INDIANAPOLIS — The engines have fired, and the 2023 edition of the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard is underway at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway! Make sure to keep checking back all race long for updates on how the race is going.
Daniel Suarez starts on the pole followed by last year's winner Tyler Reddick. Shane van Gisbergen, who won on debut in Chicago, starts eighth. His championship rival in the Australian Supercars series is set to start 11th.
Finish
4:56 p.m. - Michael McDowell wins his second career NASCAR Cup Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He's now won at Daytona and Indianapolis in NASCAR. He held off a hard charge from Chase Elliott in the closing laps to seal the victory.
Lap 80
4:54 p.m. - Chase Elliott has caught leader Michael McDowell, but time is running out.
Lap 77
4:50 p.m. - A.J. Allmendinger goes off course near the backstretch chicane. He's able to get back on track without leaving debris. No caution. 5 laps to go.
Lap 76
4:48 p.m. - Chase Elliott is closing the gap to Michael McDowell. He's got a chance, but he's running out of time to make up ground. He'll likely need a yellow to get a chance at victory to save his playoff hopes.
Lap 72
4:43 p.m. - With 10 laps left, Michael McDowell continues to lead Chase Elliott by three seconds. Shane van Gisbergen runs in 10th place. Daniel Suarez has rebounded from his bad pit stop to move into third place.
Lap 66
4:34 p.m. - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spins Kamui Kobayashi into turn one. Stenhouse was late on the brakes and slammed into Kobayashi, sending him around in oval turn four.
Lap 64
4:31 p.m. - Michael McDowell, now having led 37 laps, marks a career high laps led in a race with 17 laps to go. He holds a three second advantage over Chase Elliott.
Lap 56
4:19 p.m. - Jenson Button goes for a spin off the front bumper of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. No caution flag, the race continues.
Kyle Busch flat-spots his tire and is forced to make an unscheduled pit stop after running in the top-10 all afternoon.
Lap 55
4:17 p.m. - Michael McDowell leads Chase Elliott by three and a half seconds. Shane van Gisbergen runs 13th after briefly leading during green flag pit stops.
Lap 48
4:06 p.m. - Green flag pit stops begin for the second time. Leaders McDowell, Suarez, Elliott and Reddick all pit from the top-4 positions.
Suarez has a terrible pit stop and loses several positions. McDowell beats Elliott off pit road.
Lap 47
4:04 p.m. - Daniel Suarez puts pressure on Chase Elliot for second place. Suarez gives Elliott a bump-and-run into the Snake Pit Complex to pass Elliott for position.
McDowell continues to lead by two seconds.
Lap 44
4:00 p.m. - Kyle Larson, Shane van Gisbergen, and Christopher Bell all have a massive fight for the 9th position. McDowell continues to lead, but Chase Elliott has about a 6 tenth deficit to the leader.
Lap 37
3:48 p.m. - Michael McDowell leads Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, and Tyler Reddick as everyone has now made their first green-flag pit stop of the day.
Lap 35
3:46 p.m. - Michael McDowell passes Denny Hamlin heading into the Snake Pit Complex to re-take the lead.
Hamlin makes his first pit stop of the day.
Lap 34
3:45 p.m. - A chaotic run to the end of stage 2. Denny Hamlin wins the stage and has not yet made a pit stop. Both Hamlin and Keselowski made mistakes on the final lap of the stage and allowed McDowell, Suarez, and Chase Elliott to pass.
Lap 30
3:38 p.m. - The 2021 winner of the Verizon 200, A.J. Allmendinger, gets spun by Ryan Blaney exiting the final corner. Allmendinger was able to continue,
Denny Hamlin, who has not yet made his first pit stop, continues to lead. Brad Keselowski, who also has yet to pit, runs second. Net race leaders Suarez and McDowell are third and fourth respectively.
Lap 25
3:31 p.m. - The halfway point in Stage 2 has passed. Christopher Bell leads Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin. None of these drivers have pitted yet. Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell continue to have the net race lead, but are in 5th and 6th place respectively.
Lap 22
3:25 p.m. - Christopher Bell, Shane van Gisbergen, and Bubba Wallace have not yet pitted as the halfway mark in stage 2 approaches.
Lap 16
3:16 p.m. - The first round of pit stops is under way. Brodie Kostecki makes his first NASCAR pit stop of his career. Michael McDowell and Daniel Suarez pit from the first two positions.
Suarez beats McDowell and Larson off pit road.
Lap 15
3:14 p.m. - Stage 1 of the race is complete. Michael McDowell scores his first stage win over Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Shane van Gisbergen, and Martin Truex Jr.
van Gisbergen has complained on the radio about a "sticky throttle".
Lap 6
3:00 p.m. - Michael McDowell passes Daniel Suarez for the lead in the final section of turns. It is the first lead change of the day.
Lap 5
2:59 p.m. - Green flag waves for the restart. Joey Logano locks up his brakes into the first turn and does a half-spin.
Lap 2
2:49 p.m. - Justin Haley, from Winamac, Indiana, makes contact with Joey Logano in the chicane heading onto Hulman Boulevard. The Hoosier driver makes hard contact with the tire barrier and brings out a full course yellow.
Race start
2:47 p.m. - Pole sitter Daniel Suarez leads lap 1 followed by Tyler Reddick. A clean start for the first lap.
Pre-Race
2:40 p.m. - The engines have been fired! 82 laps (stage free) of racing are set to begin.
