NASCAR modifies restart zone for Verizon 200 at the Brickyard

For this year’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard, NASCAR has changed the restart zone in the hope that it will lead to better restarts. It is a different look from what drivers and fans are used to seeing at the course.

Drivers are going to be able to break their line and change lanes as soon as they leave the restart zone during the Verizon 200. They will no longer have to wait for the start/finish line to do so. Some see it as a good change, while others think it is NASCAR just making things more difficult than they need to be.

In order to make sure teams and drivers understand what to do, NASCAR sent out a video that will be used in the drivers meeting this week. Hopefully, we don’t see any botched restarts with the new change.

The restart and track limits rules for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course have been described in the drivers meeting video for this week: pic.twitter.com/JRSwyOpr1v

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 11, 2023

You will notice they included other rules for the Verizon 200 in the video. One is you can’t just go straight at Turn 1 on the access road. If you remember, Ross Chastain did that last season. He claims he missed it. Although, it looked like he was trying to get sneaky. So, no more inventive thinking from the Melon Man.

The big story this weekend is the number of road course aces in the field. However, it is a NASCAR full-timer that is favored to win on Sunday.

Verizon 200 favorites, odds for Indy Road Course

Heading into the Verizon 200 weekend, the Las Vegas bookmakers are not falling for the road course bait. The easy answer would be to make Shane van Gisbergen the odds-on favorite.

However, Indy Road Course is not the Chicago Street Course. There are no walls at this track, let alone on both sides of the course. This will be a real test of not just SVG but the Cup Series regulars.

For Indy, Martin Truex Jr. is listed as the favorite ahead of qualifying. Listed at 4-1 odds, he leads Tyler Reddick (11-2), the defending winner from 2022 in this race. Surprisingly, Chase Elliott (15-2) is also among the top group of drivers despite his struggles recently.

Given how strong Truex Jr. has been in the last two months, I wouldn’t put it past him to win this race. He took the victory at Sonoma with ease. However, that was before SVG shook up the NASCAR world at Chicago. Perhaps Truex can show the road course ringers how the full-timers do things.

For reference, SVG is 10-1 to win this race. Is the Verizon 200 his to lose?