INDIANAPOLIS

Friday, July 25 – NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series @ IRP, 8 p.m. ET (FS1)
Saturday, July 26 – NASCAR Xfinity Series @ IMS, 4:30 p.m. ET (CW)
Sunday, July 27 – NASCAR Cup Series @ IMS, 2 p.m. ET (TNT)

For the first time since Pocono last month, all three of NASCAR’s top series will be racing in the same location albeit different tracks. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will kick things off after a three-week break at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday night while the NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Cup Series run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

MUSTANG WINS BRICKYARD IN FIRST ATTEMPT

Mustang has been a staple of the Ford Motor Company passenger car lineup since 1964 and, just like a bottle of fine wine, it only gets better with age. When the iconic sports car made its NASCAR Cup Series debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2019, it didn’t disappoint. Kevin Harvick set the tone by putting his No. 4 Mobil 1 Mustang on the pole, and he continued that during the race as he led 118-of-160 laps to win by a whopping 6.118 seconds. That capped a big day for Ford, which saw Joey Logano finish second and six Mustangs end up in the top 10.

(For more on how many Mustangs are racing globally this week, please see the bottom of this week’s advance.)

KESELOWSKI AND THE BRICKYARD

Brad Keselowski is the only active Ford driver who has won the Brickyard 400 on the oval, taking the checkered flag in 2018 while driving for Team Penske. After a 10th place finish last weekend at Dover Motor Speedway, Keselowski goes into Sunday’s race with four straight Top 10 finishes on ovals. The streak started at Michigan (10th) and continued at Pocono (9th) and then Atlanta (2nd). In 12 career starts on the Indianapolis oval, Keselowski has six Top 10 efforts and an average finish of 13.6.

AUSTIN CINDRIC: “The opportunity to win a crown jewel race is always awesome. To think about what the speedway means to both Roger and my family, it’s definitely a cool one to have on the schedule. There’s plenty of tracks on the NASCAR schedule that definitely have historical value, but nothing compares to the history of Indianapolis.”

CHRIS BUESCHER: “It’s just really fun being able to go places when you have speed like we do in the RFK cars. Indianapolis is such a big event, so when you roll into that place, it takes you back a bit. After last season, we have some unfinished business to do.”

ZANE SMITH: “I think Indy has probably been one that I’ve circled the biggest since the start of the year. Going back to last year, I felt like that was one of my best tracks and I really enjoyed that facility and racetrack after growing up racing karts in Indy. Watching the Indy 500 was big for me when I was younger, so being able to race on the big oval is always cool.”

THREE JEWELS FOR DJ

The first time Ford found victory lane on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a NASCAR Cup Series race was in 1996 when Dale Jarrett won the first of his two Brickyard 400 championships. What made the race most memorable from a Ford perspective is that it ended up being a battle between Jarrett and his Robert Yates Racing teammate, Ernie Irvan. The two ended up breaking away from the field as Irvan found himself in the lead after passing Jarrett on lap 139, but when he pushed up the track going into turn two with only seven laps to go, Jarrett was there to take advantage and make the pass. Jarrett held on to eventually win as the race ended under caution. That completed a trifecta of sorts for Jarrett, who also won the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 earlier that season, and capped a memorable day for Ford with seven finishers in the Top 10 and 11 in the top 14.

RUDD’S BIG WIN

One of the most recent NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees, Ricky Rudd, stretched his fuel to the limit in winning the 1997 Brickyard 400 as he went the final 46 laps without stopping. That decision, along with a pair of timely cautions, enabled him to gain the lead and hold it until the checkered flag. Rudd inherited the lead on lap 147 after the yellow flag came out for debris. While leader Dale Jarrett and fellow contender Jeff Gordon were forced to pit for fuel, Rudd stayed out. Another caution with seven laps remaining allowed Rudd to save the necessary fuel to make it the rest of the way. In a single-file restart with three laps to go, Rudd led Bobby Labonte, Johnny Benson, Mark Martin, Jarrett and Gordon. Labonte was never able to get closer than a couple of car lengths as Rudd posted his second win of the season and biggest triumph of his career.

A MAST-ERFUL START

Another memorable Brickyard highlight came in the inaugural weekend in 1994 when Rick Mast won the pole while driving the No. 1 Ford of car owner Richard Jackson. Mast went on to lead the first lap at the speedway in official NASCAR competition, but would ultimately finish one lap down in 22nd place. The pole was one of four Mast earned during his 15-year NASCAR Cup Series career.

ON THE BUBBLE

There are six races remaining in the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season and two Ford drivers are currently in playoff positions. Sam Mayer is third in the overall point standings and is 162 points above the cut line while Sheldon Creed is 61 points to the good in 10th. Harrison Burton and Ryan Sieg are both still within striking distance of the 12th and final playoff berth. Burton trails his cousin, Jeb, by seven points while Sieg is 30 points out. Sieg has the most experience among the Ford foursome with this weekend being his ninth series start on the Indianapolis oval. His best finish is 10th, which came in 2019.

MAJESKI GOING FOR THREE-PEAT

Ty Majeski is still searching for his first win of the season and if there’s one track on the circuit where he could be deemed a favorite it would be this weekend at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Majeski, who has six career wins, has captured each of the last two series races at the facility, including last year when he took the lead from Christian Eckes and led the final 56 laps. The Wisconsin native was even more dominant the previous year when he led 179-of-200 circuits.

STANDINGS UPDATE

It’s been nearly a month since the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competed, so let’s review where Ford drivers currently sit in the point standings with only three races remaining in the regular season. Front Row Motorsports drivers Chander Smith (2) and Layne Riggs (1) have combined for three wins and rank second and third, respectively, in overall points. ThorSport Racing is also represented in the Top 10 with a pair of drivers as defending series champion Ty Majeski is eighth and Jake Garcia ninth, but both drivers are on the playoff bubble. Majeski currently holds the 10th and final playoff spot and has a 38-point lead over Garcia, but a win by either driver would automatically secure a berth.

FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS

AT INDIANAPOLIS

1996 – Dale Jarrett (Oval)

1997 – Ricky Rudd (Oval)

1999 – Dale Jarrett (Oval)

2018 – Brad Keselowski (Oval)

2019 – Kevin Harvick (Oval)

2020 – Kevin Harvick (Oval)

2023 – Michael McDowell (Road Course)

FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS

AT INDIANAPOLIS

2020 – Chase Briscoe (Road Course)

2021 – Austin Cindric (Road Course)

2024 – Riley Herbst (Oval)

FORD NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT INDIANAPOLIS

1999 – Greg Biffle

2002 – Terry Cook

2003 – Carl Edwards

2006 – Rick Crawford

2023 – Ty Majeski

2024 – Ty Majeski

The Ford Mustang, celebrating its 61st anniversary in 2025, is the world’s best selling sports car. It is also one of the planet’s most popular race cars. With Mustang-based race cars competing in international sports car competition (GT3 and GT4), NASCAR, NHRA, Formula Drift, in Australian Supercars, at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and in its own bespoke one-make series – Mustang Cup and Mustang Challenge – the platform has an unprecedented global reach. This weekend, 27 Mustang race cars are scheduled to race across all disciplines. Learn more at FordPerformance.com.