RACE RESULTS: Brickyard 400

Using an average of rankings between Racing America On SI’s Toby Christie, Joseph Srigley, and Zach Evans, here’s where all 36 full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers stand heading into this weekend’s event at Iowa Speedway.

Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

1. Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin didn’t end up completing his grand slam this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but considering he started at the rear of the field in a backup car, a third-place result is mightily impressive for the No. 11 team. (Previously: 2nd)

2. Chase Elliott

Sunday’s race was one of Elliott’s worst in a while, which speaks volumes as to how competitive he and the No. 9 team have become as he finished 13th in the Brickyard 400. (Previously: 1st)

3. Alex Bowman

Interestingly, Bowman’s ninth-place finish in the Brickyard 400 marked his 12th top-10 finish of the season, which ties him with series point leader Chase Elliott, and he’s just two behind Kyle Larson, who leads the series with 14 top-10s this year. (Previously: 6th)

4. Kyle Larson

Speaking of Kyle Larson, he came up just shy of back-to-back wins in the Brickyard 400 as he finished runner-up to Bubba Wallace on Sunday. After three straight finishes outside the top-10, Larson now heads to Iowa on a two-race top-five finishing streak. (Previously: 8th)

5. Chase Briscoe

It wasn’t a Hoosier’s turn to be in Victory Lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year, but after winning the pole, Chase Briscoe continued to have a great run. However, the No. 19 pitted late in the going and couldn’t make up much track position, finishing 18th. (Previously: 5th)

6. Ty Gibbs

Ty Gibbs is $1 million richer, beating Ty Dillon to win the inaugural In-Season Tournament. However, the performance in the Brickyard 400 wasn’t worth a million bucks, finishing 21st. It’s going to be win or nothing now, though, with Bubba Wallace locking into the postseason. (Previously: 3rd)

7. Chris Buescher

Chris Buescher continues to put in steady performances, which has kept him above the Playoff cutline, but with more and more winners stacking up (Bubba Wallace became the 13th on Sunday), Buescher finds himself as the last driver inside the cut line. (Previously: 7th)

8. Christopher Bell

It was a mostly quiet afternoon for Christopher Bell, until he clipped the rear-end of Zane Smith in NASCAR Overtime. However, the driver of the No. 20 still recorded a solid eighth-place finish. (Previously: 9th)

9. Ryan Preece

Ryan Preece continued his excellent first season with RFK Racing with an impressive fourth-place result in the Brickyard 400. Preece was fast, and his team utilized great strategy throughout the race to get the driver into position. (Previously: 13th)

10. Bubba Wallace

No more talking about the playoff cutline for Bubba Wallace. With his win in the Brickyard 400, Wallace punched his ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. It’s back-to-back top 10 finishes for Wallace heading into next Sunday’s race at Iowa. (Previously: 17th)

11. Tyler Reddick

Tyler Reddick pitted before overtime, relinquishing a top-10 running position. He was then collected in a multi-car incident on the first overtime attempt, finishing 29th. (Previously: 4th)

12. Ryan Blaney

Ryan Blaney won the second stage, but pitted for fuel before the pits opened, sending him to the rear of the field. He rebounded for a seventh-place finish, but especially with the strength of his teammate Austin Cindric in the race, you can’t help but wonder what could have been. (Previously: 11th)

13. Brad Keselowski

Clocked in right behind Preece, his RFK Racing teammate, with a fifth-place finish. Keselowski now has three top-five finishes this season, which have all come in his last 10 starts. (Previously: 16th)

14. William Byron

If William Byron didn’t have bad luck, he’d have no luck at all. The driver that led the regular-season championship standings for much of the season looked poised to reclaim the point lead until he sputtered out of gas on the final lap of the Brickyard 400. (Previously: 14th)

15. Joey Logano

A lot of things didn’t go Joey Logano’s way, including a flat tire and being collected in a late accident. Logano ultimately finished 32nd, with his second DNF in the last five races. (Previously: 10th)

16. Kyle Busch

Another head-shaking day for Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team as they finished 25th, two laps down. However, spotter Derek Kneeland posted on X that a win is around the corner. We’ll see. (Previously: 12th)

17. Austin Cindric

Austin Cindric finished the day with the most laps led in the Brickyard 400. However, a flat tire while leading the race dashed Cindric’s shot at a win, ultimately finishing 15th. (Previously: 23rd)

18. Shane van Gisbergen

Similar to last year’s Xfinity Series event at Indianapolis, Shane van Gisbergen had some strength on this particular oval racetrack, recording a top-20 result after running as high as 12th earlier in the event. Definitely another step in a positive direction for SVG. (Previously: 18th)

19. John Hunter Nemechek

With a 12th-place finish, it was another successful afternoon for John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team. JHN is now averaging a 19.1 finish in 2025, which is the best of his NASCAR Cup Series career. (Previously: 21st)

20. Michael McDowell

Michael McDowell’s troubles started early, as he made contact with Ross Chastain on lap 17 and sent him into the outside wall. Later, McDowell suffered a flat tire, and he ultimately finished 30th. (Previously: 15th)

21. Justin Haley

Good news, Justin Haley finished 11th, continuing a quietly strong July run for the No. 7 team. Bad news, with Bubba Wallace’s win, Haley is the new owner of the longest winless drought among active NASCAR Cup Series competitors. (Previously: 25th)

22. Josh Berry

Josh Berry was on the verge of a strong finish after staying near the front of the field throughout the day, but ran out of fuel on the last lap. Instead, Berry finished 22nd, still seraching for his first top-10 finish since Kansas. (Previously: 27th)

23. AJ Allmendinger

After qualifying ninth and finishing 10th in the first stage, A.J. Allmendinger finished 23rd on Sunday, one lap down. Allmendinger finished ninth in the last short track race at Bristol, and hopes Iowa can bring that same level of success. (Previously: 22nd)

24. Ty Dillon

After five weeks, the NASCAR In-Season Challenge ended in a loss to Ty Gibbs in the finals for Ty Dillon. Dillon finished 28th, suffering nose damage early in the race that hampered his hopes of a strong finish. (Previously: 19th)

25. Todd Gilliland

This is exactly what the doctor ordered for Todd Gilliland and the entire No. 34 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. A sixth-place finish is destined to build some momentum for an organization that so badly needs it, right now. (Previously: 34th)

26. Carson Hocevar

After a hard-fought day, Carson Hocevar finished 10th at Indianapolis. That gets him back into the top 10 after three straight finishes outside the top 30. (Previously: 32nd)

27. Ross Chastain

Things just keep getting worse and worse for Ross Chastain. An already poor streak got even worse Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with a wreck and a destroyed racecar in the race’s first 20 laps. Chastain has one finish better than 24th in the last six races. (Previously: 20th)

28. Erik Jones

Roush luck for Erik Jones, who had a really fast car in Indianapolis. He was so fast, he literally drove the right front wheel off of the thing. A hard crash led to a 36th-place finish for Jones. (Previously: 24th)

29. Zane Smith

Zane Smith had a shot for a top-10 finish on Sunday, until he was hooked on the back straightaway by Christopher Bell. That ruined any shot at a good finish and continued a difficult summer for FRM, both on and off the track. (Previously: 26th)

30. Daniel Suarez

The damage to the front-end of the No. 99 really hindered any chance at a decent day for Daniel Suarez. However, these kinds of finishes are not going to help him find a new NASCAR Cup Series seat for 2026. It’s time for Suarez to show what we know he’s truly made of. (Previously: 30th)

31. Austin Dillon

The only good thing about a 38th-place finish is that there’s little chance it could be worse next weekend for Austin Dillon, who dropped out of the race after suffering radiator damage in a stack up on a Lap 55 restart. (Previously: 28th)

32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

The summer backslide continues for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who had his No. 47 Chevrolet critically damaged in a restart stack-up early in the race. A 35th-place finish was certainly not what HYAK had in mind for this weekend. (Previously: 29th)

33. Riley Herbst

Riley Herbst finished 26th, two laps down, in his battered and bruised No. 35 on a long and difficult day at Indianapolis. The series’ last trip to the Midwest ended with a 17th-place finish at Chicago for Herbst, and he’ll hope for similar improvement at Iowa. (Previously: 31st)

34. Cole Custer

Nothing flashy, but a solid top-20 in the Brickyard 400 is exactly what Cole Custer and Haas Factory Team need to continue doing. It’s going to take some time to build this program, but surely this is a step in the right direction. (Previously: 33rd)

35. Noah Gragson

Noah Gragson and Front Row Motorsports just cannot catch a break. The No. 4 team has been free-falling down the standings, and that continues with Indianapolis, after another poor finish due to a mechanical issue. There’s been some bright spots, but darkness has crowded them recently, for sure. (Previously: 35th)

36. Cody Ware

Sigh. Another rough day for Cody Ware and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing team. Ware was credited with a 37th-place finish after he dropped out of the race after completing just 58 laps. (Previously: 36th)

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