This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series makes their only trip of the year to the state of Indiana.  Coverage of the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Big Machine Records can be seen starting with NASCAR America Sunday at 3 p.m. on NBCSN, followed by Countdown to Green at 3:30 p.m.  Coverage jumps to NBC at 4 p.m.  The green flag is scheduled to drop around 4:15 p.m. Sunday afternoon.  The race can also be heard on IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

Records and facts

Last year's Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard was dominated by Kevin Harvick.  Harvick led 118 of the 160 laps and spent much of the second half of the race running away from everyone.

Harvick regained the lead by winning the race off of pit road under yellow with 30 laps to go.  From there, he held on through three late restarts to win his second race at Indianapolis.  Joey Logano finished second, followed by Bubba Wallace, William Byron and Clint Bowyer.

Jimmie Johnson is the winningest active driver at Indianapolis with four career victories, the most recent of which coming in 2012.  Harvick and Kyle Busch both have two wins.

All-time, Jeff Gordon is the winningest driver at Indianapolis with five victories.  That includes the inaugural Brickyard 400 back in 1994.  Johnson is second with four, followed by Harvick, Busch, Tony Stewart and Dale Jarrett with two each.

Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 2.5-mile oval, 160 laps (400 miles)
Banking: 9.2 degrees (9 degrees, 12 minutes)

Straightaways: 3,300 ft., flat

Chutes: 660 ft., flat

Grandstand Seating: 235,000
Pit Road Speed: 55 mph
Pace Car Speed: 70 mph
Opened: 1909, first Cup race in 1994

Website: http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndianapolisMotorSpeedway

Twitter: http://twitter.com/IMS

Say What?!

"It’s very tight down the straightaways. You roll through (Turns) 1 and 2 and there are people on the inside, there are people on the outside, there are people in the grass, just sitting along the back straightaway on the inside. You’ve got the golf course there and fans sitting on the hills underneath the trees. You start back up into turn three, with the grandstands going around (turns) three and four, and then down the frontstretch and, again, there are two tunnels. There’s a tunnel at the (Turns) 1 and 2 side, and on the (Turns) 3 and 4 side. There’s a center road that runs all the way through and then, coming down the frontstretch again, looking on both sides of you, you’ve got the pit road, which is really narrow and really tight, and the grandstands on the inside and the outside. So, you’re going down a ‘V’ of just people – a sea of people. Coming to the Pagoda and the media center, the way it is, and of course the scoring pylon being as tall as it is, you come down there and, if you’re leading the race, sometimes you can’t see that high, so you’re kind of wondering who is second and third, or who is behind you. It stinks when you’re running in the back because you can see yourself right there." - Kyle Busch

"I’m really excited for the Brickyard 400 to be on July 4th weekend, even though it’ll be hotter than when we are normally there. The Brickyard is a marquee race at a marquee racetrack. This is another race that I’ve been looking forward to this season, not only because of how special the race is, but seeing what our team can do. Last year we had a really strong race overall and finished fourth. We’ll see how we unload this weekend, but I think we will have a good chance to contend for the win. We want to win every weekend, but this would just be an awesome race to win in general." - William Byron

"I always love getting to go back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We’ve had strong speed in our No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet the last few races, building positive momentum as we look towards the next stretch of races. The Brickyard 400 is a race that always comes down to strategy, which is right in Brian Pattie’s wheelhouse. He’s done a great job the last couple of races to utilize strategy and get us in a position to earn stage points, which have really helped put us in a decent points position during this summer stretch.

"I’m looking forward to a great Fourth of July weekend in one of my favorite cities." - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.  The picture is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography