Indiana native Jonathan Hassler achieves Team Penske dreams at Brickyard 400

INDIANAPOLIS — This Sunday marks the first time since 2020 the Brickyard 400 will actually take place — the past three variations of the weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) have been held on the facility's road course and recognized as the Verizon 200. With that in mind, the 30th annual Brickyard 400 will be Jonathan Hassler's first as a crew chief.

Just one year after graduating from Purdue University in 2007, Hassler began his journey with Team Penske. More than 15 years later, he'll come closer than ever to racing at IMS.

A Greencastle, Indiana, native, Hassler once dreamed of driving on the sacred oval as a youngster driving go-karts and mini sprint cars.

"I think a lot of people would agree that the Charlotte, North Carolina, area and the Indianapolis area are certainly the base of a lot of grassroots roots racing," Hassler told IndyStar.

In fact, he remembered attending some of the first Brickyard 400 weekends.

"The first two or three years we would come as a family on Friday of qualifying, just kind of hanging on the fences by the garage and watch the guys and watch a few laps," Hassler told IndyStar. "Flying in today and seeing how beautiful the track is, that's been really cool."

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Hassler said as many as 35 friends and family members will be at IMS to support him this weekend. But as No. 12 Menard's driver Ryan Blaney hinted at, Hassler is focused on guiding him to his first Brickyard 400 win.

Pocono Raceway sports a tri-oval track shape, whereas IMS is a standard oval with four high-speed turns. With that in mind, Blaney said Hassler has been "driving himself crazy" building a race-winning strategy for Sunday.

"It's really hard to pass at Pocono, but I think this is probably going to be a step even harder to pass," Hassler told IndyStar. "Track position and strategy are going to be even more (important)."

And Blaney knows it.

"Your car is gonna have to handle drastically different if you're mid-pack than if you're leading. You got to free the car a lot to run through traffic," Blaney told IndyStar. " ... Gosh, this place deserves a good showing."

As a Team Penske representative, Blaney and Hassler said the Brickyard 400 carries even more importance. Not only does Roger Penske helm the team, but he owns IMS itself.

To add even more pressure, Team Penske is looking for a 2024 IMS sweep after one of IndyCar's three Penske representatives Josef Newgarden won the Indianapolis 500 in May. Blaney isn't taking Sunday's race lightly, but he still plans to soak in all he can from IMS, even in his seventh attempt while in the NASCAR Cup Series and 10th overall.

"Nothing beats the first laps on it," Blaney said. "You come off turn four and all you see is a wall. It's a 90 degree corner, and it's just a surreal feeling."

Since Hassler became Blaney's crew chief at the start of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series, the pair have earned 15 podium finishes and five race victories. Blaney won the 2023 Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race, en route to later finishing first in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series standings.

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Most recently, the two won the HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway July 14. However, NASCAR returns to the racing capital of the world Sunday for the 30th annual Brickyard 400. The No. 12 Menard's crew aren't satisfied.

"No matter how good we're running, he always wants to do better," Blaney told IndyStar. "He is always looking for the future, and as a driver that's a dream come true and I give him the same that he gives me."

Contact Kyle Smedley with comments via email at KSmedley@Gannett.com or via X @KyleSmedley_ .

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana native Jonathan Hassler achieves Team Penske dreams at Brickyard 400