No. 6: NASCAR/INDYCAR Deliver Big Final Weekend on Road Course
December 26, 2023 | By Curt Cavin, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Note: The Penske Entertainment editorial staff is looking back at the 10 biggest moments of 2023 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in this year-end series, with one installment appearing on the site per day in countdown fashion from Dec. 22-31.
If this year’s NASCAR/INDYCAR doubleheader at Indianapolis Motor Speedway proves to be the last one in a while – more on that in a bit – at least it was a hoot.
Michael McDowell, Ty Gibbs, Scott Dixon and Hunter McElrea were race winners in the three-day extravaganza that featured some of the best road racing of the season.
McDowell drove to a dominant victory in the Verizon 200 in the last scheduled NASCAR Cup Series race on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. He beat Chase Elliott to the finish line by .937 of a second for his second career Cup Series victory.
McDowell became the first driver in NASCAR Cup Series history whose first two wins came at Daytona International Speedway and IMS as he also won the 2021 Daytona 500. Next year, McDowell will get a chance to win on the historic IMS oval as the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG returns on the 30th anniversary of the inaugural event in 1994.
Next year’s Brickyard Weekend race lineup will include the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250 on Saturday, July 20 on the oval and the NASCAR Cup Series’ Brickyard 400 presented by PPG on Sunday, July 21.
McDowell led 54 of the 82 laps, passing pole sitter Daniel Suarez for the lead after the sole restart of the race on Lap 6. He only trailed thereafter during pit stops. The last 77 laps of the race ran under green.
In Saturday’s action, Gibbs controlled the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard presented by Advance Auto Parts for the NASCAR Xfinity Series while Dixon held off pole winner Graham Rahal to make history by winning the Gallagher Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES race.
Gibbs, the grandson of Joe Gibbs Racing owner and NFL Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs, drove to a 7.959-second victory over Sam Mayer. Starting second, Gibbs took the lead on Lap 46 of the 62-lap race and led the rest of the way.
The race was halted after eight laps due to a thunderstorm. Drivers returned to the track on rain tires, and the biggest balancing act after the restart was the decision when to pit for slick tires on the quickly drying track. Gibbs was one of the earliest drivers to pit for slicks, on Lap 15, and it paid off.
Dixon also used deft strategy to win his race. Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Dixon, seeking his first race win of the season, overcame a spin into the grass after contact on Lap 1. The victory gave him a record-extending 19 consecutive seasons with at least one victory on a day when he also set a series record with his 319th consecutive start.
Rahal, who had won his first NTT P1 Award in six years, finished a season-best second in the 85-lap race as his late charge to catch Dixon fell just .4779 of a second short. It was the closest series finish on the road course that featured its first race in 2014.
It was quite the bounce-back for Rahal, who was bumped from the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in May. And while Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing had four of the slowest five cars in “500” qualifying, Rahal and Christian Lundgaard delivered a front-row sweep in qualifying for this race, a first for the team since April 2019 at Barber Motorsports Park when Takuma Sato won the pole and Rahal started second.
McElrea won the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix as the INDYCAR development series practiced, qualified and raced on the same day. McElrea led all 35 laps but had to hold off Andretti Autosport teammate James Roe by .4370 of a second for his third career series victory.