Denny Hamlin rode a bold pit strategy – that is not pitting at all – to win Stage 2 ahead of Michael McDowell and Daniel Suárez. McDowell got ahead of Suárez as they caught Hamlin and a similarly off-strategy Brad Keselowski in the final sequence of corners.
The eventual race lead appeared to be Suárez’s to lose thanks to a bold move earlier in the stage. Suárez gained about five car lengths on McDowell with an aggressive pit entry as both stopped on lap 17. That helped get him off pit road ahead of McDowell and eventually in the race lead after the first round of green-flag stops cycled through.
A.J. Allmendinger’s frustrating weekend continued on lap 30 when he and Ryan Blaney made contact exiting the final turn, spinning Allmendinger around. “He will absolutely get destroyed if I get back to him,” Allmendinger said of Blaney on team radio
McDowell pips Suárez for Stage 1 win
Michael McDowell won the 15-lap opening stage on the Indy road course, improving from his fourth-place grid spot. McDowell took the lead from pole-sitter Daniel Suárez coming out of turn 14 on lap 6 following a restart for an incident involving Justin Haley and Joey Logano.
Haley brought out the first caution of the day with a hard smack of the tire barrier entering the Hulman straight on lap 2 after contact from Logano. That enabled William Byron – who had to start at the back and serve a drive-through penalty on the start – to catch the rest of the field. Logano went around again entering turn 1 on the ensuing restart.
Verizon 200 starting grid
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Daniel Suárez (99), Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
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Tyler Reddick (45), 23XI Racing Toyota
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Chase Elliott (9), Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
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Michael McDowell (34), Front Row Motorsports Ford
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Kyle Busch (8), Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
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Kyle Larson (5), Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
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Christopher Bell (20), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
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Shane van Gisbergen (91), Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
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Alex Bowman (48), Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
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Ty Gibbs (54), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
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Martin Truex Jr. (19), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
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Chase Briscoe (14), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
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Corey LaJoie (7), Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
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Justin Haley (31), Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
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Ryan Blaney (12), Team Penske Ford
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Chris Buescher (17), RFK Racing Ford
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Joey Logano (22), Team Penske Ford
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Bubba Wallace (23), 23XI Racing Toyota
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Austin Cindric (2), Team Penske Ford
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Ross Chastain (1), Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
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Brad Keselowski (6), RFK Racing Ford
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Todd Gilliland (38), Front Row Motorsports Ford
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Harrison Burton (21), Wood Brothers Racing Ford
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Denny Hamlin (11), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
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A.J. Allmendinger (16), Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
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Austin Dillon (3), Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
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Kamui Kobayashi (67), 23XI Racing Toyota
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Andy Lally (51), Rick Ware Racing Ford
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Ryan Preece (41), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
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Jenson Button (15), Rick Ware Racing Ford
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Josh Bilicki (78), Live Fast Motorsports Ford
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Aric Almirola (10), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47), JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
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Ty Dillon (77), Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
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Erik Jones (43), Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet
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Mike Rockenfeller (42), Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet
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Kevin Harvick (4), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
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William Byron (24), Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
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Brodie Kostecki (33), Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Verizon 200 TV/Streaming schedule
All times Eastern
Saturday
11:35 a.m. - 12:35 p.m.: Practice (NBC Sports app)
12:35 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.: Qualifying (NBC Sports app)
Sunday
2:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.: Verizon 200 (NBC, NBC Sports app)
Verizon 200 details
Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (14-turn, 2.43-mile clockwise hybrid racing facility)
Length: 82 laps for just under 200 miles
Last year’s winner: Tyler Reddick (8), Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Top drivers and best bets for the Verizon 200
Road racing requires quite a different skill set than the ovals that make up the majority of the schedule and as such, just four drivers who excel at it enter the weekend at better than 10-to-1 odds according to BetMGM.
Best odds to win
Martin Truex Jr. +500
Tyler Reddick +525
Chase Elliott +700
Shane van Gisbergen +850
Truex has five road course wins in his 17 seasons, including one earlier this season at Sonoma. Reddick has won three times on road courses in the past two seasons, including this event a year ago. Elliott rattled off seven road course wins from 2018-2021, and van Gisbergen won in his debut at the Chicago street race earlier this season.
Yahoo Sports’ Nick Bromberg wrote earlier in the week on the odds and suggests good mid-tier value can be found in 2021 Indy road course winner A.J. Allmendinger (+1400) and Chris Buescher (+2000) who has won the last two races on the trot.
William Byron barred from qualifying
NASCAR parked William Byron's No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for Saturday's qualifying session after it failed inspection three times. The issue was with the right front fender. In addition to starting at the back of the field for the race, Byron's crew chief Tyler Jones is out for the weekend and Byron will have to serve a drive-through.
Noah Gragson out at LMC
Five days after NASCAR and Legacy Motor Club both suspended Noah Gragson indefinitely, the team released the driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet. Last week Gragson liked a meme on Instagram mocking the 2020 death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.
Accomplished endurance car veteran Mike Rockenfeller will drive the No. 42 car this weekend and next weekend at Watkins Glen — another road course.
Shane van Gisbergen leads list of road course ringers
Last month van Gisbergen became the first driver in 60 years to win his debut Cup Series event when he was victorious in the Chicago street race and he's back in the third Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet entry.
Van Gisbergen's fellow Supercar competitor Brodie Kostecki will drive in a one-off role for a third Richard Childress Racing entry (the No. 33). F1 2009 world champion Jenson Button will make his third Cup start in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford. Andy Lally will make his 43rd Cup Series start in the No. 51 Rick Ware entry. Kamui Kobayshi, who started 75 F1 races from 2009-2014, will drive a third 23XI Racing entry (the No. 67) in his Cup debut.
NASCAR Cup Series playoff bubble
With Buescher’s back-to-back wins over the past two weeks, at least one driver who has not won in 2023 will be among the playoff field. Here’s what the playoff bubble looks like:
Driver – points ahead of/behind cut line
Kevin Harvick – +180
Brad Keselowski – +168
Bubba Wallace – +58
Ty Gibbs – +3
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Michael McDowell – -3
Daniel Suárez – -5
A.J. Allmendinger – -24
Alex Bowman – -44
Verizon 200 entry list
Ross Chastain (1), Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Austin Cindric (2), Team Penske Ford
Austin Dillon (3), Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Kevin Harvick (4), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Kyle Larson (5), Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Brad Keselowski (6), RFK Racing Ford
Corey LaJoie (7), Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Kyle Busch (8), Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chase Elliott (9), Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Aric Almirola (10), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Denny Hamlin (11), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Ryan Blaney (12), Team Penske Ford
Chase Briscoe (14), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Jenson Button (15), Rick Ware Racing Ford
A.J. Allmendinger (16), Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Chris Buescher (17), RFK Racing Ford
Martin Truex Jr. (19), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Christopher Bell (20), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Harrison Burton (21), Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Joey Logano (22), Team Penske Ford
Bubba Wallace (23), 23XI Racing Toyota
William Byron (24), Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Justin Haley (31), Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Brodie Kostecki (33), Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Michael McDowell (34), Front Row Motorsports Ford
Todd Gilliland (38), Front Row Motorsports Ford
Ryan Preece (41), Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Mike Rockenfeller (42), Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet
Erik Jones (43), Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet
Tyler Reddick (45), 23XI Racing Toyota
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47), JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
Alex Bowman (48), Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Andy Lally (51), Rick Ware Racing Ford
Ty Gibbs (54), Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Kamui Kobayashi (67), 23XI Racing Toyota
Ty Dillon (77), Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Josh Bilicki (78), Live Fast Motorsports Ford
Shane van Gisbergen (91), Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Daniel Suárez (99), Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Weather for the Verizon 200
The forecast calls for warm temperatures in the mid-to-upper 80s and a more than likely chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday. Thunderstorms are forecast for Saturday’s Cup series qualifying and IndyCar race, while there’s a 66% chance of rain for Sunday’s Cup race.
NASCAR live blog: Michael McDowell wins Stage 1 on Indy road course; Justin Haley crashes after contact from Joey Logano - Yahoo Sports
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