Indianapolis Brickyard 400 Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Rankings / Post Practice Predictions

On Sunday, NASCAR will be racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. Indy is a big 2.5-mile flat rectangle where track position and horsepower are king. This race is often run “backwards”, where teams try to pit as few times as possible, so take note this race will be heavy on pit strategy. I view Pocono to have the most correlation, so make sure you look back to that race from June (Pocono 2025 Total Speed Rankings).

On Friday, NASCAR held a combined 50-minute practice session, so teams had time to make adjustments and tune. Make sure you check out our Indy Practice Notes, Indy 5, 10 and 15 Lap average Speed Cheat Sheet and Indy Practice Speeds and 10-Lap Averages. 

Here’s the Indy Qualifying Results/ Starting Lineup. At Indy, starting up front is very important. 10 of the last Indy 11 races have been won from a top 11 starting position. 8 of those 11 have been won from a top 6 starting position.

Indianapolis Brickyard 400 Full Field Fantasy rankings

1) Denny Hamlin
Start 5th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Indy Outlook – Denny Hamlin will be crown jewel hunting and in the Indianapolis Brickyard 400, his afternoon may very well end kissing the bricks. Hamlin’s won all the other Crown Jewel races, but Indy has long eluded him. Hamlin’s been elite at Indy and he’s also the premiere big flat track performer in NASCAR. At Pocono which has correlation, Hamlin finished 1st, had the best Driver Rating and had the best Total Speed Ranking. At Indy, Hamlin’s been a super-elite performer and since 2014 minus 2024, 2020 and 2017 where he’s had misleading results, Hamlin’s finished in the top 6 every race and has a 4.0 average finish. Over the last two which outline the Indy Next Gen era, Hamlin ranks 4th for Driver Rating, 5th for Speed but has a misleading 17.5 average finish. Last year, Hamlin had a rocket and finished 3rd. That said that wasn’t an easy 3rd. In the race, Hamlin started in the rear of the field in a backup car after crashing in qualifying, finished about 18th in Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2 and earned the 8th best Driver Rating. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Hamlin ranked 12th with his speed over the segments being 32nd, 9th, 1st and 9th. I believe if Hamlin would’ve raced his primary car and didn’t start in the back, this race was his for the taking. In 2024, Hamlin was a contender but finished a misleading 32nd. In the race, Hamlin started 2nd, won Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2, had a 7.7 average running position, led 21 laps, was running in 5th on lap 156 but then on lap 157, Busch had contact with Hamlin and as a result, Hamlin ducked down pit road for gas (and probably to check out his car) which dropped him way back in the pack. Then during a late restart, Hamlin crashed which led to his 32nd. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Hamlin ranked 2nd. Back in 2020, Hamlin came close to victory lane but while leading with 7 laps to go, Hamlin had a flat tire and pounded the wall hard which led to his 28th. In practice, Hamlin was fast and had the 5th best 10-lap average.
DraftKings $11,000/ FanDuel $14,000

Further Recommended Reading = Indy Projected Finish Ranges, DraftKings Indy Scoring Projections, FanDuel Indy Scoring Projections, Indy Quick Rankings, Indy Next Gen RPM, Indy Next Gen Average Finishes, Indy Next Gen Speed Rankings

2) Kyle Larson
Start 10th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium
Indy Outlook – 2024 Indianapolis Brickyard 400 winner, Kyle Larson should prominently be on your fantasy NASCAR radar. Indy’s been a great track for him and in the Next Gen, Larson’s 2 for 2 at finishing in the top 2 (1.5 average finish) and ranks 2nd for both Next Gen Speed Rankings and Driver Rating. Last year, Larson started 13th, had an 8.6 average running position, led 19 laps, earned the 2nd best Driver Rating and then finished 2nd overall. Additionally, Larson finished 8th in Stage #1, 2nd in Stage #2 and was running in 2nd before overtime. In terms of speed stats, Larson ranked 3rd for both Total Speed Rankings and Speed Late In A Run. In 2024, Larson was strong and raced his way to victory lane. I wouldn’t say Larson had the best car, and he did get a late assist during an overtime restart. In the race, Larson earned the 3rd best Driver Rating, had the 5th best Total Speed Ranking and led 8 laps. During overtime, leader Brad Keselowski ducked down pit road after the “choose cones” were picked and that immediately bumped Larson up to the front row in the inside lane and from there, Larson hit the afterburners. This spring at Pocono, Larson finished 5th and ranked 7th for Speed. In practice, Larson had a rocket and ranked #1 for both 5 and 10-lap averages.
DraftKings $10,500/ FanDuel $13,500

3) Ty Gibbs
Start 4th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium
Indy Outlook – Ty Gibbs and the #54 team are clicking off good results and at Indy, look for the good times to continue. Heading into the weekend, Gibbs has finished in the top 4 in 3 of the last 4 races and since Watkins Glen minus Michigan and San Diego his average finish is 6.3. At Pocono, which was visited during his recent hot streak, Gibbs finished 9th and had the 11th best Total Speed Ranking. At Indy, the results column isn’t pretty for Gibbs with a pair of 20’s and a 22.0 average finish. In other Next Gen analytics, he ranks 16th for Driver Rating and then 20th for Speed. Last year, Gibbs finished 21st, had a 15.4 average running position and ranked 19th for Total Speed Rankings. Over the segments, Gibbs had speed rankings of 12th, 8th, 27th and 20th, so he wasn’t at his best in the second half of the race. Perhaps something happened to him, but I can’t say that anything did. In 2024, Gibbs had an afternoon I wouldn’t read too much into since he developed engine issues which were first reported on lap 124. In the race, Gibbs had the 20th best Total Speed Ranking but take note over the segments he had speed rankings of 7th, 9th, 29th and then 31st. When the checkered flag waved, Gibbs finished 23rd. If his race would’ve been incident free, I would say he was a top ten contender. At Pocono in June, Gibbs finished 9th and had the 11th best Total Speed Ranking. In practice, Gibbs was fast and ranked 2nd for 10-lap averages and had the best 15-lap average (of three drivers).
DraftKings $8,800/ FanDuel $9,500