Caitlin Clark has had quite the year.
The women's basketball star broke the NCAA all-time women's scoring record in February. One month later, she passed the men's record. By April, she was competing in her second straight Final Four and getting picked first overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft. She's been dominating the league ever since, averaging 17.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists over her first 26 games.
Now, after being named a WNBA All-Star, she will be featured on the hood of Josh Berry's No. 4 Ford Mustang for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC).
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The paint scheme is part of a partnership with Panini America, the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company and the official trading card partner of NASCAR. Panini recently released the Caitlin Clark Collection, which is available now at Target, Walmart and online.
"It's just all around a really cool partnership, to have them on board and to have Caitlin on the hood, I think it's gonna be a lot of fun," Berry said in an interview with NBC. "And we've gathered a lot of attention over this week with the paint scheme, which is what it's about. Now it's up to us to go have a good race on Sunday.
"Being Indianapolis and her playing in the WNBA now in Indiana. I think it made so much sense."
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver, who will partner with Panini for the rest of the 2024 season, said that Clark was at the top of his list for athletes to be featured on his car.
"I don't have anybody specifically picked out," Berry said when asked who else he would want to partner with. "I think Caitlin would have been somebody for sure to have. So we're starting out strong, without a doubt, having her on board."
Berry is an unorthodox NASCAR rookie -- he's 33 years old after years of competing in lower series before finally getting his shot in 2024. The Tennessee native has made the most of it, despite the fact that his team is closing down at the end of this season. Berry has two top-fives and four top-10s in 21 starts while leading the Rookie of the Year battle, similar to what Clark is doing in the WNBA.
Now heading to the famed Brickyard, Berry will turn his first laps at the iconic track when he arrives for practice on Friday.
"I'm super excited to be back on the oval and to get the opportunity to race Indianapolis," he said. "I think we've all grown up as as kids watching the Brickyard 400 and the Indianapolis 500. Going there and competing on the oval is going to be really special."
While this will be Berry's first time racing at the track, his crew chief Rodney Childers is a veteran. Childers was paired with the recently-retired Kevin Harvick, who won the last two Cup Series races held on the Indy oval in 2019 and 2020. Childers and the No. 4 team have gotten a taste of kissing the bricks, and they'll be motivated to do it again.
"It gives those guys a lot of confidence going back there for sure," Berry said. "No matter what kind of car you drive, whether it's Next Gen (Cup), Xfinity (Series), Truck (Series), whatever -- these tracks all have the same similarities regardless of the car that you're driving.
"So, I think when it comes to the preparation of the car that gives them a good knowledge and notebook of what you have to do well in Indianapolis to win. And I think that it's just going to take a little time to dial it in, right, once we get there. So, I know they're super excited to get there, and I feel good about what we've been doing over the last couple months. And you know, I think it's just going to be about getting me comfortable at the track and making the right adjustments for the race."
You can watch Berry and the No. 4 Panini/Caitlin Clark Ford in the 2024 Brickyard 400 on Sunday, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on the NBC Sports app.
