Race Information
- Round: NASCAR Cup Series race No. 24 of 36
- Track Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Indiana
- Race Name: Verizon 200 at the Brickyard
- Broadcast: Sunday, August 13th at 2:30 PM ET live on NBC (TV), IMS (Radio), and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90
- Team Entrants:
No. 42 | Mike Rockenfeller & Luke Lambert – Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
No. 43 | Erik Jones & Dave Elenz – Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Mike Rockenfeller, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Stats
- Mike Rockenfeller will make his first-career start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course across any motorsports discipline.
NCS Career Stats (2022)
- Starts: 2; Best Start: 33rd (Watkins Glen, 2022); Best Finish: 29th (Charlotte ROVAL, 2022)
-About Sunseeker Resort: Opening in 2023, Florida’s newest luxury resort located in Charlotte Harbor is the first resort property of Sunseeker Resorts, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Company. Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor occupies over 22 waterfront acres with 785 guest rooms, including 189 Signature Sunsuites™. Set upon the Peace River and Florida Gulf Coast, this premier resort offers 20 original food and beverage concepts; including seven stand-alone restaurants, eleven bars and lounges, two poolside offerings and a 25,000-square-foot multi-dining experience. Additional hotel amenities include a waterfront promenade, two unique rooftop and waterfront pool experiences, 60,000-square-feet of combined convention space, full-service spa and salon, a 7,100-square-foot state-of-the-art fitness center with four group exercise studios with specialty instructor lead classes, three retail and market shops, and an 18-hole championship level golf club exclusive to hotel guests only. The resort is conveniently located within a short drive of Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Sarasota, St. Petersburg-Clearwater, and Tampa airports. For more information, visit www.sunseekerresorts.com. Follow us on Instagram: @sunseekerresorts and like us on Facebook: @sunseekerresorts.
Ring Around the Road Course: Veteran road course specialist, Mike Rockenfeller, was called upon by LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Co-Owner, Jimmie Johnson, to drive the No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet in the next two NASCAR Cup Series events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Watkins Glen International. Hailing from Germany, “Rocky”, as he is affectionately known, has a rich history in sports car racing. Boasting a long, storied career that began in 1995, “Rocky” has competed in several forms of international motorsports, from karting all the way to Le Mans prototypes. He has won series titles in DTM (2013), European Le Mans (2008), FIA GT (2005), and German Porsche Carrera Cup (2004).
NASCAR Garage 56: The friendship that “Rocky” made with Jimmie Johnson first developed when the NASCAR Garage 56 program was created for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. Back in January, Rockenfeller was announced as part of an iconic driver lineup that included Johnson, 2009 Formula One World Champion, Jenson Button, and a Hendrick Motorsports team of veteran crew chiefs Chad Knaus and Greg Ives. Through several test sessions at Sebring International Raceway, a 24-hour test on Daytona International Speedway’s road course layout, Virginia International Raceway as well as the Circuit Of The Americas (COTA), Rockenfeller adapted to the unique iteration of the NextGen car quickly and was prepared to compete in the historic event. The race was held on June 10th through the 11th, and the trio of drivers completed the entire duration without any major hiccups, underlining a massive success for everybody involved in the program.
24 Hours Endurance Race Winner: Two of Rockenfeller’s most crowning achievements came in 2010 when he did the unthinkable by winning overall in both the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the same year. The incredible feat has only been accomplished four times in the history of the sport, joining the likes of world-class drivers Al Holbert, Derek Bell, and Fernando Alonso. Prior to his overall win at Le Mans, he became a GT2 class winner in 2005, becoming one of only a handful of drivers to win the event in multiple classes. The Swiss has also driven to class victories in both the 24 Hours of Nurburgring (2006) and 24 Hours of Spa (2005), adding to his impressive resume of endurance races.
NASCAR Cup Series Experience: Rockenfeller has made two prior starts in a true stock car before, both of which came last season in the NASCAR Cup Series. Driving for Spire Motorsports, “Rocky” made his series debut at Watkins Glen International, starting the race in 33rd position and finishing in 30th. He made one more start for the team at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, where he qualified in 34th and finished in 29th.
Lambert at IMS: Crew Chief Luke Lambert has called the shots in two starts at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course layout. Lambert’s first race on this track configuration came with Chris Buescher in the Cup Series in 2021, where he started in 19th and rallied to a 12th-place race result. Last year, Lambert guided Noah Gragson to a seventh-place qualifying effort and 10th-place finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event which included a win in stage one.
Quoting Mike Rockenfeller: “I’m looking forward to this weekend at Indy in a NASCAR Cup car. I have been at the LEGACY M.C. shop all week working with Luke (Lambert) and the team trying to accomplish everything we need to do to get ready for this weekend – it’s been busy. It’s a short week and this came together very fast but we are feeling good about things. I’m excited to drive for Jimmie Johnson and Maury Gallagher and hope we can get a great finish in the No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet.”
Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Stats
-NCS Starts: 2; Best start: 28th; Best finish: 7th (2021); Top 10s: 1
2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats
Starts: 23; Best start: 8th; Best finish: 6th; Top 10s: 5; Laps led: 17; Points position: 28th
About Allegiant: Las Vegas-based Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) is an integrated travel company with an airline at its heart, focused on connecting customers with the people, places and experiences that matter most. Since 1999, Allegiant Air has linked travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class vacation destinations with all-nonstop flights and industry-low average fares. Today, Allegiant’s fleet serves communities across the nation, with base airfares less than half the cost of the average domestic roundtrip ticket. For more information, visit us at Allegiant.com.
Michigan in the Rearview: After a week filled with events, Erik Jones returned to his home track for the first time since getting married. Jones began the race in 25th and quickly moved into contention, earning a single stage point by finishing stage one in 10th. As rain set in and the race was moved to Monday, Jones picked up right where he left off, starting in third position when the race resumed. In the final stage, Jones was forced to pit as a wreck occurred in front of his No. 43 Chevrolet, leading the team to pit and check for damage. After everything was clear, Jones restarted back in 30th positioned and advanced all the way to 10th as the checkered flag was waved.
Getting in Rhythm: Jones has built momentum in his past seven races, boasting an average 12th place finish since achieving his third top-10 finish of the season at Nashville. He narrowly fell short of a top-10 placement by just one spot in consecutive races at both Atlanta and New Hampshire. At Chicago, however, the team’s strategy of an early pit stop aimed to run long was redirected after the race was shortened due to daylight, impacting the team’s potential for another top-10 result.
Jones at Indy: Jones has taken on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course twice in the Cup Series. Despite both qualifying efforts being outside the top-25, Jones has shown his success in Indianapolis earning finishes of seventh in 2021 and most recently, 15th in 2022. In his last attempt at the track, Jones had suffered a late spin just three laps before the checkered, but saved the car and continued to race without triggering a caution. Throughout his Cup career, Jones boasts three top-five and nine top-10 finishes on road courses.
Dave Elenz at Indy: In addition to Crew Chief Dave Elenz’s lone Cup Series attempt with Jones at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course which came last year, he has two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts with JR Motorsports to his credit. Starting from eighth place in 2020, driver Noah Gragson finished on the podium in third place. The following year, Gragson qualified in the seventh position and would end up finishing in fifth, capping off two years of top-five runs.
Late Model Recap: Tonight, Jones will compete in “The Battle at Berlin 250” Super Late Model race at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. The race, which will feature several NASCAR Cup Series stars, will be broadcasted on FloRacing at 6:30 PM ET. Earlier this year, in his return to Berlin, Jones won the coveted “Money In The Bank 150”, proving to be an emotional win for Erik and his fans.
Meet Erik: On race day, Jones will appear at the United States Air Force activation display in the Fan Zone on the Midway at 11:00 am local time, where he will sign autographs for approximately the first 100 fans in line to meet him.
Quoting Erik Jones: “Indy has been different the last couple of years since it’s now a road course, but still going to the track itself and having the chance to be there is always a lot of fun. Last year, we ended up being in a spin that cost us track position at the end of the day, and we didn’t come home with the finish we wanted. However, we still felt like it was an okay day with a decent car that got up there. Regardless of that outcome, I feel like our road course performance has been improving. In Chicago, I believe we didn’t get the finish we deserved, but our car had a lot more speed than our previous attempts at road courses. So, I am excited to get there and hopefully secure a top-10 finish at a road course.”
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (NCS) Jimmie Johnson. The club competes full-time in the NCS fielding the Nos. 42 and 43 Chevrolet Camaro entries, respectively, along with the No. 84 part-time entry for Johnson in 2023. Richard Petty “The King” serves as team ambassador.
In 2021, Gallagher acquired Richard Petty Motorsports and renamed the team to Petty GMS. With the addition of Johnson to the ownership structure in 2023, the organization rebranded to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (LEGACY M.C.). With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level.
Based in Statesville, N.C., LEGACY M.C. operates alongside GMS Racing (GMS), which currently fields three full-time entries in the NASCAR Truck Series. Since the formation of GMS in 2012, Gallagher and Mike Beam, team president, have shared incredible success. GMS Racing captured the 2015 ARCA Racing Series championship, the 2016 and 2020 NASCAR Truck Series championships and the 2019 and 2020 ARCA East championships, accumulating over 65 wins across six national racing circuits.
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