• NASCAR returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval last year after a three-year hiatus, with Kyle Larson taking the checkered flag.
• The Indianapolis oval is known for favoring top-tier teams and drivers, making predicting the winner more straightforward.
• Denny Hamlin leads the odds board as the favorite for this year’s Brickyard 400, followed by Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney.

After three years of ditching the historic Brickyard for Indy’s road course, NASCAR returned to the rectangular oval (RectOval?) last year and Kyle Larson won.

The Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway wasn’t initially a part of Katherine Legge’s plans with Live Fast Motorsports for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, but a few weeks ago, that changed.

And despite her disastrous oval debut at Phoenix Raceway in March, NASCAR made the decision to let Legge drive the No. 78 Chevrolet in this coming Sunday’s 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval.

Though often overlooked as a “backmarker” team, Live Fast Motorsports have had more success this year than they are used to.

Team owner B.J. McLeod finished in 16th place at Atlanta Motor Speedway last month, marking the team’s third-best finish in their five-year history, and Legge followed it up with a career-best 19th on the street of Chicago, giving the No. 78 car its first ever back-to-back set of top 20 finishes.

Katherine Legge back for Brickyard 400

While her 31st place finish at Sonoma Raceway the following weekend was nothing to write home about, similar to her 32nd place effort in her first career road course start at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez a few weeks prior, she once again kept it clean to wrap up the team’s first stretch of three consecutive weekend appearances since selling their charter after the 2023 season.

Now, after skipping this past weekend’s race at Dover Motor Speedway, Legge and the team are set to return at a track shes knows well, having made a total of four Indy 500 starts from 2012 to 2024.

Unlike at Chicago, when Legge was actually a popular pick to miss the race since there were 41 cars (five non-chartered cars) on the entry list for the first time since 2018 (outside of the Daytona 500), the No. 78 Chevrolet is locked into Sunday’s race, as there are just three non-chartered (open) cars on this weekend’s entry list, excluding the six 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports entries.

The other two are the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet, which is set to be driven by Jesse Love, and the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford, which is set to be driven by Josh Bilicki.

Beyond this weekend, Live Fast Motorsports currently have two planned starts lined up for both Legge and McLeod. Legge is set to return for the road course race at Watkins Glen International in two weeks, as well as the playoff road course race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in October.

McLeod is set to return for the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway next month, plus the playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway in October.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway will feature qualifying sessions for the Cup and Xfinity series Saturday, which will be capped with a 100-lap Xfinity race.

It’s the 10th time that Xfinity has raced on the 2.5-mile oval.

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Riley Herbst is the defending race winner but won’t be in this year’s field after moving full time to the Cup Series this season.

A 30-minute Cup practice at 2 p.m. ET was added to the Saturday schedule after a 50-minute session Friday was canceled because of rain.

Indianapolis Brickyard Saturday schedule

(All Times Eastern)

Saturday, July 26

Garage open

• 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. — Xfinity Series

• 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. — Cup Series

Track activity

• 1 – 1:55 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying (CW App)

• 2 – 2:30 p.m. — Cup practice (truTV, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

• 2:35 – 3:30 p.m. — Cup qualifying (truTV, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

• 4:30 p.m. — Xfinity race (100 laps, 250 miles; Stage 1 at Lap 30, Stage 2 at Lap 60; CW, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Weather

Saturday: Scattered afternoon thunderstorms with a high near 90 degrees and winds from the south to southwest at 5 to 10 mph and a 40% chance of rain. It’s expected to be 87 degrees with a 24% chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity race.

Over the last two decades, NASCAR’s playoff system has sparked passionate debate among fans, drivers, and media personalities. While SiriusXM NASCAR Radio hosts Danielle Trotta and Larry McReynolds champion the current format, racing legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands firmly with those calling for change.

The current system, introduced in 2014, begins after 26 regular-season races. Sixteen drivers enter the playoffs, and through multiple elimination rounds, the field shrinks from 16 to 12 to 8 to 4, with the final four battling for the championship. This format replaced the older Chase system that many drivers and fans remember fondly.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Makes a Case for Chase Rounds To Return Amid Playoff System Debate

During NASCAR’s Nextel sponsorship era, the sport used a Chase format that looked completely different from today’s elimination-style playoffs. The Top 10 drivers, plus anyone within 400 points of the leader, competed in a 10-race postseason with reset points to determine the champion.

Earnhardt Jr. isn’t shy about his preference for this older approach. Taking to X, the 50-year-old Hall of Famer laid out his vision with characteristic directness: “10 drivers 10 races. Or 6 drivers and 6 races. Or 5 and 5, or 4 and 4. All those sound good. Just a regular season and a final round.”

The appeal of Earnhardt’s approach centers on rewarding consistency over single-race drama. Under his preferred system, NASCAR would crown champions based on sustained excellence across an entire season rather than who performs best in one winner-takes-all finale.

NASCAR’s multi-round, elimination, winner-take-all playoff format is in its 10th year. The original 10-race Chase format lasted 10 years before it was replaced by the current one

An introduction video in 2004 said “NASCAR’s new point system is like going from vinyl to CD” pic.twitter.com/QWpE13TeS0

— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) October 17, 2023

Earnhardt’s vision would fundamentally reshape how NASCAR crowns its champions. Instead of the current format where a driver can win the title with a single great race in the finale, champions would need to prove their worth across the entire 36-race season. The best average performance would matter more than clutch moments.

This change would also alter the championship race itself. Rather than seeing drivers who have little impact on the title outcome mixed in with the contenders, fans would witness only the season’s most deserving competitors battling for the crown.

Earnhardt Jr. isn’t alone in this sentiment. Chase Elliott has also voiced support for moving away from the current system, believing NASCAR should celebrate drivers who demonstrate consistency throughout the season rather than those who peak at the right moment.

MORE: Xfinity Star Jeb Burton Weighs In on NASCAR’s Playoffs Debate With Unfiltered 7-Word Verdict

Hall of Famer Mark Martin has long advocated for returning to NASCAR’s traditional roots, joining the chorus of voices calling for a system that better reflects old-school racing values in today’s sport.

The debate continues to divide the NASCAR community as the current playoff format enters its second decade.