NASCAR: What is the qualifying format of the Indy road course?
NASCAR fans will be treated to an exciting weekend of racing, with the Verizon 200 playing out at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The NASCAR Cup Series will take place on the Indy Road Course this weekend, and it will be the second time a Cup Series race will be held on the course after the debut competition that took place last year.
Verizon 200 action will start on Saturday with practice at 9:35 a.m. ET / 6:35 a.m. PT, where teams will break into two groups to practice separately for 20 minutes.
The qualifying round will begin at 10:35 a.m. ET / 7:35 a.m. PT and will follow the standard road-course format. This means that two groups will each be given 15 minutes on the track to achieve their fastest lap.
The five drivers with the fastest times from each group will move on to the final round, which will last for ten minutes.
Verizon 200: Drivers to watch
Chase Elliott is predicted to perform well at the Verizon 200, and is the oddsmakers’ favorite to win the competition. Other drivers to keep an eye on are Chase Briscoe, AJ Allmendinger, and Justin Haley.
The track is a 2.5 mile rectangular oval that has not changed much since it was built in 1909. The Indy Speedway is the highest-capacity sports arena in the world, and can accommodate more than 250,000 seated spectators.
The first United States Formula 1 Grand Prix was held at the Speedway in 2000, then some changes were made to the circuit in 2014 to make way for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis held by IndyCar. The course was altered by making it run in the opposite direction of the Formula 1 race.