Seven different countries represented in Cup race on Indy Road Course

gettyimages-1610044501 — INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - AUGUST 12: Kamui Kobayashi, driver of the #67 Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota, (L) and 23XI Racing co-owner, Denny Hamlinmeet in the garage area during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 12, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Drivers from seven different countries will populate the grid for Sunday’s Verizon 200 at the Brickyard.

In addition to United States, the following countries will be represented: Mexico (series regular Daniel Suárez), New Zealand (Shane van Gisbergen); England (Jenson Button); Japan
(Kamui Kobayashi); Germany (Mike Rockenfeller) and Australia (Brodie Kostecki).

By now, van Gisbergen is a household name to NASCAR fans, after his triumph in his first Cup start on the Chicago Street Course. Kostecki, from Perth in Western Australia, is a bit more obscure, having won twice in the Repco Supercars Championship in his native country.

“I was actually pretty scared after I found out I was doing this race,” Kostecki said Saturday morning in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway media center. “I went back through the last two years to study pretty quickly on how the race played out and what it was like in Turn 1.

“Obviously, this weekend, there have been changes to the restart zone. It was a bit interesting going back through and watching how the races played out. I honestly think it will be quite a bit different this weekend with the restart zone.”

To diminish the possibility of cars arriving five-wide into the first turn, NASCAR has moved the restart zone between Turns 13 and 14. A similar move on the Chicago Street Course
in July was effective in reducing the chaos in the first corner.

Nevertheless, Button, a former Formula 1 champion, expects heightened aggression to be the norm in NASCAR’s Next Gen cars.

“In NASCAR, I feel it’s so competitive,” Button said. “On restarts, they’re way more ‘on it’ than any other series I’ve raced in… The Cup Series, for me, from Lap 1 to the last lap, they are ‘on it’ every single lap. There’s no rest. You cannot breathe in a race in the Cup Series.

“It’s impressive—it really is. I was shocked when I did my first race.”