hearing that two time Cup Champ, Terry Labonte, will drive the #55 NAPA Toyota in the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis instead of owner and regular driver Michael Waltrip. Labonte drove the #55 at Infineon Raceway and is scheduled to run it at Watkins Glen. Labonte brings the past champions provisional to use and since he last won the championship in 1996, he would get the first shot to use it, if needed, over Bill Elliott in the #21 Wood Brothers Ford. Elliott last won the championship in 1988. #44-Dale Jarrett has used his allotment [6] of champions provisional's this year and cannot use any more [this doesn't count when qualifying is cancelled]. The #55 and #21 teams are both out of the Top-35 in owners pts and the guaranteed spot and have to qualify their way in the race.(7-17-2007)
__________________
2008 Daytona500 Champ
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Location
4790 W. 16th St.
Speedway, IN 46222
Book Travel
Weather
Partly Sunny 77°
Track Details
Completed : 1909
Distance : 2.5 miles
Shape : Oval
Banking : 9° turns
0° straights
Frontstretch : 3,330 feet
Backstretch : 3,330 feet
Seating : 250,000+
Contact Info
4790 W. 16th Street
Speedway, IN 46222
(317) 481-8500
Official Web site
Tailgating
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is located on the west side of the city, just minutes from the airport. At Indy, it is all about history, and every fan has Indy on their to-do list for that reason.
more
Cup Historical Race Winners
Track Records
RACE RECORDS
Nextel Cup Race Record :: Bobby Labonte 155.912 - 08/05/00
Cup Historical Race Winners
QUALIFYING RECORDS
Nextel Cup Qualifying Record :: Tony Stewart 182.960 - 2002
Track History
Built in 1909 as an automobile proving ground, the speedway was built as a 2.5-mile rectangle by its four founders because that was the largest track that could be constructed on the land available. The first event was a hot-air balloon race, followed by three days of racing in August 1909.
more
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Brickyard May Forecast Next Champion
By MONTE DUTTON,AOL
Posted: 2007-07-23 13:42:19
Filed Under: NASCAR
Sports Commentary
Inexplicably, Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been the one NASCAR track where success has most reliably transferred into championships.
Six times the winner at the Brickyard has gone on to win the championship in the same year. It once happened four times in a row, 1998-2001, and the last two Nextel Cup champions, Tony Stewart in 2005 and Jimmie Johnson last year, have done so after winning the Allstate 400.
Is it a coincidence? Well, in one way, sure. There isn't anything about Indy that should logically predict a championship other than the simple fact that it's one of the season's more prestigious races and teams naturally tend to put a lot of effort into winning there. Great teams win races they target, and they also tend to win championships.
In NASCAR terms, however, the Daytona 500 is alone at the top, and yet, during the same period in which Cup races have been hosted by Indy, the winner of the 500 has gone on to win the championship only twice. Last year Jimmie Johnson became the only driver ever to win the 500, the Brickyard and the championship in the same season.
Indy is a unique track, one that is hardly suited to stock cars. It would stand to reason that winning at one of the so-called intermediate tracks -- Charlotte, Texas, Michigan, Atlanta, et al. -- would be a more likely predictor of a championship. It just isn't true, though. Oddly enough, the closest track to Indy is Watkins Glen, where the winner has gone to win the title five times, three times by Jeff Gordon and twice by Tony Stewart.
No one really knows why winning Indy and the championship have coincided 46.2 percent of the time.
"I think it's a coincidence," said Gordon, who has won Indy four times and the championship an equal number, though only twice in the same year. "I think that winning or losing the Brickyard doesn't mean you're going to win or lose championships. I think the strong teams do well at the Brickyard ... but that doesn't guarantee anything.
"It takes the best team overall to win there. That's the common denominator."
Johnson echoed his Hendrick Motorsports teammate: "The top teams are the winning teams at that track, and then that carries over to the championship."
Never mind that Indy is a fairly rotten place for a stock-car race. It's narrow and flat. Because of the yawning grandstands, many of which are situated on the inside of the track, fans can't see all the way around, which is uncommon in NASCAR other than at the two road courses.
"One of the cold, hard facts is that it's a narrow race track," Johnson pointed out, "and you can't run side-by-side on that race track."
Indy is, however, hard, and the fact that it isn't suited to stock cars makes it a fine test of driving ability. Champions naturally tend to do well there. It doesn't have to be a great race to be a great story.
Kevin Harvick is a former Brickyard winner, in 2003, and finished third last year. Unlike Gordon and Stewart, he's a stock-car lifer, but that doesn't mean the lore of Indy doesn't appeal to him. Harvick is from Bakersfield, Calif., which also produced four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears.
"I grew up a huge Rick Mears fan and always wanted to race at the Indy 500, so winning at Indy for me was pretty special, and every time we go there, it's just the history and the mystique of the whole race track," he said. "You got the old grandstands, and just everything about Indy is just really neat, knowing the history of everything that's gone on."
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
ENTRY LIST
Allstate 400 at the Brickyard | Indianapolis Motor Speedway
July 29, 2007 | Race 20 of 36
CAR DRIVER HOMETOWN MAKE SPONSOR OWNER
00 David Reutimann* Zephyrhills, FL Toyota Burger King Calvin Wells, III
1 Martin Truex Jr. Mayetta, NJ Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops Teresa Earnhardt
01 Mark Martin Batesville, AR Chevrolet U.S. Army Bobby Ginn
2 Kurt Busch Las Vegas, NV Dodge Miller Lite Roger Penske
4 Ward Burton South Boston, VA Chevrolet State Water Heaters James Finch
5 Kyle Busch Las Vegas, NV Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's Rick Hendrick
6 David Ragan* Unadilla, GA Ford AAA Insurance Mike Dee
7 Robby Gordon Orange, CA Ford Jim Beam Robby Gordon
07 Clint Bowyer Emporia, KS Chevrolet Jack Daniel's Richard Childress
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kannapolis, NC Chevrolet Budweiser Teresa Earnhardt
9 Kasey Kahne Enumclaw, WA Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW Ray Evernham
10 Scott Riggs Bahama, NC Dodge Stanley Tools / Valvoline James Rocco
11 Denny Hamlin Chesterfield, VA Chevrolet FedEx Kinko's J D Gibbs
12 Ryan Newman South Bend, IN Dodge ALLTEL Roger Penske
13 TBA2 No Home Town Chevrolet TBA Jay Frye
14 Regan Smith Cato, NY Chevrolet TBA Bobby Ginn
15 Paul Menard* Eau Claire, WI Chevrolet Menards Teresa Earnhardt
16 Greg Biffle Vancouver, WA Ford Dish Network Jack Roush
17 Matt Kenseth Cambridge, WI Ford DEWALT John Henry
18 J.J. Yeley Phoenix, AZ Chevrolet Interstate Batteries Joe Gibbs
19 Elliott Sadler Emporia, VA Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW Ray Evernham
20 Tony Stewart Rushville, IN Chevrolet The Home Depot Joe Gibbs
21 Bill Elliott Dawsonville, GA Ford Little Debbie Glen Wood
22 Dave Blaney Hartford, OH Toyota Caterpillar Bill Davis
24 Jeff Gordon Pittsboro, IN Chevrolet DuPont Rick Hendrick
25 Casey Mears Bakersfield, CA Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC Mary Hendrick
26 Jamie McMurray Joplin, MO Ford Crown Royal Geoff Smith
29 Kevin Harvick Bakersfield, CA Chevrolet Reese's / Elvis Richard Childress
31 Jeff Burton South Boston, VA Chevrolet AT&T Mobility Richard Childress
33 Scott Wimmer Wausau, WI Chevrolet Holiday Inn Richard Childress
36 Jeremy Mayfield Owensboro, KY Toyota 360 OTC Gail Davis
37 Kevin Lepage Shelburne, VT Dodge TBA Bob Jenkins
38 David Gilliland Riverside, CA Ford M&M's Robert Yates
40 David Stremme South Bend, IN Dodge Target Felix Sabates
41 Reed Sorenson Peachtree City, GA Dodge Target / Maxwell House Chip Ganassi
42 Juan Montoya* Bogota, Colombia Dodge Texaco / Havoline Floyd Ganassi
43 Bobby Labonte Corpus Christi, TX Dodge Cheerios / Totinos Pizza Rolls Richard Petty
44 Dale Jarrett Hickory, NC Toyota UPS Michael Waltrip
45 Kyle Petty Randleman, NC Dodge Marathon Oil Kyle Petty
48 Jimmie Johnson El Cajon, CA Chevrolet Lowe's Jeff Gordon
49 Ken Schrader Fenton, MO Dodge Paralyzed Veterans of America Elizabeth Morgenthau
55 Terry Labonte Corpus Christi, TX Toyota NAPA Auto Parts Buffy Waltrip
66 Jeff Green Owensboro, KY Chevrolet Haas Automation Joe Custer
70 Johnny Sauter Necedah, WI Chevrolet Radioactive Energy Drink Joe Custer
78 Kenny Wallace St. Louis, MO Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing Barney Visser
83 Brian Vickers Thomasville, NC Toyota Red Bull Dietrich Mateschitz
84 A.J. Allmendinger* Los Gatos, CA Toyota Red Bull Dietrich Mateschitz
88 Ricky Rudd Chesapeake, VA Ford Snickers Robert Yates
96 Tony Raines La Porte, IN Chevrolet DLP HDTV Bill Saunders
99 Carl Edwards Columbia, MO Ford Office Depot Georgetta Roush
208 John Andretti Indianapolis, IN Chevrolet TBA John Carter
* Denotes Rookie
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Elvis, Reese's & Harvick at Indy: #29-Kevin Harvick is scheduled to run a
Elvis-themed #29 Chevy that will introduce Reese's Peanut Butter & Banana
Creme Cups featuring Elvis Presley and the Reese's "Live Like The King"
promotion. The Collector Edition Reese's include a thin layer of banana
creme, a flavor combination made famous by Elvis' love of peanut butter and
banana sandwiches. Look for an announcement at Indy on July 28th
Simpsons Scheme for Reutimann at Indy: David Reutimann will be carrying an
up and coming movie star on his #00 Burger King Toyota at the Brickyard this
week. On July 27, The Simpsons Movie will be released and Reutimann's Nextel
Cup Series entry for the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will
feature a customized Simpsons-themed paint scheme.(Michael Waltrip Racing
PR)(7-24-2007)
■ Ryan Newman’s future continues to be a question mark in the NASCAR garage, and it’s not clear if he will be back with car owner Roger Penske next season. If not, Newman could become a candidate for the fourth Richard Childress team.
■ In NASCAR's 13 races at the Brickyard, the 400 winner has gone on to win the Cup championship six times, including six of the past nine, including last year's winner, Jimmie Johnson.
■ Kyle Busch, though he said he’s felt estranged from his teammates at Rick Hendrick’s since Hendrick said he was replacing Busch with Dale Earnhardt Jr., should have good horsepower: “The configuration is so different that it truly is a driver’s track.
“Hendrick Motorsports puts a lot of emphasis on this race because you need so much motor to get down the long straights.
“Some guys put so much emphasis on this race it puts added pressure on you as a driver. If you can put that aside, you can race the track. Jeff Gordon has won four times, and it’s because he races the track; he’s been there at the end.”
■ Clint Bowyer has been one of the year’s big surprises, with crew chief Gil Martin at Richard Childress’ and it’s becoming even more surprising that Bowyer still hasn’t won. He was on the front row here last year and finished fourth, and says “that funnel of people” can be intimidating to a newcomer: “You can’t help but pay attention. They’re on both sides of you as far as you can see. And then you get all the way down into turn one and it looks like you’re going to run right into the grandstand because the corner is so tight.”
■ Matt Kenseth, Jack Roush’s most consistent runner this season and a flat-track winner at California, said Indianapolis “is definitely narrow and very difficult to run side by side. Yet it’s not difficult to pass. If your car is loose enough, you can do some passing.
“It’s actually a very challenging track, even when you’re by yourself, to get that little bit of extra speed.”
■ This will be Toyota's first NASCAR run at the Brickyard, and there's probably not much hope for an upset.
Dale Jarrett, who runs for hard-luck Michael Waltrip, has won here twice. Only Jeff Gordon has more wins here. “With four distinct corners, if you’re off just a little bit, it really magnifies because of the long straights,” Jarrett said.
Waltrip is again turning his own car over to semi-retired Terry Labonte, who can take advantage of NASCAR’s past-champion’s provisional to ensure the team a spot in the field. “It’s a lot easier to run well when you have a car that has a lot of horsepower,” Labonte said.”
That doesn’t bode well for the Toyota teams, which have struggled with engine power this season, particular on tracks that require a lot of torque up off the corners.
■ One driver who needs to do better the second of the season is Toyota's AJ Allmendinger, whose sparkling personality would be a plus in the NASCAR garage, if he were only around more often on Sundays.
Allmendinger, a former Indy-car driver, finds himself in an unexpected place - here in a stock car: “If someone asked me about racing a stock car at Indy, I would have said, ‘You’re crazy.’
“But I’ve quickly learned, especially with everything that happened to me last year, that you never know what you’re going to get in your career. I lived a pretty comfortable life … for three years. Then I found what racing is really like: You get fired and go to a new team, and you switch series.
“It’s a racing life, and one day to the next you never know what’s going to happen.”
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Celebrating an 18-year partnership and rich racing history together that includes a win (2000, Montoya-IRL) and a pole (2004, Mears-NNCS) at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates will be running two Target Dodges in the Brickyard 400. Reed Sorenson and the #41 crew will be sporting their usual paint scheme, while David Stremme and the #40 team will run the exact opposite color scheme.(CGRFS PR), see my #40 Team Schemes page for the Target scheme.(7-25-2007)
__________________
2008 Daytona500 Champ
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
New Co-Sponsor for Robby Gordon: This weekend’s Allstate 400 at the
Brickyard will mark the first appearance in 2007 for Johns Manville as the
co-primary sponsor of the #7 Menards Ford of Robby Gordon. Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of
premium-quality building and specialty products. In business since 1858, the
Denver-based company has annual sales of approximately $2.5 billion and
holds leadership positions in all of the key markets that it serves. Johns
Manville employs approximately 8,500 people and operates 43 manufacturing
facilities in North America, Europe and China. Jim Beam, Mapei, and Motorola
will serve as associates.(RGM)(7-27-2007)
The #08 Team announces "Front Row Joe" Nemechek will drive the #08
car at Indy in the Allstate 400 for John Carter and EM Motorsports this
weekend. Race Week Media is still searching for primary sponsorship for the
car, but are confident of success with all of the support Nemechek fans are
expressing. It was just over a week ago that it was announced the launch of
the #08 Team and the momentum has been remarkable. The cars were loaded into the hauler late Wednesday night in Toccoa, Georgia for the ride to
Indianapolis and are ready for Saturday's qualifying.(#08 Team
PR)(7-27-2007)
Linear Mode
