The first race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season kicks off Feb. 18. Here are the keys dates for the upcoming season.v
NASCAR is back at the Brickyard.
While Indianapolis Motor Speedway is traditionally reserved for open-wheel cars, stock cars will take the track this weekend. This year marks the 30th anniversary of NASCAR’s first visit to the Brickyard, which was famously won by a 23-year-old named Jeff Gordon.
Since Gordon’s debut win, NASCAR has made annual trips to Indy and created its own legacy. From the kissing of the bricks tradition to the move to the road course, the series has made its mark on the iconic speedway.
So, who is racing in Indy? What’s the schedule for TV and streaming? And what drivers could contend for the win on Sunday? Here’s everything you need to know for 2024 Brickyard 400:
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
NASCAR Brickyard 400 entry list, drivers
Thirty-nine drivers will race in Indianapolis – the 34 full-timers, plus five others.
Four-time Brickyard 400 winner Jimmie Johnson headlines the “open” entries, as he makes his sixth start of the season for Legacy Motor Club. Other part-time entries include A.J. Allmendinger for Kaulig Racing, Ty Dillon for Richard Childress Racing, Cody Ware for Rick Ware Racing and B.J. McLeod for MBM Motorsports.
Here’s the full entry list for the Brickyard:
| Car number | Driver | Team | Sponsor |
| 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Moose Fraternity |
| 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Discount Tire |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | SENIX Tools |
| 4 | Josh Berry | Stewart-Haas Racing | Panini/Caitlin Clark |
| 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | HendrickCars.com |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Body Guard |
| 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Gainbridge |
| 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Cheddar's |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | NAPA Auto Parts |
| 10 | Noah Gragson | Stewart-Haas Racing | Bass Pro Shops |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Sport Clips |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Menards |
| 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | HighPoint.com |
| 15 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Zeam |
| 16 | A.J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Campers Inn RV |
| 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Castrol |
| 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Auto-Owners Insurance |
| 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Rheem |
| 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Draiver |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Shell/Pennzoil |
| 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | U.S. Air Force |
| 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Valvoline |
| 31 | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Cirkul |
| 33 | Ty Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Titan Risk Solutions |
| 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Horizon Hobby |
| 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Gener8tor |
| 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Haas Tooling |
| 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Pye Barker Fire & Safety |
| 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Dollar Tree |
| 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Monster Energy |
| 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Kleenex |
| 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Ally |
| 51 | Justin Haley | Rick Ware Racing | Fraternal Order of Eagles |
| 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Monster Energy |
| 66 | B.J. McLeod | MBM Motorsports | Coble Enterprises |
| 71 | Zane Smith | Spire Motorsports | Focused Health |
| 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Zeigler Auto Group |
| 84 | Jimmie Johnson | Legacy Motor Club | Carvana |
| 99 | Daniel Suarez | Trackhouse Racing | Freeway Insurance |
Is the Brickyard 400 a road course?
No, the Brickyard 400 is not a road course in 2024.
NASCAR will return to the iconic oval course this season after three years using the track’s infield road course. The circuit had mixed results, but drivers are thrilled to be returning to the “big” track as the Brickyard 400 once again becomes a crown jewel event for the series.
When is the Brickyard 400 this year?
The Brickyard 400 is set for Sunday, July 21, at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Before the race, there will be a practice session on Friday and qualifying on Saturday. All 39 drivers will participate in a 50-minute free practice session. Then, the 39 drivers will be split into two groups (found here) for two-round qualifying.
Here’s how it works:
- Each driver will make one lap in the first round, with the five fastest drivers in each group advancing.
- In the final round, the remaining drivers each get one lap to set the top 10 starting order. The fastest driver overall will start on the pole, the fastest driver in the other group will start second.
- Positions 3 through 10 are set on final round times – Group A filling the even-numbered positions (4th, 6th, 8th, 10th), Group B filling the odd-numbered positions (3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th).
- Positions 11 through 37 are set based on first round times – Group A filling the even-numbered positions, Group B filling the odd-numbered positions.
What is the NASCAR TV schedule this weekend?
Rick Allen (play-by-play), Jeff Burton (analyst) and Steve Letarte (analyst) will be on the call for NBC Sports all weekend. Marty Snider, Kim Coon and Dave Burns will serve as pit reporters.
Here’s the full TV and streaming schedule:
Friday, July 19 (streaming)
- Practice: 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports app
Saturday, July 13 (USA Network and streaming)
- Qualifying: 1 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports app
Sunday, July 14 (NBC and streaming)
- Countdown to Green: 2 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports app
- Brickyard 400: 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports app
NASCAR Brickyard winners list, race history
Just three of the 39 drivers in the field are past winners in Indy.
Johnson leads the way with four victories (2006, 2008, 2009, 2012), but he’s struggled in his part-time return to the series over the past two seasons. The semi-retired Hall of Famer hasn’t finished better than 28th in five starts this year.
After Johnson, past Brickyard winners include Busch (2015, 2016) and Keselowski (2018).
Brickyard 400 predictions, picks, favorites
Elite drivers rise to the top at the Brickyard.
Of the 27 races held on the Indy oval, 22 were won by series champions. The other five include 2025 Hall of Fame inductee Ricky Rudd, 18-race winners Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman and former Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray. The only true outlier is Paul Menard, whose only career Cup win came at the Brickyard in a 2011 fuel-mileage race.
So, where does that send us as we look to predict this race? All eyes should be on Hamlin.
He isn’t a champion, but he has the most wins ever by a driver without a title. The 43-year-old driver has seven career crown jewel wins (three Daytona 500s, three Southern 500s, one Coke 600), leaving just the Brickyard left. Hamlin has five top-fives in 15 Brickyard starts.
Then there’s the past champions, who have all been contenders in this race. Johnson, Busch and Keselowski are the only former winners, but Truex, Larson and Logano have all been close. Truex had four top-10s in his last five Indy starts, Larson finished fifth in 2017 and Logano has a series-best 10.6 average finish in 12 starts.
The series’ two youngest champions, Blaney and Elliott, could also challenge for the win. Blaney won in Pocono last Sunday at a track somewhat comparable to Indy. Elliott, meanwhile, had the second-most green flag passes in Pocono (98) before finishing ninth.
With all that being said, expect a Hall of Fame-caliber driver to be kissing the bricks on Sunday.
Indianapolis weather for NASCAR
As of Thursday afternoon, NBC Chicago is predicting a beautiful weekend in Speedway, Indiana.
There’s a 7% chance of rain on Saturday and a 6% chance of rain on Sunday. There will be partly cloudy skies on race day as temperatures could reach 84 degrees.
