Home / Sports / Motorsports NASCAR star Denny Hamlin weighs in on the Brickyard 400’s return to the IMS oval

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The NASCAR Cup Series is getting ready for an important stretch of races , all of which will receive plenty of attention from motorsports fans across the country.

The series is in action this weekend on the streets of Chicago. Then, on July 14, the drivers will race at Pocono Raceway in the The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VisitPA.com.

And after those two events, the focus will shift to the Brickyard 400 , which will be held on July 21. It will be the first time the Brickyard 400 has been run on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval since 2020 .

“We’ve put another major back on our schedule,” NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin said.

The last three years, the NASCAR Cup Series race in Speedway was held on the IMS road course.

“This is back to being a really, really big event for us,” Hamlin said. “While it was great to run on the road course, it’s a really good road course, it’s just nothing like the oval. It’s not the history of the oval.”

Hamlin, who drives the No. 11 at Joe Gibbs Racing, took part in a Goodyear tire test on the IMS oval in early June.

“I got to test there about a month ago, and this Next Gen car definitely is going to race really well there,” Hamlin said.

Hamlin said the Next Gen car has a lot of drag, creating a bigger hole in the air behind the car.

“I think that you’re going to see more ‘Indy-type’ passes in our NASCAR race,” Hamlin told News 8 Sports’ Andrew Chernoff. “So you’re going to see these slingshot passes that happen late in the straightaway, right before you get to the corner.”

Hamlin has competed in 15 previous Brickyard 400s on the oval. He is still searching for his first victory in the event.

“It just would mean a lot to win it,” Hamlin said.

Hamlin is currently third in the Cup Series standings . He has three wins already this season.