Cup Series Preview Sunday, July 26, 2026

Brickyard 400

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Laps 160 Distance 400 mi Type intermediate Coverage TNT · 2:00 PM ET Stages 50 / 100 / 160

2.5

asphalt

Surface

Race Date

Sunday, July 26, 2026

2:00 PM ET

The Brickyard 400 is NASCAR's crown jewel on consecrated ground — 2.5 miles of flat, rectangular asphalt at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the most famous race track on Earth. Since Jeff Gordon won the inaugural race in 1994, the Brickyard has meant something different than any other stop on the schedule. The 9-degree banking in the corners is unusually flat for a Cup oval, demanding precise entry speeds and aerodynamic setups that favor clean air over raw horsepower. Track position is everything here — passing is notoriously difficult on the narrow racing surface, and the long straightaways reward cars that can hold their line through the tight Turn 1 entry. Jimmie Johnson is the all-time Brickyard king with four wins, and Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have both conquered the place in their championship seasons. The Cup Series raced on the infield road course from 2021-2023 before returning to the full 2.5-mile oval in 2024, and that return restored the tradition of kissing the bricks at the start-finish line. The 2026 Brickyard 400 runs 160 laps across three stages, and winning at Indy still cements a driver's legacy in NASCAR history.

Pre-Race Race Day Post-Race

Band A · The Hook

Your watchlist, historical context, and race-week curiosities.

Your Drivers' Outlook

Historical Context

Tyler Reddick has 5 starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a 21.2 average finish.
Chase Elliott has 9 starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a 12.6 average finish.
Denny Hamlin has 19 starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a 14.5 average finish.

Based on Cup Series results at Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1949-2026.

DID YOU KNOW?

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the most unpredictable tracks in NASCAR with an average chaos score of 69.5.

Explore Indianapolis Motor Speedway stats

LAST TIME HERE

Bubba Wallace won the 2025 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

See Bubba Wallace's results

Band B · The Story

The narrative arc, drivers to watch, and race-weekend color.

Band C · The Data

Schedule, predictions, entry list, track history, fantasy, and betting angles.

TV & Start Time

What channel is the Brickyard 400 on?

The Brickyard 400 airs on TNT on Sunday, July 26, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET, broadcast from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule splits between FOX, FS1, TNT, NBC, USA, and Amazon Prime Video.

What time does the NASCAR Cup race start today?

The Brickyard 400 green flag is set for 2:00 PM ET on Sunday, July 26, 2026, airing on TNT. All NASCAR start times are listed in Eastern Time.

NR-Rating Track Rankings

#	Driver	Badge	Elo Rating	Starts	Wins	Last Finish
1	Denny Hamlin		1624	12	0	P3(2025)
2	Chase Elliott		1617	7	0	P13(2025)
3	Tyler Reddick		1597	3	0	P29(2025)
4	Chris Buescher		1591	6	0	P14(2025)
5	Chase Briscoe		1579	0	0	P0(0)
6	Brad Keselowski	Prev Winner	1570	11	1	P5(2025)
7	William Byron		1561	5	0	P16(2025)
8	Ryan Preece		1544	2	0	P4(2025)
9	Bubba Wallace	Prev Winner	1543	5	1	P1(2025)
10	Christopher Bell		1539	3	0	P8(2025)

NR-Rating: Elo-based rating from the NR-Rating prediction model. Higher = stronger at this track type. = Previous winner at this track

NR-Rating Predictions

Last updated: Wed, May 13, 2026, 07:50 AM ET

#	Driver	Tier	Exp. Finish	Win %	Top 5 %	Top 10 %
1	Tyler Reddick Best in Field	Favorite	6.2	18.2%	58.6%	76.5%
2	Chase Elliott	Favorite	7.8	17.8%	58.4%	76.5%
3	Denny Hamlin	Favorite	8.2	16.3%	55.9%	74.6%
4	Chris Buescher	Favorite	9.2	15.4%	54.1%	72.9%
5	Ryan Blaney	Favorite	9.2	12.7%	49.0%	69.0%
6	Ryan Preece	Favorite	10.1	10.9%	46.4%	67.2%
7	Christopher Bell	Contender	10.7	9.6%	43.6%	65.3%
8	William Byron	Contender	10.7	8.4%	40.3%	62.2%
9	Brad Keselowski	Contender	11.2	7.6%	38.0%	60.3%
10	Chase Briscoe	Contender	11.9	6.4%	35.5%	58.5%
11	Kyle Larson	Contender	12.7	5.2%	32.4%	56.7%
12	Bubba Wallace	Contender	12.7	5.1%	30.9%	55.5%
13	Carson Hocevar	Contender	13.1	4.3%	28.1%	53.2%
14	Ross Chastain	Contender	13.3	3.8%	25.9%	50.5%
15	Alex Bowman	Mid-Pack	13.5	3.3%	24.0%	49.5%
16	Daniel Suarez	Mid-Pack	14.0	3.1%	21.8%	47.6%
17	Ty Gibbs	Mid-Pack	14.5	3.0%	20.3%	45.4%
18	Joey Logano	Mid-Pack	14.7	2.7%	18.8%	43.9%
19	Austin Cindric	Mid-Pack	15.4	2.2%	16.9%	41.0%
20	Erik Jones	Mid-Pack	16.7	1.7%	13.5%	36.0%
21	Casey Mears	Mid-Pack	16.9	1.4%	12.6%	34.6%
22	Michael McDowell	Mid-Pack	17.0	1.2%	11.6%	32.5%
23	Kyle Busch	Mid-Pack	17.0	1.1%	10.9%	31.6%
24	Austin Dillon	Mid-Pack	17.1	0.9%	10.3%	30.3%
25	Shane van Gisbergen	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.7%	8.5%	27.2%
26	A.J. Allmendinger	Mid-Pack	18.3	0.5%	7.5%	25.0%
27	John Hunter Nemechek	Dark Horse	19.1	0.5%	6.7%	22.9%
28	Zane Smith	Dark Horse	19.1	0.5%	6.5%	22.5%
29	Todd Gilliland	Dark Horse	19.1	0.4%	5.8%	21.1%
30	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Dark Horse	19.9	0.3%	4.6%	18.5%
31	Josh Berry	Dark Horse	22.9	0.2%	2.1%	10.8%
32	Connor Zilisch	Dark Horse	22.9	0.1%	2.0%	11.2%
33	Cole Custer	Dark Horse	22.9	0.1%	1.9%	11.2%
34	Katherine Legge	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.4%	13.2%
35	Noah Gragson	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.3%	12.7%
36	Riley Herbst	Dark Horse	21.4	0.1%	2.5%	13.9%
37	Ty Dillon	Dark Horse	23.4	0.1%	1.5%	8.7%
38	B.J. McLeod	Dark Horse	24.8	0.0%	0.9%	6.7%
39	Cody Ware	Dark Horse	56.1	0.0%	0.1%	1.3%

Win probabilities reflect full-field Monte Carlo simulations. A 10% pWin means roughly 1-in-10 chance of winning — higher than most bettors realize for a 36-car field where the average driver has ~2.8% odds. Top 5 and Top 10 percentages similarly reflect simulated outcomes, not historical averages. Learn how the model works.

Predictions powered by NR-Rating model (MAE: 8.5 positions)

Prediction Scorecard

Go Bowling at The Glen: Model picked Chase Elliott at P1 → Actual P24

(1/5 top-5 hits)

38% top-5 hit rate across 11 races

History at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Cup Series data from 1949-2026 (11 races)

Recent Results

Year	Race	Winner	Margin	Team	Laps Led
2025	Brickyard 400	Bubba Wallace	—	23XI Racing	30
2024	Brickyard 400	Kyle Larson	—	Hendrick Motorsports	8
2020	Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 powered by Big Machine Records	Kevin Harvick	—	Stewart-Haas Racing	68
2019	Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard	Kevin Harvick	—	Stewart-Haas Racing	118
2018	Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard	Brad Keselowski	—	Team Penske	9

All Results at This Track

2025 Wallace 2024 Larson 2020 Harvick 2019 Harvick 2018 Keselowski 2017 Kahne 2016 Busch 2015 Busch 2014 Gordon 2013 Newman 2012 Johnson

Laps Led Leaders

Driver	Total Laps Led
Kyle Busch	290
Jimmie Johnson	176
Denny Hamlin	127
Brad Keselowski	126
Joey Logano	80

Track Type Tendencies

intermediate

Intermediate tracks like Indianapolis Motor Speedway reward the complete package — car setup, pit strategy, and driver consistency all factor in. These are the races where elite teams separate themselves.

Track position and tire management are critical, especially in long green-flag runs.