Information By: DREW TAYLOR / TEAM PENSKE – SPEEDWAY, IN
Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG
Indianapolis, IN – July 19, 2024
For the first time since 2020, NASCAR Cup Series cars returned to the famed 2.5-mile oval Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to kick off Brickyard 400 weekend.
Clear skies greeted the 39 entries who took practice laps at the “Racing Capital of the World.” Fresh off his second victory of 2024, Ryan Blaney posted the second fastest time of the 50-minute session. Austin Cindric, winner of the 2021 Xfinity Series race on the Indianapolis road course, posted the 15th-fastest time followed by Joey Logano who came in at 22nd on the charts.
- Ryan Blaney, driver, No. 12 Menards/Atlas Ford Mustang – 2nd
- Austin Cindric, driver, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – 15th
- Joey Logano, driver, No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang – 22nd
BLANEY POST-PRACTICE: Overall decent day. I think the speed in our cars is close to where it needs to be. It’s just a matter of executing Sunday so hopefully we’re able to do that.”
RETURNING TO INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: Team Penske’s lone Cup Series win on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway came in the 2018 Brickyard 400 when Brad Keselowski took the checkered flag in the Discount Tire Ford. In 12 Cup Series starts at IMS, Joey Logano has eight top-10 finishes to his credit including a stretch of five-straight from 2013-2017. Ryan Blaney’s career-best finish of seventh at IMS came in 2019, a race where he led 19 laps en route to the top-10 result. Austin Cindric makes his first-career Cup Series start at the 2.5-mile oval, but has a second-place finish to his credit on the Indianapolis road course (2022) and won the 2021 Xfinity Series event on the same track layout.
TUNE IN: Cup Series qualifying gets underway Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET on USA, IMS Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Coverage of Sunday’s Brickyard 400 begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, IMS Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.