Allstate 400 at The Brickyard Race Preview

Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- 07/27/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Thursday Jul 24 2008 3:07am

How big is the Brickyard 400 to a NASCAR Cup series teamΔ

Consider these quotes from the following drivers regarding this Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard:

Ryan Newman (+4000): "Indianapolis is 'the' race track as far as history goes. It is truly an honor to get to race where so many incredible drivers have raced and won. The track is especially special to me because it is in my home state. I remember going there and watching races as a kid with my family and even watching the first open NASCAR test session there as a spectator."

Elliott Sadler: "Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a very special place to race. Everyone brings their A-game to the racetrack and tries just a little harder to get the win at Indy. In racing, there's Daytona and Indy. If you can win at one of those tracks, it really is something special.

Kasey Kahne (+650): "Winning at the Brickyard and the Daytona 500 are on the top of my list. I think it depends on what type of racing background you have which one is more important to you. For me coming up in the sprint car ranks, I raced in the Indianapolis area a lot and learned early on how significant winning at the Brickyard was. When you think about the drivers that have won at Indy throughout the years, it would mean a lot to be able to add my name to that list."

Clint Bowyer (+3300): "Racing at Indianapolis, with all the history and tradition and all the people that turn out, it’s something you can’t explain. It’s an experience beyond words. Anytime you have that many people in one place to watch you race it's about as cool as it gets. It’s unbelievable to think that you’re one of the 43 drivers they’ve come to watch. They may not like you, but the bottom line is that enormous crowd is there to watch the series that you’re a part of. That’s why you always want to run well at Indy."

Kyle Busch (+500): "It’s important. It’s a big race, that’s for sure. It’s probably one of the top three races that you would like to win in your career as a driver. If you look at it, you’ve got the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 and the Coke 600. Those are some of the biggest races of the year. They’re like the majors in golf or something like that. It's a special place to race at with the different traditions there."

And Indianapolis Motor Speedway is big in more ways than just history and prestige. It is the largest sports venue in the world in terms of seating capacity, with permanent seating for more than 257,000 people and additional seating that brings the total capacity to about 400,000.

The track itself is large in size for a NASCAR race, a 2.5-mile oval which includes two 5/8-mile straightaways, two 1/8-mile short straightaways, and four 1/4-mile turns. The banking is just 9 degrees in the turns and 0 degrees on the straights.

NASCAR has been racing at the Brickyard once a year since 1994, making 14 total races thus far. During
that time there have been seven race winners: Jeff Gordon (+1600) holds the record for Indy wins with four, most recently in 2004. Dale Jarrett (no longer competing) and Tony Stewart (+850) have two wins each, while Kevin Harvick (+2200), Jimmie Johnson (+750), Bobby Labonte, and Bill Elliott have one win a piece.

Chevy tops the manufacturer standings at Indy with 9 of 14 wins, including the five most recent races and seven of the last 10. The last time a Ford driver won here was in 1999 (Dale Jarrett), and Dodge's only victory was in 2002 (Bill Elliott).

Of course, Chevy's existing dominance at a number of tracks has been seriously challenged this season by the improved Toyota teams, most notably Kyle Busch's.

In terms of negotiating the track, a Jeff Burton (+2800) says, "Momentum is everything at Indy. It’s all about carrying speed through the middle of the corner so that you can be fast off the corner. Indy’s corners are different from any other track we race on. They’re shorter and there’s less corner. The track is perfectly smooth and you have to have really good grip to take advantage of that smoothness. If you are a little bit slow in the middle of the corner, it just carries that speed onto the exit of the corner. So, it’s very important to handle in all parts of the corners at Indy - you can’t just handle well getting in or getting off. It has to be good in all parts of the corners."

Echoing those sentiments is Clint Bowyer, who described the track as follows: "It’s a square. It’s so different than anywhere else we go. It’s completely flat. You haul the mail there. You’re flying in the corners. You go through the corners fast and they’re as flat as can be. You drive around there in a street car at 80 or 90 mph and you think, ‘I’m going to get in this corner going about 210 and there ain’t no way I’m going to make it.’ That’s exactly what I thought the first time I was there. But, you get through the corners and the track is fun and races well."

Among active drivers with more than one Indy start, Kyle Busch has the best average finish at 7.0. In three Brickyard races, Busch has finishes of 10th, 7th, and 4th.

Busch is closely followed in the average finish category by Tony Stewart, 7.6, and Kevin Harvick, 7.7. Harvick is the only winner to go pole to pole, while three previous winners have come from P3, the most of any starting spot.

Jeff Gordon, with 14 Indy starts and 4 wins, leads all drivers here in a number of categories, including top 5s (8), top 10s (11), poles (3), and laps led (433). Gordon's average finish is 8.9; last year, he finished 3rd.

Tony Stewart has won two of the last three Brickyard races - 2005 and 2007 - with Jimmie Johnson taking the checkers in 2006. In nine starts, Stewart has not finished lower than 17th.

Kevin Harvick also has an excellent record at Indy with only two finishes outside the top 10 and a win in seven starts.

Stewart has accumulated the most driver points at Indy including bonus points over the past five races. He's followed in that category by Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth (+1200), Kevin Harvick, and Mark Martin (+3000).

Those looking for a dark horse this Sunday might consider Martin, who earlier this week predicted a win for the No. 8 DEI Chevy at the Brickyard. Martin has four top 10s in his last five starts here and has run well on flat tracks this season.

Two more theories to consider. Some pundits claim that the winner of Pocono, in this case Kasey Kahne, is favored to win at Indy. Additionally, six of the past 14 Brickyard winners have gone on to win the Cup Championship that same year.

A number of possible Chase contenders will be striving to post their first win this weekend, including Jeff Gordon - at 6th in points, the highest ranking driver without a win - along with Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart.

Please check back for our practice and qualifying update before the race!