295 1:29.302
13 33 Austin Cindric (i) Team Penske Ford 1:28.359
14 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:28.400
15 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 1:28.414
16 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 1:28.591
17 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:28.727
18 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1:28.762
19 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1:28.811
20 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 1:28.812
21 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:28.818
22 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1:28.970
23 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1:29.017
24 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:29.026
25 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1:29.071
26 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 1:29.074
27 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 1:29.278
28 43 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 1:29.318
29 77 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 1:29.410
30 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1:29.544
31 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 1:29.577
32 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1:29.639
33 38 Anthony Alfredo (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 1:29.640
34 15 James Davison Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 1:29.976
35 78 Andy Lally (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 1:30.345
36 52 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Ford 1:31.203
37 51 Cody Ware (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 1:31.656
38 00 Quin Houff StarCom Racing Chevrolet 1:31.837
39 53 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 1:31.865
40 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 1:32.691
Official qualifying results

Race

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William Byron won the pole in qualifying for the first Cup race on the Indianapolis Road Course. Pit strategy came into play for the start of the race, allowing Tyler Reddick to win both stages while Martin Truex Jr. suffered tire issues and Brad Keselowski spun into the wall. Late in the race, Byron spun with Kyle Busch while Joey Logano and Daniel Suárez both got into the tire barrier (the accident turned out to be because the curbing at Turn 5 came up). On the restart, Reddick made contact with teammate Austin Dillon and collected Cole Custer and Alex Bowman. In overtime, Chase Briscoe exceeded track limits while battling Denny Hamlin for the lead and was called for a penalty, then spun Hamlin (Briscoe said after the race that he wasn't told about the penalty.) A. J. Allmendinger took advantage and took the lead and held off Ryan Blaney for his second career Cup victory and the first Cup win for Kaulig Racing.

Stage Results

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Stage One Laps: 15

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 10
2 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 9
3 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 8
4 43 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 7
5 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 6
6 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 5
7 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 4
8 77 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 0
9 14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 2
10 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1
Official stage one results

Stage Two Laps: 20

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 10
2 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9
3 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 8
4 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 7
5 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 6
6 77 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 0
7 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 4
8 78 Andy Lally (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 0
9 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2
10 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

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Stage Three Laps: 47

After finishing third and Hamlin finishing twenty-third, Larson took the lead in the regular-season points standings. Hamlin however was able to officially qualify in the Cup Playoffs based on points.

Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 8 16 A. J. Allmendinger (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 95 0
2 16 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 95 35
3 4 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 36
4 3 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 35
5 15 21 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 95 38
6 20 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 95 31
7 28 43 Erik Jones Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 95 37
8 29 77 Justin Haley (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 95 0
9 13 33 Austin Cindric (i) Team Penske Ford 95 0
10 32 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 95 27
11 22 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 95 37
12 19 17 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 95 25
13 27 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 95 24
14 25 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 95 23
15 6 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 95 22
16 26 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 95 25
17 24 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 20
18 36 52 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Ford 95 19
19 18 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 95 18
20 21 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 95 17
21 11 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 95 36
22 38 00 Quin Houff StarCom Racing Chevrolet 95 15
23 14 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 95 14
24 31 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 95 18
25 10 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 94 12
26 2 14 Chase Briscoe (R) Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 94 13
27 40 66 Timmy Hill (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 94 0
28 39 53 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 94 0
29 9 42 Ross Chastain Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 93 8
30 12 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 88 16
31 23 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 88 23
32 34 15 James Davison Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 80 5
33 1 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 77 4
34 7 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 77 3
35 30 37 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 77 16
36 17 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 77 1
37 5 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 77 1
38 33 38 Anthony Alfredo (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 68 1
39 35 78 Andy Lally (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 55 0
40 37 51 Cody Ware (i) Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet 46 0
Official race results

Race statistics

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  • Lead changes: 13 among 11 different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 6 for 25
  • Red flags: 2 for 23 minutes and 22 seconds
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 20 minutes and 59 seconds
  • Average speed: 69.171 miles per hour (111.320 km/h)

Media

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Television

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NBC Sports covered the race on the television side as part of a Radio Style Broadcast for the race. Rick Allen, and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. MRN broadcaster Mike Bagley called the race from Turn 1, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call from Turn 7, and Jeff Burton had the call from Turn 12. Dave Burns, Marty Snider, and Kelli Stavast handled the pit road duties from pit lane. Rutledge Wood handled the features from the track.

NBC
Booth announcers Turn Announcers Pit reporters Features reporter
Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen
Color-commentator: Steve Letarte
Turn 1 Announcer: Mike Bagley
Turn 7 Announcer: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Turn 12 Announcer: Jeff Burton
Dave Burns
Marty Snider
Kelli Stavast
Rutledge Wood

Radio

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network and the Performance Racing Network jointly co-produced the radio broadcast for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, and aired on IMS or PRN stations, depending on contractual obligations. The lead announcers and two pit reporters were PRN staff, while the turns announcers and two pit reporters were from IMS.

PRN/IMS Radio
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Doug Rice
Announcer: Pat Patterson
Announcer: Jeff Hammond
Turns 1–4: Nick Yeoman
Turns 5–9: Mark Jaynes
Turns 10–11: Chris Denari
Turns 12–14: Jake Query
Brad Gillie
Brett McMillan
Ryan Myrehn
Michael Young

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ "2021 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  2. ^ "Indianapolis Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  3. ^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  4. ^ "Practice Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. August 14, 2021. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  5. ^ "Qualifying Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. August 15, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  6. ^ "Verizon 200 at the Brickyard Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. August 15, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  7. ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 15, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  8. ^ Long, Dustin (September 30, 2020). "Cup to run on Indy road course in 2021". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  9. ^ Wilhelm, Chase (August 14, 2021). "NASCAR to remove rumble strip outside of Turn 6 on Indy Road Course". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  10. ^ Utter, Jim (August 14, 2021). "Truex tops Byron in Cup Series practice on Indy RC". Motorsport.com. Speedway, Indiana: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  11. ^ Utter, Jim (August 15, 2021). "William Byron blisters field to capture Indy RC pole". Motorsport.com. Speedway, Indiana: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 15, 2021.


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