Tyler Reddick celebrates after winning last year's NASCAR Cup Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
Kiss the bricks.
That’s the goal this weekend for the NASCAR Cup Series drivers when they take the green flag at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard.
But this isn’t the four-turn Indy track we’re accustomed to seeing. Instead, for just the third time in Cup Series history, NASCAR’s top circuit will race the IMS road course on Sunday afternoon.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, which was completed in 2000, is a 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit that Cup drivers will race over for 82 laps – or 200 miles.
A.J. Allmendinger won that inaugural Indianapolis road-course race in 2021. Tyler Reddick won last year’s event in overtime.
With three races remaining in the 2023 regular season, time is running out for those Cup drivers who haven’t earned an automatic postseason bid with a victory this season. Currently, there are 20 drivers who still are in the mix for the 16-spot playoff field. Twelve drivers have already clinched by making it to victory lane.
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The last four spots will either be determined by a first-time winner in the last three races or by points. Currently, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and rookie Ty Gibbs hold the last four open positions on Cup points.
FrontPageBets takes a look at drivers to watch in the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard NASCAR Cup Series road-course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday (2:30 p.m., NBC).
(All odds courtesy of BetMGM and are subject to change)
Pick to win: Tyler Reddick (+525)
The defending champion of this race, Reddick comes into the weekend as the favorite to repeat.
The driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota already has one win this season, and it was on Circuit of The Americas road course earlier this season.
Reddick also has nine top-10 finishes this year, with six of them coming in the top five.
At the Brickyard road course, his average finish is 11 in two races there. Before he won in 2022, he finished 21st in the inaugural race in 2021.
In 18 career road-course starts, Reddick has three victories, five top-5s and 10 top-10s.
Top-3 pick: Shane van Gisbergen (+280)
If the name sounds familiar, it should. Shane van Gisbergen earned his first NASCAR Cup Series victory earlier this summer by winning the Chicago Street Race.
It was also the 34-year-old New Zealander’s first-ever Cup start.
Now the road-course veteran will be back piloting the No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevy in Indy, where he’s a trendy pick to win.
A three-time Australian V8 Supercar Champion, van Gisbergen will make just his second NASCAR Cup Series start, but he knows road-course racing. He has 63 career supercar wins, including 23 over the last two seasons.
Top-5 pick: Chase Elliott (+125)
Chase Elliott is one road-course win away from tying Tony Stewart for second-most all-time in NASCAR Cup Series history with eight trips to victory lane.
Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, has seven career road-course wins, which is the most out of any active driver. A win Sunday would not only tie him with Stewart, it would put him one behind Jeff Gordon, who has the NASCAR record for most road wins with nine.
In a season that saw him miss seven races, Elliott has yet to find victory lane in 2023. He does, however, have eight top-10 finishes, including five top-5s.
In the two races at the Brickyard road course, Elliott has an average finish of 10th – finishing fourth in 2021 and 16th last season.
Odds-on favorites to win the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Martin Truex Jr. +500
Tyler Reddick +525
Chase Elliott +700
Shane van Gisbergen +850
Kyle Busch +1100
Kyler Larson +1200
Christopher Bell +1200
A.J. Allmendinger +1500
Denny Hamlin +2000
William Byron +2000
Daniel Suarez +2000
Chris Buescher +2000
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Mike Szvetitz is the General Manager and Content Director for FrontPageBets.com. Szvetitz is a 23-year veteran reporter and editor, including serving 17 years as a sports editor in Florida, Alabama and Virginia, covering everything from preps to pros. His "View From The Lazy Boy" column won multiple state and national awards. He can be reached at mszvetitz@timesdispatch.com.
