The NASCAR Cup Series teams will have another factor to contend with as they head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 crown jewel race.
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The teams will have a new tire setup as they take on the 2.5-mile track located in the heart of Indianapolis. They will have a familiar left-side tire, but they will have a new right-side tire following a test session featuring Ryan Preece (Ford), John Hunter Nemechek (Toyota), and Ross Chastain (Chevrolet).
Goodyear also noted that the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series teams will have a familiar setup for Indianapolis Motor Speedway. These teams will run the same tire setup that they use at Pocono Raceway.
"Indianapolis is clearly a unique track," said Rick Heinrich, Goodyear NASCAR product manager, in a press release. "We see teams running aggressive setups here to account for the flat corners.
"Our new right-side tire for the Cup Series has been developed with this in mind, and our Pocono setup for the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series performed as expected on a track with similarly flat corners."
The Craftsman Truck Series teams will race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park instead of Indianapolis Motor Speedway while continuing with a recent trend. They will have the same tire setup used at North Wilkesboro Speedway last weekend.
The crown jewel weekend will mark the third time in the Gen 7 era that Cup Series teams have competed on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. The Cup Series races moved from the oval to the road course for 2021, and they remained there through the 2023 season.
Kyle Larson won the first Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval race of the Gen 7 era, which occurred in 2024. Bubba Wallace then won last season's race while securing his first crown jewel. He led 30 laps and held off Larson on multiple restarts to achieve this.
This trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway also marks the final race of the In-Season Challenge. Todd Gilliland and Ryan Blaney will race each other for $1 million. The driver who finishes better secures the prize.
