Indianapolis Motor Speedway - The Brickyard 400 (News & Notes)

[HacheMan]

The Brickyard 400
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves to the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. NASCAR Fantasy Cheat Sheet took a look at past performances, practice sessions, season trends, and spoke to team contacts to predict how the field will finish.


When: Sunday, July 25, 2010; 1:19 p.m./et.


Weather: Mostly sunny with a high around 82; wind out of the NNE at 6 mph Chance of precipitation 10%.


The Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Brickyard is a 2.5 mile oval with 9 degree banking in all of the turns.


Key to Race: THAT IS ONE BIG TRACK

Indy is arguably the most famous speedway in America. NASCAR drivers circle this race each year when the schedule comes out as they all are desperate to join the list of racing legends to take the checkers at the Brickyard. Following the 2008 tire debacle at the track Goodyear conducted seven tire tests, with 30 teams logging more 13,000 miles. The result of this hard work was a tire that held up much better in last year's race. With tires not expected to be an issue Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, and Jimmie Johnson are the drivers to watch in this weekend's race.


Qualifying Procedures:

47 cars will attempt to qualify for 43 spots. Cars not in the top 35 in the 2010 owner point standings will have to qualify based on speed. Starting positions 1-43 will be determined by qualifying on Saturday, July 24 at 10:00 am/et.


Fantasy Cheat Sheet:

Top Five

No. 14 Tony Stewart: Stewart has won two of the last five races at Indy. He loves this track more than any other driver in NASCAR and is anxious to get four-time Indy 500 champion A.J. Foyt's No. 14 another win on the Brickyard.
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: Johnson won the 2006, 2008 and 2009 races at Indy. He will battle Tony Stewart for the win.
No. 24 Jeff Gordon: Gordon has four wins in 16 races at Indy. He is a great option for Sunday's race.
No. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya: Montoya led the most laps at the Brickyard last year. He should be used in all leagues this weekend.
No. 29 Kevin Harvick: The Brickyard has been one of Harvick's best tracks. He has a win and six top 10 finishes in nine career starts at the track.


6 to 10

No. 11 Denny Hamlin: Hamlin has always had good cars at Pocono and Indy. He should be in the hunt to crack the top 10 this week.
No. 18 Kyle Busch: Rowdy has finished in the top 10 in all but two of his career starts at Indy. He will be fast again this weekend.
No. 5 Mark Martin: Martin has finished in the top 10 in 10 of his 16 career starts at Indy. He is a terrific option once again.
No. 99 Carl Edwards: Edwards has led just four laps in five career races at Indy, but he has finished in the top 20 in each of the races. He is a fine pick again this weekend.
No. 17 Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has finished in the top five in four of the last eight races at Indy. He is a good option.


11 to 20

No. 9 Kasey Kahne: Kahne has been either really, really good (7th, 7th, 2nd, and 4th) or really, really bad (40th and 36th) at Indy during his career. His inconsistency moves him just outside our top 10.
No. 16 Greg Biffle: Biffle has averaged a 15th place finish in his seven Indy starts. He is a much better driver than that and could easily match the top five finish he notched last year.
No. 33 Clint Bowyer: Bowyer was awesome at Indy in 2006 and finished 13th in 2007. He should finish in the top 15 again this weekend.
No. 20 Joey Logano: Logano finished 12th in last year's trip to the Brickyard. He should crack the top 15 on this visit to Indy.
No. 31 Jeff Burton: Burton has notched top 15 finishes in four of the last six Indy races. This could be a great weekend for the No. 31 team.
No. 43 A.J. Allmendinger: A.J. has cracked the top 20 in his two previous Cup starts at Indy. His open-wheel experience makes him a nice pick on this track.
No. 39 Ryan Newman: The Indiana native has struggled in three of his past six starts at Indy. He should be decent this weekend as he tries to get the No. 39 car another top 10 finish.
No. 1 Jamie McMurray: McMurray has three top 10 finishes in seven career starts at the Brickyard. This isn't a bad weekend to take a chance on the No. 1 car.
No. 00 David Reutimann: Reutimann experienced the first success of his career at Indy last season. He should be fast again this weekend.
No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior has disappointed at Indy during his career. In 10 career starts he has just two top 10 finishes.


21 to 30

No. 2 Kurt Busch: Busch has had lots of trouble at Indy during his career. This isn't the weekend to go with the Blue Deuce.
No. 83 Reed Sorenson: Sorenson has back-to-back top 20 finishes at Indy. He isn't a terrible option this weekend.
No. 12 Brad Keselowski: Keselowski continues to look like a rookie. Some weekends he is fast other weekends he struggles. We don't have too high of hopes for him in his first run at the Brickyard.
No. 98 Paul Menard: Menard has driven very well the past two months. He should be used in all deep leagues.
No. 82 Scott Speed: Speed has finished inside the top 30 the past nine races of this season. He should make it 10 after Sunday's race.
No. 56 Martin Truex Jr.: Truex has averaged a top 25 finish at Indy the past four years. He should finish right around that average on Sunday.
No. 47 Marcos Ambrose: Ambrose will do well to match last year's 22nd place finish at Indy.
No. 77 Sam Hornish Jr.: Hornish Jr. was terrible at Indy last year. He should be much faster at the track due to all the time he spent on it during his open-wheel career, but it hasn't panned out for him yet.
No. 7 Robby Gordon: Gordon loves Indy! He has two top 10 finishes in 10 career starts at the famous track. We like him to make the top 30 on Sunday.
No. 6 David Ragan: Ragan continues to one of the bigger disappointments of this season. He isn't much of a fantasy option this weekend.


31 to 35

No. 09 Bobby Labonte: Labonte has had decent success at Indy during his career, but we think he will be lucky to crack the top 30 in the No. 09 car on Sunday.
No. 19 Elliott Sadler: Sadler has been borderline pathetic during the last four races at Indy. Avoid him this week.
No. 32 Jacques Villeneuve: Yes that Jacques Villeneuve, the former Formula 1 points champion is attempting to run his third career Cup race. He is an interesting pick just due to his years of experience in a racecar.
No. 21 Bill Elliott: Elliott is back behind the wheel of the Wood Brother's No. 21. He will make the field and should crack the top 35.
No. 78 Regan Smith: Smith has never cracked the top 30 at the Brickyard. We don't think he will end his streak this weekend.


Field Fillers

No. 37 Travis Kvapil
No. 36 Casey Mears
No. 13 Max Papis
No. 71 TBA
No. 87 Joe Nemechek
No. 38 David Gilliland
No. 26 David Stremme
No. 55 Michael McDowell
No. 46 J.J. Yeley
No. 34 Kevin Conway
No. 64 Todd Bodine
No. 66 Dave Blaney


Brownie's Picks

Top Four:

1. Tony Stewart
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Juan Pablo Montoya

Sleepers:

1. Scott Speed
2. Jacques Villeneuve

Bust of the Week:

Kurt Busch

 

[HacheMan]

Indy: The Brickyard 400
Track history: Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a 2.5-mile semi-banked oval with 9-degree banking in all four turns. The lengths of the flat front and backstretches are 5/8-mile each and the short chutes are each a 1/8th-mile. The track is almost a perfect rectangle due to the confines of property that was available at the time. It was built as a test facility for the growing car industry and was paved with 3.2 million bricks in 1909. The Brickyard has hosted the Indianapolis 500 since 1911. When the track began to get worn around 1935, asphalt was applied to the rougher areas. By 1941, the main straightaway was the only bricked portion remaining. In 1961, except for the "yard of bricks" at the start/finish line, the entire track was blacktop. When NASCAR announced it was coming to Indy over a million fans applied for the 300,000 tickets to the inaugural event.

First Brickyard 400: The first 400-mile NASCAR Cup race at the Brickyard was held on August 6, 1994. Rick Mast qualified on the pole with a lap of 172.414 mph in the No. 1 Skoal Racing Ford. Jeff Gordon drove the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet from 3rd in the lineup to the win with a race speed of 131.977 mph. It was the first of four Indy Cup wins for Gordon.

2008 "Competition Caution 14" at The Brickyard: The July 27, 2008 Allstate 400 at The Brickyard was a tire problem fiasco. Due to tire issues, NASCAR called "competition cautions" almost every ten laps. The longest green flag run was 14 laps. Several cars still had tire problems bringing out more yellow flags. There were a record 52 caution laps run in this 160 lap event. At the end of the day, Jimmie Johnson held off a charge from Carl Edwards to score his second Brickyard victory.

2009 Indy Cup race: With a 182.054 mph qualifying lap in the No. 5 Chevrolet, Mark Martin scored the pole for the July 26, 2009 Allstate 400 At The Brickyard. He led 14 laps and finished 2nd. The story of the race was Juan Pablo Montoya whose No. 42 Chevrolet shared the front row with Martin at the green flag. Montoya led all but 10 of the first 126 laps. He was ahead of the field by as much as 5.5 seconds at one point. While still in the lead he got a pit road speeding penalty which dropped him out of the top 10. He managed an 11th place finish but lost his bid to be an Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 winner. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48) took over the show near the end holding off a challenge by Martin to score his 3rd IMS win. Johnson, the 2008 winner, became the first driver to win consecutive races at The Brickyard.

Your fantasy game won't allow you to pick all track favorites so Mid-Pack Attack is here to help. A mid-packer may not win the race but has as good a shot at a top 15 finish as track favorites Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Tony Stewart. There were 47 cars on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Cup race. Here are our picks for Sunday's Brickyard 400 in Speedway, Indiana.

Mid-Pack picks

In 2007, Juan Pablo Montoya became the first driver to compete in all three major events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; the Indianapolis 500, the United States Grand Prix and the Brickyard 400. Besides his win in the Indy 500, Montoya, making his first trip around IMS in a stock car, started on the outside pole, ran in the top 15 for the entire 160-lap event before bringing home a second-place finish. In 2008, Montoya was one of several drivers caught up in the tire fiasco (wrecked; credited with a 39th). As noted above in the 2009 race, Montoya was the story of that race. We're sure he'll be looking at his tachometer a lot closer this weekend when he enters pit road.

AJ Allmendinger was one of the drivers who avoided the 2008 mayhem and kept his car running on all four tires. It was only his first start at Indianapolis, but he drove from 26th at the green to a 10th place finish. He spent 130 of the 160-lap race running in the top 15 including four laps led. He finished 20th in the 2009 edition of the 400. Allmendinger has scored top 15's in 7 of the last 8 Cup races this season and that's where we think he'll be at the end on Sunday.

As a 21-year-old in 2007, Reed Sorenson broke a 72 year-old record by becoming the youngest driver to win a pole for a major race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He led 16 laps and finished 5th. He backed up that performance with a 17th place in 2008 and a 13th in last year's event. In those three starts, he scored the 7th-most championship points of all drivers on this week's entry list. This is another track where we're looking at Brian Vickers' fill-in to do well.

Jamie McMurray had Indy finishes of 3rd, 7th and 17th while driving for Chip Ganassi. At Roush Racing, he had one top 10 in four starts. Now he's back with Ganassi (Earnhardt-Ganassi) and doing very well this season. He's already given Ganassi the 2010 Daytona 500 win. Dario Franchitti scored the Indianapolis 500 for him in May. That makes three Indy 500 trophies but no NASCAR wins for Chip at the Brickyard. Now, McMurray (or teammate Montoya), is in a position to add the third jewel to Ganassi's 2010 Triple Crown. You know McMurray won't be holding back this weekend.