Time for some road racing. For the next two weeks, the NASCAR Cup Series will be making left and right turns at two very different road courses. Up first is the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard. No longer does the Cup Series run on the Indianapolis oval. Instead, the Cup Series will run for the third time on the road course within the track’s infield.
Based on the previous two races here, what can fans expect? Absolute chaos. Both iterations of the Verizon 200 have resulted in some form of on track wildness. In 2021, the curb in Turn 5 caused a massive wreck. On the final restart, a penalized Chase Briscoe bumped Denny Hamlin off the track, gifting the win to AJ Allmendinger. Last year, Kyle Larson lost his brakes and collided with Ty Dillon, the restarts were calamity, and somehow Chris Buescher finished in the Top-10 despite his car catching on fire.
This year, the Verizon 200 has a bit more of an international flair. Five drivers from across the ocean will compete at Indianapolis. Shane van Gisbergen is making his return after his victory at Chicago. Fellow Supercars driver Brodie Kostecki, World Endurance drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Rockenfeller, and former F1 champion Jenson Button will join Gisbergen in the field. With the road course ringers returning, how will this effect the drivers battling for the final two playoff spots? Ty Gibbs leads Michael Michael by three points, with Daniel Suarez and AJ Allmendinger lurking within 24 points of the cutline. Plus, Chase Elliott is known to be a road course winner in the Cup Series. Will the Verizon 200 shake the playoff bubble around? Can Shane van Gisbergen back up his Chicago win? Will one of the new comers replicate Gisbergen’s success?
With this many storylines, picking five drivers was difficult. Continue reading to see who are the five drivers to watch this weekend. If you want a statistical insight heading into Sunday, check out Daniel Smith’s notable starts and statistical outlook articles.
Shane van Gisbergen, Kamui Kobayashi, & Brodie Kostecki
Yes, this is cheating. This article will technically be the seven drivers to watch. However, the three of the notable road course ringers are being lumped together.
Shane van Gisbergen
Shane van Gisbergen might be the most interesting name in NASCAR silly season. Gisbergen has already confirmed he will be making the jump to NASCAR in 2024. While there is no confirmation about where he will driving, most likely he will find a Cup Series ride. Unlike the other two drivers here, Gisbergen has some pressure to backup his Chicago performance. Winning in his debut race made him headline news. However, if Kobayashi or Kostecki win this weekend, does that dimmer Gisbergen’s allure?
Kamui Kobayashi
Kamui Kobayashi comes to the NASCAR world from the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is a two time champion of the series with 15 career wins in the LMP1-H classification. A decorated driver with experience in F1, Le Mans, and the Rolex 24 Hour, Kobayshi will be the second person to drive 23XI Racing’s 67 car. Similar to drivers who have been in Trackhouse’s PROJECT91 car, Kobayashi will be in top equipment. If he can handle the move to the NextGen car, there is chance Kobayashi can make some noise. Race winner? Probably not, but he will be one to keep an eye on.
Brodie Kostecki
Brodie Kostecki will be the second Supercars driver to wheel a NASCAR Cup Series car this year. Kostecki races against Gisbergen in the Supercars series in Australia. The Australian driver will be making his NASCAR debut with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) in their 33 car. Once again, Kostecki should be on even footing when it comes to equipment. As seen by Kyle Busch this year (and Tyler Reddick last year), RCR has the speed to compete with the top teams in the series. While Kostecki does not have the same resume as Gisbergen, he is a two-time Supercars winner. As many have mentioned, the NextGen car is closer to the Supercars vehicle than previous iterations. Could Kostecki find similar success as Gisbergen did? Does Kostecki have the edge over Kobayashi?
Mike Rockenfeller
While Mike Rockenfeller could have easily fallen into the same category as the above drivers, he receives special mention due to the circumstances surrounding his entry. Rockenfeller will be filling in for the suspended Noah Gragson this week and next. Until the suspension, Rockenfeller was not scheduled for this race. The addition of Rockenfeller means that two-thirds of the Garage 56 drivers will be entered in this race, joining Jenson Button.
Should there be any expectation placed on Rockenfeller? Simply put, no. The 42 Legacy Motor Club car has been shockingly bad this season. While Ty Dillon was not setting the world on fire, the 42 car last season was more respectable than this year. Even when Gragson has been out of the car, the 42 car has not made any noise. Josh Berry wrecked out of Michigan and Grant Enfinger rode in the back of the pack at Sonoma. Could Rockenfeller be an improvement over Gragson this weekend? Maybe; a road course ringer at a technical track like the Indianapolis road course could get more out of the car. This might especially be the case considering the last road course Gragson drove at saw him start a love affair with the Turn 6 tire barriers. It will be interesting to see if Rockenfeller can get that car’s first Top-20 since Atlanta.
Chase Elliott
Michigan was a disaster for Chase Elliott and his playoff hopes. Well, his playoff hopes of pointing his way. Elliott wrecked out early in the race and now sits 55 points behind the cutline. While he could still point his way into the playoffs, it is a severe uphill climb. Not only does Elliott have to make up that 55 point gap, but he also has to leapfrog five drivers before passing Ty Gibbs for the final spot. Of those five drivers, four of them are well versed in road course racing. Essentially, Chase Elliott is facing a must-win situation.
Luckily for Elliott, the next three races on the season are well-suited for his skills. Back-to-back road courses then followed by the superspeedway finale at Daytona. Based on his past results, Watkins Glenn might be his best shot. However, you can never count out Elliott at a road course. Elliott has a Top-5 at the Indianapolis road course back in 2021. With that said, Elliott thrives more so on the faster road courses rather than the more technical ones. He has yet to win at Sonoma and did not look great at Chicago. However, Elliott could persevere and find the speed to win at the Brickyard.
AJ Allmendinger
Much like Chase Elliott, AJ Allmendinger always has to be a consideration when the Cup Series heads to a road course. While the 2023 results have been a bit disappointing, Allmendinger is now heading to the two tracks he has Cup Series wins at. Though some may argue Allmendinger’s 2021 win at the Indy GP was luck, he ran inside the Top-10 all race long. In order to benefit from said luck, he had to be there to benefit from it.
While Allmendinger is not in the same points spot as Elliott, a win would ease the pressure over the remainder of the regular season. Allmendinger’s best shots are the next two weekends. Surely, the 16 team has had these races circled on the calendar. However, the most interesting thing about Allmendinger’s next two races is the approach. With only being 24 points behind the cutline, does the 16 team go for stage points or stick to a race winning strategy? Would they be able to attempt both? It is a bit different than Elliott, who is likely feeling the necessity of a win. Allmendinger has a better shot at pointing his way in. It will be something to watch during the Verizon 200.
Chris Buescher
Chris Buescher is coming off back-to-back wins, ala Kevin Harvick in 2022. Luckily for Buescher, the schedule is quite nice to him to wrap up the regular season. Buescher, who has eight consecutive Top-10s on road courses, will be riding his recent winning momentum into his wheelhouse. While Buescher has been on this Top-10 streak, he has yet to look like a race winning threat. Not since Sonoma last year has Buescher been a contender for a road course win. However, his recent speed on two vastly different tracks might point to the 17 car being more competitive.
At this point, Buescher should only be going after wins. With that playoff points standings tightly contested after Denny Hamlin, Chris Buescher could find himself sixth in the standings with another win. Unlike Elliott and Allmendinger, the 17 team will solely focus on attempting to bring home the trophy from the Indy GP. The only time a Roush driver has won three races in a row was Mark Martin in 1993, who rattled off four straight. Buescher is looking to join elite company this weekend in the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard.
