MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 21, 2026) – The excitement was palpable on June 22-23, 1992, when nine NASCAR Cup Series drivers participated in a Goodyear tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Then on Aug. 6, 1994, that excitement reached a fever pitch when the inaugural Brickyard 400 roared to life at the iconic track, marking the first non-IndyCar race held at the speedway in 78 years.
This Sunday, the 30th running of the Brickyard 400 goes green, and the significance of competing on the 2.5-mile rectangular oval and crossing the Yard of Bricks at the start/finish line 160 times remains as powerful today as it did when Indiana’s own Jeff Gordon won the first Brickyard 400.
“Indy is one of the most historically significant racetracks in America, if not the most historically significant track,” said Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Sky Fund Aviation Chevrolet for Rick Ware Racing. “It’s got more than 100 years of history, and the races that have been run, with the personalities who have competed there and won there, it’s incredibly competitive.
“Every time you drive into the track and you see that Pagoda, you immediately get hit with the track’s aura, its atmosphere, and what it really means to be racing there. It’s one of those things where, no matter how the race weekend goes, it serves as a reminder to just take in the experience and appreciate the opportunity you have to be racing there at the highest level of stock car racing. It’s always an honor to race at Indy.”
Ware has seen the track from two perspectives – from behind the wheel of an Indy car and from the seat of his No. 51 machine.
Ware’s first taste of Indianapolis came via an Indy car when he drove in the 2021 Indianapolis Grand Prix on the track’s 2.439-mile road course. It was part of a double-duty August weekend for Ware, who also drove in the inaugural Cup Series race on the Indy road course.
When Ware returned to Indianapolis in 2022, he did so solely as a Cup Series driver, finishing 24th in the second iteration of the Verizon 200. When NASCAR returned to the iconic 2.5-mile rectangular oval in 2024, it marked Ware’s first Brickyard 400, and he delivered a solid 18th-place finish.
“To race on the big track for the first time was quite the experience,” Ware said. “Coming out of turn four, looking down the track, seeing Gasoline Alley to the left and rows of grandstands on both sides, you realize real quick how tight the place is. But I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t feel as hectic as it all looked. I felt like the track raced really well.”
For someone who has experience on both the road course and the oval, who has seen the track from inside an Indy car and a stock car, Ware believes the oval is where NASCAR belongs.
“The stock cars race much better on the oval at Indy than they do on the road course,” Ware said. “It was a welcome change to be on the oval and have the Brickyard 400 back.”
Indy’s configuration is challenging. Two 3,300-foot-long straights are connected by two 660-foot short chutes, with four corners banked at just 9.2 degrees bringing the entire layout together. It’s a test of machine and a driver’s mettle.
“Anytime you’re going into a corner at 180, 190 (mph) and you’re looking head-on toward the wall, it’s pretty daunting. If you’re being honest with yourself, it takes a couple of corners to work up to where you need to be, speed-wise,” Ware said.
The long frontstretch and equally long backstretch allow drivers to catch their breath, even as they hit 190 mph.
“Those straights provide one of the few places where you can collect yourself, gather your thoughts, and think about how you’re going to approach the next corner,” Ware said. “The race is a little bit different because you’re blocking runs with the draft and using aero, and there’s a lot that goes into it. It’s not superspeedway racing, but you have to be very mindful of the draft ahead of you, the wake you’re creating behind you, and how to manipulate all those things during the race.”
Ware’s on-track preparation for the race begins Friday with a 50-minute practice at 1 p.m. EDT. He and his team will have an evening to pore through data before qualifying on Saturday, which starts at 1:30 p.m. TruTV and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide live coverage of both. The Brickyard 400 goes live on Sunday at 2 p.m. with flag-to-flag coverage delivered by TNT and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
About Rick Ware Racing:
Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. It began at age 6 when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware transitioned out of the driver’s seat and into full-time team ownership. He has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that competes full-time in the elite NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning winning teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Progressive American Flat Track (AFT), FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) and zMAX CARS Tour.
