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Brickyard 400
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which opened in 1909, held its first NASCAR on Saturday, August 6, 1994. Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24, won the first event after leading 93 laps. Gordon would go on to win four more Brickyard 400 titles, more than any other driver.

Starting in 2001, the race was moved to Sunday, but remained on the first weekend of August. Six years later, in 2007, coinciding with ESPN taking over NASCAR television rights, the race swapped dates with Pocono Raceway. The Brickyard 400 moved to the last weekend in July, and Pocono to the first weekend in August, which made the Brickyard race the first race in ESPN's coverage.

After fan attendance fell from 200,000 to an estimated 35,000 in 2017, NASCAR and IMS agreed to make the race the final race of the regular season by moving it to September beginning in 2018. They once again attempted to stimulate attendance by moving the race to Fourth of July weekend. Following the purchase of IMS in 2019, by Roger Penske, the track and NASCAR agreed to move the race back to August using a road course format beginning in 2021.

Race details


The first race on the road course took place on August 15, 2021. The race on the 14-turn course was won in overtime by road course ringer A. J. Allmendinger. The race was one of six road courses for the 2021 season, which was overhauled that same year.

The race followed the IndyCar Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, which were both raced on the road course track the day before.

Attendance
The Brickyard 400 once drew some of the largest crowds in NASCAR history, with more than 250,000 spectators. Although popular, attendance began dwindling for several factors including a tire controversy at the 2008 race, poor sightlines compared to other NASCAR tracks, the overall lack of competition, and uncomfortably hot summer temperatures in July/August. In addition, following the change from a track-organized television contract (1994–2000) to a centralized NASCAR television package, the local television blackout the Speedway imposed was lifted. Attendance dropped to an estimated 35,000 in 2017.

While NASCAR does not release attendance data, IMS reported that they had pre-sold 50,000–60,000 tickets with walk-up sales expected, for the inaugural event.

2021
Before the race and qualifying started, NASCAR removed a curb off Turn 6 following complications during the previous day's NASCAR Xfinity Series race. The curb was designed to prevent cars from using the last part of asphalt before the grass. Qualifying was held on the morning of the race and won by William Byron. His pace was 100.044 mph during his one-lap run.

The start time for the race was 1:00 p.m. and aired on NBC.

Local-driver Chase Briscoe battled Byron early and led much of the first stage before taking his first pit stop in a three-stop strategy before the Lap 15 stage break. He finished ninth in the stage, behind stage one winner Tyler Reddick. Chase Elliott, hoping to be the first father-son duo to win the NASCAR classic at Indianapolis, led most of the second stage before making his pit stop at the end of the stage. Reddick again won stage two.

Kyle Larson led 17 laps before pitting and once again resumed the lead ten laps later and led 11 additional laps. With eight laps to go, Denny Hamlin took the lead and was there when on Lap 73 a caution was issued due to debris from the curb on Turn 6, which forced NASCAR to attempt to repair it. During the restart on Lap 77, Martin Truex Jr. wrecked after running over the Turn 6 curb and shrapnel from it was kicked off the racing surface. A caution flag was not thrown, due to NASCAR determining their was no immediate issue. The following lap, Byron ran over the broken curb, which caused a nine-car collision in the chicane. A 19:14 red flag led to the removal of the curb and an additional extended caution period when another car was leaking oil.

Due to the length of the caution, the 82-lap race would end in overtime. On the Lap 89 restart, another multiple-car pileup occurred in the same Turn 6 chicane, without a curb and a 4:08 red flag was forced. On the Lap 94 restart, Hamlin ran Briscoe beyond track limits, which led to Briscoe being assessed a stop and go penalty in the Turn 10 penalty area. As the cars reached Turn 10, Briscoe, still incensed by Hamlin's tactics, spun Hamlin. The penalty was turned into a pass-through but with no time left, NASCAR ceased scoring Briscoe. A. J. Allmendinger, in a part-time Kaulig Racing team set to be a full-time team in 2022, scored the upset win after 95 laps. Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson filled out the podium.

NASCAR Cup Series records
(Through 2021)

Brickyard 400, Verizon 200 & Indianapolis 500
Only two drivers have competed in the Brickyard 500, Verizon 200, and Indianapolis 500.


 * A. J. Allmendinger – finished seventh in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske, raced ten times in the Brickyard 400, with a best result of 10th in 2008 and 2017, and won the first Verizon 200.
 * Kurt Busch – finished sixth in the 2014 Indianapolis 500 with Andretti Autosport, competed in 20 Brickyard 400 races with a high of 5th place in 2001, and crossed the line sixth in the 2021 Verizon 200.

NBC
Under the terms of a new $2.7 billion television deal from 2015 to 2024, the race is part of the NASCAR on NBC package.

Radio
All races have been broadcast on radio through the IMS Radio Network. Since 2004, Performance Racing Network has co-produced the race. Doug Rice, who is the chief announcer for PRN, currently anchors the broadcast, with PRN staff joining with IMS during the race broadcast.