What Steve Letarte remembers about his first exposure to the Brickyard 400 and why it’s such a magical moment and place for NASCAR (2:30); what it’ll be like for the 10 full-time Cup drivers who will be racing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the first time in NASCAR’s premier series (5:00); why the Brickyard requires such a phenomenal skill set of technical precision (8:30); how the Next Gen might impact the action with potentially better racing (12:30); why track position and holding the lead will continue to be so important (15:00); the importance of fuel conservation and strategy during the Next Gen era when changing four tires is much faster than filling a tank (17:30); how the fuel game impacted Denny Hamlin at Pocono (20:00); how do Cup teams keep track of the fuel consumption of every car they’re racing and how it’s different than the pre-Next Gen era (22:30); why the Brickyard 400 always has been such a championship and playoff barometer (25:00); how it feels to kiss the bricks at Indy (28:30); how close Steve Letarte came as a crew chief to winning the Brickyard 400 (30:00); who currently are the Cup championship favorites with five races left in the regular season? (31:30); sizing up the chances of Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace for making the playoffs (34:00); the trials of Kyle Busch (35:30); the grueling stretch of 23 consecutive weeks of racing that will end with the Brickyard 400 (38:30).

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NASCAR’s highly anticipated return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval and how the Next Gen could impact the Brickyard 400