Brickyard 400

The Brickyard 400 (officially known as the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG for sponsorship reasons) is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1916. In its inaugural running, the Brickyard 400 became NASCAR's most-attended event, drawing an estimated crowd of more than 250,000 spectators. The race also paid one of NASCAR's highest purses. From 1994 to 2020, the race was held on the 2.5-mile oval, for a distance of 400 miles. The race was put on hiatus for three years (2021–2023) in favor of the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard which was run on the combined road course and run a distance of 200 miles. The event returned to the oval in 2024 season. In most years since 1994, the event has traditionally been held on the last weekend of July or the first weekend of August. In 2018–2019, after schedule realignments, NASCAR moved the race to the weekend after Labor Day, where it served as the last race of the regular season. In 2020 only, it was held on Independence Day weekend. The names of the winners of the Brickyard 400 are inscribed on the PPG Trophy, which is permanently housed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. Jeff Gordon won the inaugural Brickyard 400 on August 6, 1994. He is the most-successful driver in the history of the race, with a record five victories and three pole positions. Gordon also holds the most laps completed, most laps led, and most earnings in the race. Hendrick Motorsports was the most successful team with 11 total wins and five poles. Corey Heim is the...