SPEEDWAY, Ind. – The NASCAR Cup Series is set to take on the Brickyard 400 Monday at approximately 2 p.m. ET after inclement weather forced a postponement from Sunday.
And thanks to a wet weekend, the drivers didn’t get any track time in advance. Practice and qualifying were canceled Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
But that doesn’t seem to bother the Hendrick Motorsports teammates.
“I really feel like we tend to unload pretty close and there are quite a few teams that unload a little bit off and kind of have to catch up,” Alex Bowman said. “So, I’m all for just sending it to the race. I think that might actually be better for us. But, we will just have to wait and see.”
Jimmie Johnson agreed, noting that both he and No. 48 team crew chief Chad Knaus are “pretty good” with jumping straight to the race without any extra track time, joking that he didn’t mind skipping qualifying.
“Just our journey over this year, we usually end up back to our setup that we unloaded with, so if we are forced to start with the setup we unloaded with, I think we’ll be in great shape,” he said. “I think one big obstacle the whole field will have to overcome is just tire wear.”
Chase Elliott shared a similar sentiment on Twitter.
“I love the aspect of no practice or qualifying,” he tweeted.
Thinking back to similar scenarios throughout his racing career, NBC Sports’ Dale Earnhardt Jr. said the first few laps of Monday’s race will be crucial. He remarked that he would approach them cautiously.
“The one thing you can count on is everybody’s car is going to have some issues that they will want to address,” Earnhardt said. “Having balance and handling issues without any practice, all those guys are going to have something they want their crew chief to work on. That should be about the third lap of the race and that quickly you will know what that is.”
One thing everyone agreed on is that the lack of track time could make for an exciting race for the fans as the competitors get a feel for their cars on the fly.
“The fact that the drivers didn’t have any practice is going to make for a more dramatic race,” Earnhardt said. “It is going to be interesting watching the teams scramble and gain what they can on the handle of their cars, keeping up with the changing of the racetrack. I expect it to be a very interesting and intriguing race as it plays out.”
The Brickyard 400 will be broadcast on NBCSN, IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio as the final, 16-driver playoff field is cemented.