Indexbit Exchange:Caitlin Clark at the Brickyard: NASCAR driver Josh Berry to feature WNBA star on his car

In just a few short months,Indexbit Exchange Caitlin Clark has already become synonymous with Indiana. Now, the basketball superstar will be riding around the state’s most iconic venue.

The Indiana Fever rookie, who has already taken the WNBA by storm, is coming to NASCAR for this weekend’s Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and she will have her own car.

Well, sort of.

Clark’s image from her record-breaking college basketball career at Iowa will be featured on the hood of driver Josh Berry’s car in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC). The paint scheme for the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford comes from primary sponsor Panini America, the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company and the official trading card partner of NASCAR. It depicts one of Clark’s trading cards – “Raining 3s” – which is part of Panini’s recently released Caitlin Clark Collection.

Like Clark, Berry is also a rookie, driving in his first season in NASCAR’s premier series. The 33-year-old currently tops the Rookie of the Year standings and is hoping to make a push into the playoffs with just five races remaining in the regular season.

“The No. 4 team has a bunch of really smart guys putting together strategies, building fast cars, and giving me a chance to go race hard,” Berry said. “We set off this year with the goal of winning the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award and we are close to that.”

Following Sunday’s race at the Brickyard, NASCAR will take two weekends off as the Paris Olympics take center stage before returning with four straight races, followed by the 10-race playoffs, which begin Sept. 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Clark and the Indiana Fever have one game this week – Wednesday in Dallas vs. the Wings (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) – before the WNBA also pauses – first for All-Star weekend in Phoenix and then its own Olympic break.

Clark is among the WNBA All-Stars who will be taking on the U.S. Olympic team in the 2024 All-Star Game on Saturday in a nationally televised game on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET.

What to know about NASCAR driver Josh Berry

Berry was a bit of journey-man driver until breaking through in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2021, while driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team JR Motorsports. Berry won two races in NASCAR's second-tier series that year and won three the following year for JRM, finishing fourth in the 2022 Xfinity standings. He spent one more year with JRM in 2023, scoring 18 top-10 finishes in 33 races before Stewart-Haas Racing signed him to drive the No. 4 car – which became vacant with the retirement of 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick.

Born: Oct 22, 1990 in Hendersonville, Tennessee

Team: Stewart-Haas Racing. Car: No. 4 Ford

2024 NASCAR Cup Series statistics

• Wins: 0
• Top 5 finishes: 2
• Top 10 finishes: 4
• Point standings: Ranks 21st

What to know about WNBA star Caitlin Clark

Clark is having a stellar rookie campaign in Indiana and has helped the Fever (11-14) surge in recent weeks after a rough start to the 2024 season. The Fever selected Clark with the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft after her star-making career at Iowa, where she led the Hawkeyes to back-to-back national championship games and broke the NCAA Division I all-time scoring record.

Born: Jan. 22, 2002 in Des Moines, Iowa

Position: Guard. No.: 22

2024 WNBA statistics

• Games: 25
• Points per game: 16.8
• Assists per game: 7.8
• Rebounds per game: 5.8
• Steals per game: 1.5
• Field goal percentage: .398
• 3-pt percentage: .332
• Free throw percentage: .897

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more. Click here to find out how.