"A 2.5-mile rectangle with four separate corners, built in 1909 and repaved in brick that same year, the Brickyard has hosted the NASCAR Cup Series since 1994, and Jeff Gordon still holds the record with five Brickyard 400 wins."
Location: Speedway, Indiana Track Type: Paved rectangular oval with four distinct turns Length: 2.5 miles Surface: Asphalt, with a strip of the original bricks left exposed at the start/finish line Banking: 9 degrees, 12 minutes (all four turns) Opened: 1909 First NASCAR Cup Series Race: 1994 (the first Brickyard 400) Owner: Roger Penske's Penske Corporation (purchase announced November 2019)
Quick Answers
How big is Indianapolis Motor Speedway? The oval is 2.5 miles. Unlike most ovals, it has four separate corners, each banked at 9 degrees, 12 minutes, joined by two long straightaways and two short straights the drivers call "short chutes."
Where is Indianapolis Motor Speedway? In the town of Speedway, Indiana, in the Indianapolis area.
Why is it called the Brickyard? The track was first surfaced with crushed stone and tar, which proved dangerous. In the fall of 1909 it was repaved with about 3.2 million bricks. Later paving covered the bricks, but a strip about a yard wide still shows at the start/finish line.
Who has won the most Brickyard 400s? Jeff Gordon, with five (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2014). Jimmie Johnson is next with four.
Who won at Indianapolis in 2026? Carson Kvapil won the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race on July 25, his first career win. Corey Heim won the Brickyard 400 for the NASCAR Cup Series on July 26.
When does NASCAR race at Indianapolis in 2027? The O'Reilly Series races Saturday, July 24, and the Cup Series runs the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 25. Full dates are below.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Schedule: 2027 NASCAR Dates
| Date | Day | Series |
|---|---|---|
| July 24 | Saturday | NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series |
| July 25 | Sunday | NASCAR Cup Series |
Dates are from NASCAR's 2027 national series schedule. Race names and start times have not been announced. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races the same weekend, on Friday, July 23, but at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, a separate 0.686-mile oval in nearby Brownsburg. Confirm at indianapolismotorspeedway.com before you travel.
Overview
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a 2.5-mile oval that opened in 1909 as a testing ground for the auto industry growing up around Indianapolis. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500, and since 1994 it has also hosted the NASCAR Cup Series' Brickyard 400, one of the series' crown jewel races.
The layout is what sets it apart. Most ovals are really two long, sweeping ends, even when their corners are numbered one through four. Indianapolis has four individual corners with only 9 degrees of banking, joined by long front and back straightaways and two short chutes.
The Cup Series raced on the oval from 1994 through 2020, moved to the infield road course for three seasons, from 2021 through 2023, and returned to the oval in 2024. Finishes there have run long lately: before 2026, six of the previous eight Brickyard 400s had gone to overtime, NASCAR's extra-lap finish when a caution falls near the end.
History
Carl G. Fisher and three partners built the speedway in the spring of 1909 as a common testing facility for local automakers. The original surface of crushed stone and tar broke up badly in the first events that summer, and that fall the whole 2.5-mile oval was repaved with about 3.2 million bricks, which gave the track its nickname. Later paving projects covered the bricks, and in 1961 everything but a strip about a yard wide at the start/finish line was paved over. That strip is still known as the Yard of Bricks.
The speedway sat closed through World War II and was in poor condition by the end of it. Tony Hulman of Terre Haute, Indiana, bought it in 1945, and his family owned it for more than seven decades. In November 2019 the family announced the sale of the speedway and the IndyCar Series to Roger Penske's Penske Corporation.
The first Brickyard 400 was run in 1994, and 23-year-old Jeff Gordon won it. He went on to win four more. The SAFER barrier, the energy-absorbing wall now used at NASCAR tracks, was developed at Indianapolis and first installed there.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1909 | Speedway built; repaved that fall with about 3.2 million bricks |
| 1945 | Tony Hulman buys the speedway after World War II |
| 1961 | Paving covers all but a yard-wide strip of the original bricks at the start/finish line |
| 1994 | Jeff Gordon wins the first Brickyard 400 |
| 2019 | Sale of the speedway to Roger Penske's company announced in November |
| 2021–2023 | The Cup Series races on the infield road course |
| 2024 | The Brickyard 400 returns to the oval; Kyle Larson wins |
| 2026 | Corey Heim wins the Brickyard 400 |
Key Drivers
Jeff Gordon, five Brickyard 400 wins (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2014), the most of any driver, including the first one at age 23.
Jimmie Johnson, four wins (2006, 2008, 2009, 2012).
Kevin Harvick, three wins (2003, 2019, 2020).
Kyle Larson, winner in 2024, the first Brickyard 400 back on the oval after three years on the road course.
Bubba Wallace, winner in 2025, Toyota's first Brickyard 400 win since 2016.
Corey Heim, winner in 2026 in the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota.
2026 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, Pennzoil 250 presented by Take 5 Oil Change (Saturday, July 25): Carson Kvapil won for the first time in his career, 0.643 seconds ahead of Justin Allgaier, in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. JR Motorsports took the top four places: Allgaier second, Ross Chastain third and Chase Elliott fourth. Kvapil led 23 of the 100 laps, including the final 22.
NASCAR Cup Series, Brickyard 400 presented by PPG (Sunday, July 26): Corey Heim started seventh, led 58 of 160 laps, including the final 35, and beat Christopher Bell by 0.287 seconds in the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota. Heim scored no Cup points for the win because he is declared for points in the Craftsman Truck Series, and drivers declared in another national series cannot score Cup points. Carson Hocevar won the pole at 186.598 mph and led the first 31 laps. Kyle Larson crashed in Turn 3 on Lap 43 and finished last, and nine cars wrecked together in Turn 3 on Lap 121. The race also settled the In-Season Challenge, a 32-driver bracket tournament held over five summer races in which a driver advances by finishing ahead of his head-to-head opponent. In the final, Todd Gilliland finished 24th, two places ahead of Ryan Blaney, and won the $1 million prize.
The Craftsman Truck Series raced that weekend at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, where Layne Riggs won on Friday, July 24.