Rich MARvelous Move of the Race – Brickyard 400

Brickyard 400

NASCAR Cup Series drivers lined up for a shot at kissing the bricks with Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez on the front row for the Brickyard 400.

Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney and Todd Gilliland were racing for a million dollars in the In-Season Bracket Challenge. They lined up P13 and P36, respectively.

Stage 1

Hocevar wasted no time separating himself from the field, distancing himself by nearly three seconds by Lap 5. The field quickly stretched to a single file as drivers logged laps around the two-and-a-half-mile track.

As the stage neared the halfway point, green flag pit stops began with Chase Elliott. Meanwhile, Suarez started to close the gap on his teammate.

As the cycle was concluding, Kyle Larson went for a spin and backed into the wall, bringing out the caution.

This caution led to a one-lap shootout to end the stage, which saw Ty Gibbs as the stage winner.

Stage 2

Gibbs and Corey Heim led the field to the Stage 2 restart. As Gibbs set sail, Elliott limped to the pits with a tire down after a brush with the wall.

The field was once again a single-file line, as green-flag stops began at the halfway mark.

All was quiet until four to go. The caution waved when Daniel Dye wrecked in Turn 3.

This caution ended the stage, with Ross Chastain out front.

Stage 3

For the start of the final stage, Gibbs and Denny Hamlin were out front. On Lap 115, the caution waved for debris, and when the race resumed with 41 to go, Hamlin and Corey Heim were out front.

The caution quickly waved as John Hunter Nemechek got into Blaney. This incident looked like the end of Blaney’s shot at a million dollars.

With 34 to go, Hamlin and Heim once again brought the field to green. Heim got the better of Hamlin, and the No. 11 fell back.

With 20 to go, Christopher Bell closed in on Heim’s bumper. However, Bell couldn’t make the pass, allowing Heim to win his second race in just 15 NASCAR Cup Series starts.

Rich MARvelous Move of the Race

One driver who had a quiet but successful day was Chase Briscoe. He started the day P11 and gained three spots to close out the opening stage.

Stage 2 saw a P29 finish for the hometown driver.

However, during the Lap 115 (debris) caution, the No. 19 team opted for two tires. This had Briscoe restarting within the top 10. The move paid off, and he finished the day P4.

Bonus Shoutout

We would be remiss if we didn’t give a shoutout to the No. 34 team of Todd Gilliland. Even though Blaney wrecked on Lap 120, Gilliland still had to work in the closing laps to hold off Blaney for a shot at a million bucks.

The No. 12 closed to within half a second of Gilliland, but a P24 finish was enough for the Front Row Motorsports driver to take home the big check.

Chime in with the move that will have you talking all week!

As always, we want to extend a huge thank you to Rich Mar Florist for their continued sponsorship of the Rich MARvelous Move of the Race into the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.

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