PREVIEW: Several new faces among this weekend’s entries at Indianapolis
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
IMAGE: TRICON Garage, @TRICONGarage
Friday, July 24, 2026 (Green Flag 8:17 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 16 of 25
TSport 200 at IRP
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Stewart Friesen
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for 36 spots, meaning two will fail to qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
Attempting his Truck Series debut is 18-year-old Toyota development driver Gavan Boschele, who currently runs part-time in the ARCA Menards Series as driver of the #25 Toyota for Nitro Motorsports. Just last month at Pocono, Boschele scored a career-best runner-up finish to Truck Series regular Giovanni Ruggiero. This will be the first of six scheduled Truck Series starts for Boschele, which will continue through Richmond, Loudon, Kansas, Phoenix, and Martinsville. He takes the place of Nick Leitz, who ran 17th at North Wilkesboro, and carries sponsorship from American Land Partners.
DRIVER CHANGE: #2-Team Reaume
Also making his series debut is Ohio native Jackson Macenko, who in 2019 at age 14 earned Rookie of the Year in the USSA Kenyon Midget Series, scoring seven division victories. This will be a transition for Macenko, who has predominately raced in open-wheel competition, most recently earning top rookie honors in the 500 Sprint Car Tour in 2023. Tonight, Macenko drives Reaume’s #2 entry in place of 33rd-place North Wilkesboro finisher Luke Baldwin.
MISSING: #4-Niece Motorsports
Not among this week’s entrants is the part-time #4 entry from the Niece team, which with first-timer Donovan Strauss finished last at North Wilkesboro. Strauss’ cool suit failed in the early laps, and the driver was exhausted just short of the end of Stage 2.
DRIVER CHANGE: #5-TRICON Garage
There was a “TBA” in the driver’s column for the TRICON #5 with which Corey Heim earned a 9th-place finish last week on the short track. However, the ride will go to Harrison Burton, who will run double-duty with his full-time Sam Hunt Racing effort on the big track in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race. This will be Burton’s 41st series start and first since June 11, 2022, when he finished 17th at Sears Point. He’ll carry sponsorship from Ruedebusch Development & Construction, a brand more often seen on the Fords at Front Row Motorsports’ Cup team.
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
Connor Mosack returns to the Spire team for the first time since Lime Rock Park, where he was collected in a pileup on a late-race restart, leaving him 18th. Mosack takes the place of Cup regular Chase Elliott, who finished 7th in North Wilkesboro.
DRIVER CHANGE: #22-Team Reaume
Derek Lemke makes only his second series start of the season and first since his 21st-place showing in Nashville. Triple Crown Capital Stables will sponsor his Ford at the Reaume team as he takes the place of Clayton Green, who finished 31st in North Wilkesboro.
DRIVER CHANGE: #25-Kaulig RAM Racing
With NASCAR returning to the Brickyard, local Indy 500 favorite Conor Daly will take a turn in the Kaulig effort’s “all-star” #25, taking the place of 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman, who finished 24th last Saturday. This will be only the seventh Truck Series start for Daly and his first since a 28th-place showing at Homestead on October 26, 2024. It will not be his first start at the smaller IRP track – he finished 29th here in that same 2024 season.
DRIVER CHANGE: #27-Rackley-W.A.R.
The Celsius colors are back on the #27 as Toni Breidinger seeks her 32nd series start and first since her 26th-place showing in Dover. The last time Breidinger entered a Truck Series race was at Nashville, where she ended up with her third DNQ of the year. She takes the place of first-time starter Kasey Kleyn, whose electrical issues in North Wilkesboro left him in 31st.
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Niece Motorsports
While the preliminary entry list showed Tyler Reif running the #42 once again after a 12th-place run in North Wilkesboro, that changed late Monday with news that Parker Eatmon will take the wheel. Carrying sponsorship from Operator Standard, Eatmon will make just his third career start and first since Dover, where he came home 21st.
DRIVER CHANGE: #62-Halmar Friesen Racing
Second-generation racer Mike Christopher, Jr. returns for his own third career start and first since a 23rd-place finish for this same second HFR entry back at Rockingham. Christopher takes the place of Cup regular Christopher Bell, who finished 15th last time out in North Wilkesboro. Mohawk Northeast, which has also backed fellow NASCAR Modified drivers Luke Baldwin and Ryan Preece, will sponsor the #62.
RETURNING / MANUFACTURER CHANGE: #69-Motorsports Business Management
After he withdrew Jonathan Shafer from last week’s race, team owner Carl Long dropped surprising news that he had acquired a RAM for Shafer to run this week. The scenario is strikingly similar to Long’s Cup program in 2001, which likewise began running Fords, then late in the season acquired a Dodge, becoming the first team to campaign the brand besides the ten “founding” teams selected the previous year. MBM has its own history with so-called “Zombie” Dodges, which the team campaigned in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series well after manufacturer support had ended.
MISSING: #71-Spire Motorsports
The Spire team will not field their part-time #71 entry with which Shane Van Gisbergen kicked off his tremendous North Wilkesboro weekend with a 3rd-place finish.
MISSING: #75-Henderson Motorsports
Also not making the trip is the Henderson team which failed to qualify last week with late model star Landon Huffman.
DRIVER CHANGE: #76-Freedom Racing Enterprises
Spencer Boyd returns to the driver’s seat of his own FRE #76 for the first time since Michigan, where a crash left him in 34th. Through both North Wilkesboro and the previous road course races, his #76 has been driven by both Nathan Nicholson and IndyCar sophomore Louis Foster. Nicholson’s own late-race crash in Wilkesboro left him in 34th, but he looks forward to more oval starts.
DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports
Also showing a “TBA” on the original entry list was the #77 entry at Spire with which Carson Hocevar started outside-pole, but an ill-timed flat tire left him a disappointing 27th. Taking Hocevar’s place in the Delaware Life machine will be Nick Sanchez, marking his 48th series start and first since May 2, 2025, when he finished 13th in Spire’s #07 at Texas. Sanchez will run double-duty with Saturday’s O’Reilly race, where he remains in the Peterson team’s #87.
RETURNING: #90-Terry Carroll Motorsports
Justin S. Carroll returns for his first series attempt since Rockingham, where he scored his second and most recent DNQ. He now seeks his first start since Darlington, where he finished a season-best 26th in his family’s #90. This would be Carroll’s first series start at IRP.
RETURNING: #93-Costner Motorsports
Also absent for the last few weeks has been Caleb Costner, who in a recent social media post revealed work continuing on both his team and his garage. Costner’s team last ran at Michigan, where he finished 27th, and this week puts another driver behind the wheel of the #93 for the first time. On board is Indiana native Cassten Everidge, who will run double-duty between both tonight’s race and his late model in the 60th Annual CB Fabricating Redbud 400 at the quarter-mile bullring in Anderson. Everidge has made four previous starts at IRP while competing in the CRA Sportsman Series, where he sat on the pole in his most recent start.
CUP INVADERS: None
Saturday, July 25, 2026 (Green Flag 4:14 P.M. ET, CW)
O’REILLY Race 22 of 33
Pennzoil 250 Presented by Take 5 Oil Change at Indianapolis
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Logan Bearden
ENTRY LIST
There are 38 drivers entered for as many spots, so all will qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #9-JR Motorsports
While there will not be any Cup regulars in tonight’s Truck Series race, there will be two on Saturday at the big track. The first of these pilots the #9 as Ross Chastain takes the place of 30th-place Atlanta finisher Jake Finch, and carries sponsorship from Roto-Rooter. This will mark Chastain’s ninth series start of the year and first since rear end trouble at Sears Point left him 37th in Jordan Anderson’s #32.
DRIVER SWAP: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport
DRIVER CHANGE: #88-JR Motorsports
The other Cup regular is Chase Elliott, who trades his Truck Series effort with Spire for JRM’s #88, bumping 9th-place Atlanta finisher Rajah Caruth back to the JAR #32 in place of 27th-place Anderson himself. This will mark Caruth’s last scheduled run of the year in the #32 with its bright yellow door and roof numbers before he returns to the #88 for the rest of 2026. For Elliott, it will be his second series start of the year and first since his runner-up finish to Brandon Jones back at Chicagoland.
DRIVER CHANGE: #38-RSS Racing
J.J. Yeley will again pilot the RSS team’s Ford in place of 35th-place Atlanta finisher Logan Bearden. Sponsorship remains “to be announced” at this time. This will be Yeley’s ninth series start of the season and first since power steering issues left him 37th in Chicagoland.
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Young’s Motorsports
Nathan Byrd returns to the O’Reilly Series for the first time since Pocono, where an early crash left him in 35th place. Byrd takes the place of Nick Leitz, who was likewise collected in a wreck at Atlanta that left him 29th that night. Byrd Insurance Group will sponsor the #42.
TEAM UPDATE: #44-Alpha Prime Racing
In a special collaborative effort, Brennan Poole will be sponsored by The Samantha and Kyle Busch Bundle of Joy Fund. This will be Poole’s fifth series start at Indianapolis, where he finished a best of 7th for Chip Ganassi back in 2017.
TEAM UPDATE: #47-Mike Harmon Racing
TEAM UPDATE: #91-DGM Racing x JIM
The preliminary entry list showed “TBA” in the driver’s column for both the Harmon #47 and DGM #91, but both teams have elected to keep the same drivers who ran their cars at EchoPark Speedway: Dawson Cram in the #47 and Mason Maggio in the #91. What remains to be seen is what form we will see of the #47, which swapped support between both the Gase and Stange teams in recent weeks.
DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
Blake Lothian will make his fifth series start and first since his 26th-place showing in Dover as The Texas Lawbook returns as sponsor of his #53. Lothian takes the place of Glen Reen, who escaped the chaos at EchoPark Speedway to earn a 15th-place finish.
DRIVER CHANGE: #92-DGM Racing x JIM
As the perplexing series of driver changes continues at the DGM #92, the latest driver in the rotation is Preston Pardus, who appears to be running the same paint scheme as his #50 on the #92 with Chinchor Electric as sponsor. Pardus will make his fourth series start of 2026 and first since San Diego, where he ran a season-best 18th for his family’s team. He takes the place of Leland Honeyman, Jr., who ran 28th back in Atlanta.
CUP INVADERS: #9-Ross Chastain, #88-Chase Elliott
Sunday, July 26, 2026 (Green Flag 2:20 P.M. ET, TNT)
CUP Race 22 of 36
Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG at Indianapolis
2025 Last-Place Finisher: Ross Chastain
ENTRY LIST
There are 39 drivers entered for 40 starting spots in Sunday’s Brickyard 400, marking the 20th short field in 22 races this season.
RETURNING: #62-Beard Motorsports
Casey Mears last made a Cup start at Pocono this past summer, and planned to run the same car in this Sunday’s Brickyard 400. That plan may have changed after a crash midway through the event left him in 36th. Regardless, Mears is entered this week and will again carry sponsorship from The Gracie Foundation on the #62. Mears’ own contribution to his family’s storied history at “The Brickyard” remains his pole in 2004, and his track-best 6th-place showing for the same Ganassi team in 2005.
MISSING: #66-Garage 66
While Carl Long debuts his RAM for Jonathan Shafer tonight, he will not field his Cup car for Chad Finchum on Sunday, one week after an overheated rear gear left him 35th in North Wilkesboro.
RETURNING: #67-23XI Racing
Corey Heim makes his 15th career Cup start and eighth of the season as he returns to the #67, now carrying new sponsorship from Field & Stream. This will be Heim’s first NASCAR start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
RETURNING: #78-Live Fast Motorsports
The next round of Daniel Dye’s part-time effort with Live Fast Motorsports is this Sunday, where he will again run the colors of Champion Container Corporation. This will be Dye’s third career start and first since Pocono, where he ran 29th. He’s so far finished under power in both Cup starts, and while he still seeks his first lead-lap finish, he has completed all but three combined laps.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (July 24, 1988): Bob Schacht scored the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career n the AC Spark Plug 500 at Pocono when his #16 Learn Ford lost the engine after 5 laps. Schacht hadn’t fared much better at that June’s race on the Pocono track, where he finished 36th of 40 starters after other engine issues 22 laps into the event.
