The 2023 running of the Brickyard 400 started the week off with a couple of massive blows in the qualifying race. Chad Glass, Doug Spark and Ken Joynt lay in hospital beds while a field of 46 cars attempts domination and glory at the yard of bricks. $10,000,000 goes to the winner, with Tony Pizzaro and and Rick Jackson winning the first two 2023 crown jewel events in an R2W sweep. Jackson will start on the pole today.

Race Results

Points Standings

Race Recap

Many worried that the green flag would result in another turn-2 accident, just like last season with Zakk Miller slamming into the catchfence. Despite some lack of experience towards the back-half of the field, all 46 cars would complete the first circuit cleanly. Jackson would lead the field for the initial 13 laps before Ryan Heuser took over the spot exiting turn-1.

A hardcore battle between Jackson and John Battista for the second position gave Heuser a half-second advantage over the field. The #44 regrouped and meandered back by the Wendy's machine, recapturing the lead on lap 30 with a pass exiting turn-4. A turn-2 crash involving Cristian Torres and Aaron Cummings brought out the first caution flag. both failing to finish inside the top-30 due to the damages.

Jackson, Heuser and Battista took four tires on their pit stops, dropping outside the top-10 while Zach Michael, Logan Sheets, Bink Lucas, Adam Crapser and Bill Werkheiser restart as the top-5 cars with a zero-tire strategy. Michael led the 1/4th mark of the event before relinquishing the spot to Sheets. Sheets had finished 6th the year before, looking to improve on his performance with his first career victory and a $10,000,000 pay check. He would be passed by Johnny Reed Foley on lap 53, keeping up with the fresh-tire cars despite also taking no fresh rubber.

Ryan Heuser helped the #3 draft through the traffic to re-take the top spot on lap 56. Before long, the drivers with fresher tires finally meandered their way through the pack and occupied the top-3 spots. Alex Crapser made his bid on lap 63, taking his first lead of the race exiting turn-2 with Rick Jackson in tow. The #44 stole it away two laps later.

The race for the $200,000 halfway bacon bonus was heating up in grand style. Crapser and teammate John Battista held a Lucas Racing 1-2 punch at the front of the pack, keeping the two legends of Extravaganza speedway racing in their wake. All four leaders entered the pits during the same lap, with Crapser's crew pulling off a miraculous stop to send him up front. Johnny Reed Foley made his stop one lap earlier, gaining track position and drafting with Crapser to pull away from the rest of the field. They would swap the lead multiple times to position themselves for the lap-80 bonus. Crapser would wind up getting earning the money, and the immaculate bacon.

The #04 and #3 dominated the green flag run, with Foley pulling ahead by over two seconds as the field spread out. Twelve seconds were gapped between he and 10th place Zach Michael, with veteran Scott Jackson miraculously lurking in 9th place despite having one of the slowest cars all week long. A second caution flag involving Cristian Torres brought out the yellow with 50 laps to go. It was the same turn he crashed in earlier, this time after contact with Randy Dobbins.

A three-wide maneuver between Dobbins, Tony Long and Trae Larkin proved unsuccessful, with the #96 pulverizing the outside turn-2 wall. Tony Long flew down the racetrack into the path of Dave Miller, slamming into the passenger-side of the #15, nearly flipping the Budweiser chevrolet and clipping Markell Murphy in the process. William Perry bashed Miller with his front end, bringing an end to the accident. John Tharp broke his radiator after slight contact with Philip Parker while braking for the crash. It would result in his first DNF of the season, with Dan Johnston suffering the same fate after an engine failure on lap 44. Timothy McDonnell would finish the day as the only DNF-less driver in 2023.

After the restart, Johnny Reed Foley lost the top-spot to Ryan Heuser only two laps into the run. They would both swap the lead multiple times before the #138 took it for good, crossing the line in first at the 30-to-go mark with John Battista and Zach Michael directly behind. Heuser and Michael pulverized through the air to earn a three-second advantage over the field with just 20 laps remaining, all still needing to make their final pit stop. Foley came in. Battista came in. McDonnell came in. Lee came in. Heuser would come in on lap 144 before miraculous trouble occurred. A terrifying crash between Dave Daniels, Frank Womack, Adam Crapser and Zakk Miller brought out the yellow flag late into green flag stops. Despite an enormous head-on impact by Crapser and Daniels, both drivers were unhurt, but all four would fail to continue. Ryan Heuser scurried out of the pits and just beat out the pace car, the only driver with fresh tires to remain on the lead lap.

Zach Michael, Donald Stewart, Chauncey Redmond Jr., Michael Henson, Scott Drake and Trae Larkin came in for four fresh tires as the only remaining lead lap cars, dropping behind leader Heuser for the 12-to-go restart. Restarting behind the lapped traffic proved costly for the #138, who let off the gas for rookie Molemar Diggs entering turn-1 and handing the lead to Michael off of turn-2. The two were side-by-side by the next corner, only for Heuser to lift for the #41 again as Donald Stewart and Michael Henson pushed through. Stewart would take the lead exiting turn-1 with 10 laps remaining. He would relinquish it again after another lapped car jam-up, lifting for Jimmie Stevens on the outside lane and leaving Michael, Heuser and Redmond with the room they needed to pass by. Michael quickly worked through the traffic and was several car-lengths ahead of the #138 and #64, who fought ferociously for second place. Without a caution flag, it was Michael's race to lose.

After lapping some of the fastest cars in Extravaganza, Zach Michael only left 19 cars on the same lap as he. The Coca-Cola Team Danger Zone #20 was ripe at the perfect time in the race, dominating in speed and precision during the final circuits to take the 2023 Brickyard 400 crown! A $10,000,000 pay check puts him inside the $30,000,000 bracket on the season. It is his first victory of 2023, and puts himself 298 points ahead of the chase cutoff with only four races remaining in the regular season. Congrats to Zach, crew chief Justin Knapp and the entire Team Danger Zone organization for an excellent victory!

2023 Brickyard 400, Part 1

2023 Brickyard 400, Part 2