Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the world’s most famous tracks, so it’s only right that it hosts one of America’s biggest motorsports weekends of the year.
NASCAR and IndyCar are both headed to the Brickyard for a doubleheader weekend, with NASCAR’s Cup Series and Xfinity Series joining forces with the NTT IndyCar Series.
Unlike the Indy 500, which is held on the iconic oval at IMS, all races this weekend will be run on the Indianapolis road course. The circuit runs around parts of the oval track before taking a detour through the infield, creating a 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course.
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Here’s everything you need to know about the NASCAR-IndyCar doubleheader weekend:
Has there ever been a NASCAR-IndyCar doubleheader?
Yes – 2022 will be the third NASCAR-IndyCar doubleheader at Indianapolis after the concept debuted in 2020. In 2020, NASCAR raced on the oval while IndyCar ran the road course. But for 2021 and 2022, the road course was and will be the only track layout used.
The schedule will follow the same format this year, with IndyCar and the NASCAR Xfinity Series racing on Saturday and the NASCAR Cup Series racing on Sunday.
In 2021, Will Power won the IndyCar race and Austin Cindric won the Xfinity Series race on Saturday. On Sunday, A.J. Allmendinger won the Cup Series race to cap off the weekend.
What is the NASCAR schedule this weekend?
The NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series will be on the track from Friday through Sunday. Here’s the full NASCAR schedule for on-track activity:
Friday
Xfinity Series practice and qualifying, 3 p.m. ET
Saturday
Cup Series practice and qualifying, 9:30 a.m. ET
Pennzoil 150 (Xfinity race), 3:30 p.m. ET
Sunday
Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (Cup race), 2:30 p.m. ET
What is the IndyCar schedule this weekend?
All the IndyCar action will take place on Friday and Saturday. Here’s how it all lines up:
Friday
IndyCar practice, 9:30 a.m. ET
IndyCar qualifying, 1 p.m. ET
Saturday
Gallagher Grand Prix, 12:30 p.m. ET
How to watch NASCAR and IndyCar this weekend
All three races this weekend will air on NBC – first the IndyCar race at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, then the Xfinity Series race at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and finally the Cup Series race at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
All NASCAR practice and qualifying sessions will air live on USA Network, while IndyCar practice and qualifying will be on Peacock and online here.
You can stream all NASCAR and IndyCar action this weekend online or in the NBC Sports app.
NASCAR at Indianapolis betting odds, favorites
This year marks the second NASCAR Cup Series race at the Indy road course, with the aforementioned Allmendinger winning last season. He’s back in the field this weekend, but he isn’t among the betting favorites.
Chase Elliott is atop the list of contenders, as he enters the weekend with three wins in the last five races. He is also NASCAR’s most accomplished road course racer, with seven wins in his career (behind only Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart all-time).
Other potential road course threats include Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Tyler Reddick, who have won the first three road races of 2022.
Here are some of the favorites to win the Cup race, with odds provided by our partner PointsBet:
- Chase Elliott, +420
- Kyle Larson, +675
- Ross Chastain, +725
- Tyler Reddick, +1100
- Daniel Suarez, +1200
- Austin Cindric, +1300
- Kyle Busch, +1600
- Martin Truex Jr., +1600
- Chase Briscoe, +1600
- A.J. Allmendinger, +1800
- Ryan Blaney, +1800
- Denny Hamlin, +2000
The Xfinity Series has run the Indy road course twice in its history, with Chase Briscoe (2020) and Austin Cindric (2021) winning.
This year’s race will include six full-time Cup Series drivers who are looking for more practice around the track, so those more experienced drivers could rule the lower series this weekend.
Here are some of the odds to win Saturday’s Xfinity race (via PointsBet):
- Chase Briscoe, +325
- A.J. Allmendinger, +360
- Ty Gibbs, +360
- Ross Chastain, +360
- Alex Bowman, +420
- Noah Gragson, +1300
- Justin Allgaier, +2200
- Bubba Wallace, +4000
- Austin Dillon, +5000
IndyCar at Indianapolis favorites
The IndyCar Series has much more experience racing around the IMS road course, with 12 races held there since 2014.
Colton Herta won the spring race at this track in the rain, but Team Penske has traditionally dominated at Indy. Roger Penske’s organization has won eight of the 12 races at the road course, including a series-best five victories by Will Power.
Beyond Herta and Power, Simon Pagenaud (three wins) and Scott Dixon (one win) are past Indy road course winners who have run well at the track. Marcus Ericsson, who won the Indy 500 on the oval in May, currently leads the points standings.