NASCAR: Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course: Full Weekend Race Schedule

Only three races remain before the close of the regular season, which means three opportunities left for the handful of drivers vying for a spot in the 2023 Playoffs. The next chance for those drivers comes next Sunday at Indianapolis, as the series prepares for two road course races before the finale at Daytona. The Verizon 200 next Sunday will be part of the doubleheader event with IndyCar, which could be the last time these two share the stage.

This will be the third Cup race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, but all signs point to NASCAR returning to the famed 2.5-mile oval next season. Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the first Brickyard 400, won by Indiana's own Jeff Gordon. AJ Allmendinger won the inaugural road course race two years ago and Tyler Reddick kissed the bricks in this event last season.

While there is not much history to pull from, the one constant with this event has been chaos. There have been 11 total cautions between the two races, not including the yellows for stage breaks. Nearly every car and driver has gone off course at some point. Some, like Kyle Larson last year (brake failure) had no choice while others (Ross Chastain) tried to use the safety access road to jump the field.

Playoff pressure will be at an all-time high, as drivers like Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs, Michael McDowell, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric, and 2021 race winner AJ Allmendinger are battling to secure a spot in the postseason. Both Elliott and Bowman crashed out of the race at Michigan, and both Hendrick drivers are now in a must-win scenario. Elliott has proven to be especially good on road courses but this race at Indianapolis has shown to be wild and unpredictable.

Race weekend schedule (Eastern Standard Time)

Saturday August 12

11:35 - Practice

12:35 pm - Qualifying

Sunday August 13

2:30 pm - Race