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  • Power puts on clinic in Indy Grand Prix

    Power puts on clinic in Indy Grand Prix

    INDIANAPOLIS — The exhausted, relieved look on Will Power’s face told the story. After spinning out/wrecking in three of four races this season, he won in strong fashion.

    INDIANAPOLIS – May 12: Simon Pagenaud spins toward the gravel trap during the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Photo: Dana Garrett/IndyCar Photography

    Power led the field to green at 3:48 p.m. Caution flew for the first time for a two-car wreck in Turn 2, involving Jordan King, Simon Pagenaud and Spencer Pigot.

    Back to green on Lap 4, the race settled into a single-file train, snaking through the 13-turn road course. It was broken up by a cycle of green flag stops, on Lap 14. Power pitted from the lead on Lap 20, handing it to Sebastian Bourdais. He pitted the following lap, gave the lead to Josef Newgarden, who pitted on Lap 23 and handed the lead to Alexander Rossi. After he pitted on Lap 24, Kyle Kaiser took over the lead, before pitting on Lap 26 and the lead cycled to Robert Wickens.

    The process repeated on Lap 41, when Wickens pitted. The lead went to Power and then to Graham Rahal, tying the race record for lead changes with seven. Rahal pitted and the lead cycled back to Wickens on Lap 47, setting a new record for lead changes in the race.

    Power drafted him down the frontstretch and passed him on the outside, going into Turn 1, to retake the lead with 35 laps to go.

    INDIANAPOLIS – May 12: Josef Newgarden spins in Turn 12 during the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — Photo: Mike Young/IndyCar Photography

    Josef Newgarden hopped the curb in Turn 12 and spun, bringing out the second caution with 30 to go.

    The race went back to green with 24 to go. After starting 18th, Scott Dixon dove under Wickens on the frontstretch to take second, with 22 to go. But Power put distance on him and scored his 31st career victory in his 161 career Verizon IndyCar Series starts.

    “Yeah, I mean, it started with him (Wickens) using reds in that second stint and I was on blacks and trying to hold him behind, and he went to go pass, there was about — it was about not letting too much damage be done, so I maintained it, got it to five seconds basically, and was able to do a very quick in lap, and by the time I got out behind him, it was only a three-second gap, and obviously he was on blacks and I was on reds, so I returned the favor and really caught him and was — had a good race with him down to Turn 1,” Power said.

    “Once I got past him, it was pretty straightforward because we were much quicker because we were on the reds, and yeah, yeah, and then it went yellow, which made for a very difficult last stint, having to save a lot of fuel, and keeping a gap from Dixon so he wouldn’t use his Push-to-Pass and attack me. Yeah, drove very hard. Yeah, so many things thrown at us today, but we came out with the win.”

    It was the 200th career series victory for Team Penske.

    Dixon drove from 18th to a runner-up finish, his 94th career podium.

    “Yeah, it was definitely a rough weekend,” Dixon said. “The heat really seemed to affect our car a lot, especially in practice 2 and then into qualifying, and we threw a big change at it for qualifying, which is probably not the smartest thing to do, and obviously that got us pretty good.

    “But yeah, to qualify 18th, I think that’s probably the worst qualifying I’ve ever had on — going for it with a legit not crashing or spinning off. Definitely a frustrating start, but this morning we found quite a bit, I feel like, in the warmup, and then we kind of compromised between what we had found throughout the weekend.

    “Big kudos to the team. Everybody on the PNC Bank team did a fantastic job. The pit stops were amazing. In that first stint, I think we were running almost two seconds a lap faster than the rest of the field in the mid 70s for that, and that’s where it made that big jump, and then later on in that segment, too, we were able to pass a few more just on outright speed.

    “Happy with today. 18th to second, obviously we come here to win, but congratulations to Will, and obviously Penske’s 200th IndyCar win is definitely a big milestone, and it was good to see him get it.”

    Wickens rounded out the podium.

    “…that was the first race where I kind of felt like a true rookie there in that final stint because I’ve never had to save fuel before,” Wickens said. “We’ve kind of practiced it a little bit in warmup where you do like one lap of fuel save. But the amount of fuel that we were having to save to make that work was something that I didn’t even think was possible.

    “It was tough, and obviously running in P2, I was told the number I needed to achieve, and then I was just like, okay, well, Scott is on Push-to-Pass, so I don’t know if I should use it to keep him behind or if I should hit my number, and we were actually having an issue with my Push-to-Pass all day, so it wasn’t quite working to the best that it could. No, it was a tough day, an exhausting afternoon, but really happy to finish on the podium.”

    Bourdais and Rossi rounded out the Top-five.

    Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, Pagenaud, Rahal and Takumo Sato rounded out the Top-10.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 49 minutes and 46 seconds, at an average speed of 113.318 mph. There were nine lead changes among seven different drivers, and two cautions for eight laps. Dixon posted the fastest lap of the race on Lap 15, at 70.569 and 124.423 mph.

    Newgarden, who finished 11th, leaves with a two-point lead over Rossi.

  • Conor Daly to pilot Roush XFINITY car at Road America

    Conor Daly to pilot Roush XFINITY car at Road America

    INDIANAPOLIS — Depart from your seat in front of the podium in the deadline room at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, take a right turn past the wall with four clocks and blue sound-proofing fabric, exit through the first door down the hall, go down four flights of stairs until you reach the ground, go straight for about 50 feet, and around the corner are two cars covered with tarps. Wait a few minutes and both Verizon IndyCar Series driver Conor Daly and NASCAR XFINITY Grand National Series driver Ryan Reed will uncover the cars to reveal a Lilly Diabetes-sponsored No. 17 Dale Coyne Racing Honda and a Lilly-Diabetes-sponsored Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang that Daly will drive at Road America.

    Okay it didn’t play out like a scavenger hunt, but Daly did announce that he would pilot the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford in the NASCAR XFINITY Grand National Series Johnsonville 180 at Road America, as a teammate to Reed, currently driving the No. 16 Ford, fielded by Roush.

    “Yeah, it’s obviously really cool to be a part of this team, first of all, with us in the Indy 500 this year. We got to work together in 2016, which I thought was a really cool first step into a relationship, and it was a late deal. We got it done after qualifying, but now we’ve got this whole month of May to work with it and kind of just grow together as a team, and then obviously I’m going to go into the NASCAR realm of life, so I’m excited for that,” Daly said.

    “Obviously Ryan (Reed) and the Roush Fenway guys have done an incredible job in the five-year program that they’ve had, winning races, being competitive all the time, so it’s cool to be able to take that first step into that side of the racing world but also with a very strong organization. I’m obviously super excited not only to be here at Indy again and to continue to just strengthen our program for this month of May, but also to have something else to do in the next couple months. So that’ll be really exciting, and I just can’t wait. It’s an incredible opportunity, and I’m just obviously really thankful for it because this has been an interesting last few months, and to have now this opportunity come about, I think it’s going to be really exciting to kind of grow with the NASCAR fan base and maybe combine them a little bit, IndyCar/NASCAR world. We’re all racing cars, so I think everybody loves that in general, so I’m excited to go check it out.”

    Why did Daly choose to run Road America?

    “Well, I think we sort of just looked at all the road course races, and obviously we had to work with Roush and what worked best for them,” he said. “Road America certainly fit me. I mean, I won there in Skip Barber, won there in Pro Mazda, had a great race going there in 2016 in the IndyCar before we had a suspension failure, and I love that place. It’s an incredible track, incredible environment. The Midwest is so — they love racing, so it worked well for everyone, I think, and that’s how it all came about.”

    While Daly’s day job is racing for Dale Coyne Racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series, rumors of him running an XFINITY Grand National Series race had circulated for months, with him possibly racing for Roush or JR Motorsports. And what made him want to do it?

    “I mean, I’m a racing driver, and growing up, when you look back at sort of what I did from like, I guess, 2012 to 2015, I almost drove every single car you could drive except for a NASCAR, and I drove sports cars, I drove tin tops, I drove all kinds of different things, and as a driver, I think you’re always driven to want more and want to try more, and I think if you ask a lot of us here in this paddock in IndyCar, there’s a lot of guys who want to get out there at Road America, mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, stuff like that, because it is a very entertaining product,” he said. “They’re really good drivers, the series is really competitive, and it just looks like a really good racing environment, like a good, proper race. We have an incredible product in the IndyCar Series, obviously, but so do they, certainly, on the road course side. So I was just excited to have that opportunity. I mean, road courses are my cup of tea, and that’s what I’d love to at least check out first before anything else.”

    Before that, however, he’ll pilot the No. 17 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, carrying Lilly Diabetes as primary sponsor, for the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500, which will be his first start in the 2018 IndyCar Series season.

  • Carnage envelops closing laps at Indianapolis

    Carnage envelops closing laps at Indianapolis

    One multi-car wreck after another sent the Indianapolis Motor Speedway into overtime and ended the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 under caution.

    The first one started with 11 laps to go. Clint Bowyer got loose exiting Turn 4, came down across the nose of Erik Jones, slammed head-on into the inside wall, pounded it again with the passenger side of his car. The recoil from the second hit bounced him back onto the racing groove and into the path of teammate Kurt Busch, who slammed into the left-rear corner of his car. His car went spinning around uncontrollably three and a half times before coming to a halt on the front stretch.

    After hitting his teammate, Busch’s car turned up and slammed the outside wall. It came to a halt down the front stretch.

    Jones overcorrected from turning down track and spun towards the wall briefly, before being clipped in the rear by the right-front of Jamie McMurray, sending him into the wall.

    “They (Paul Menard and another car) got together in front of us and parked and just kind of forced all of us to make an evasive move and I was already hung out a little bit loose, and I knew the 77 had a run, but I was gonna smoke the back of them or try to hope that something happened and something happened alright,” Bowyer said.

    “Cars were spinning in front of me,” Busch said. “Bowyer went left, the 77 (Jones) was going right. I tried to shoot the middle and Bowyer ricocheted back up onto the track. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

    Wrecks from Kyle Larson and Jimmie Johnson sent the race into overtime.

    On the first overtime attempt, Trevor Bayne was getting a shove from Michael McDowell when he got turned up into the drivers-side of Denny Hamlin, turned back down and rammed McDowell into the wall, triggering another multi-car wreck.

    Austin Dillon swerved to avoid Bayne, but put himself into the inside wall, and was further pinned by the wrecked car of Bayne. Ryan Blaney got turned up into the wall by Gray Gaulding.

    “On the restart it stacked up and my wheels were in the air,” Bayne said. “I really had no control in either direction and I finally got turned. I’ve never been so disappointed in my entire racing career. Every week we give it our all and do everything we can through God’s Glory and trust him with the results, whether it’s good or bad. Sometimes you don’t really understand and it hurts because you want to win races and want to run good and make the most of every opportunity for everybody – for AdvoCare and all the people who work hard. It’s really disappointing.”

    “Everybody got bunched up there,” Dillon said. “The No. 6 car got hooked to us and that got me a little bit frustrated because I was forced to get out of the car and I thought it was still able to at least roll. We could have finished the race. But, it’s over. I saw a lot of blocking and drivers trying to win one of the biggest races. It’s the Brickyard 400. Everybody wants it. Hopefully it’s good for the fans to see the aggression out of all of the drivers. We all want it really bad. I wanted it really bad for everyone at Dow and for Molykote.”

    The final multi-car wreck came on what wound up being the final overtime attempt of the race. Heading down the backstretch, Hamlin suffered a left-front tire failure and turned up towards the outside wall. He veered into the path of Paul Menard, who t-boned his right-rear corner. Ty Dillon got hooked by Menard and hit the outside wall.

    Hamlin leaves fifth in points, McMurray leaves seventh, Bowyer leaves 11th, Blaney leaves 12th, Busch leaves 14th, Jones leaves 17th, Bayne leaves 19th, Austin Dillon leaves 21st, Menard leaves 23rd and Ty Dillon leaves 24th.

  • The White Zone: Overtime in NASCAR is a joke

    The White Zone: Overtime in NASCAR is a joke

    All NASCAR had to do was follow their own rule on the overtime line as was written during the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway earlier this month and again during yesterday’s Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and all of this would’ve been avoided.

    But instead, their inconsistent officiating on this matter resulted in two fustercluck finishes in the span of a month!

    This has to end NASCAR.

    If you missed the end of yesterday’s race, what happened was Denny Hamlin spun out and turned into the wall past the exit of Turn 2, probably a result of his left-rear tire rub from contact on the restart. It triggered a three-car wreck that also collected Paul Menard and Ty Dillon.

    Now here’s where the controversy comes into play. When the calamity ensued, Kahne was still a good distance away from the overtime line. As you can see from this screenshot.

     

    Even though this shot is a few seconds after the initial wreck, it’s still obvious that Kahne was a decent distance away from the overtime line when it occurred.

    But rather than throw the caution, cleanup and try again, or more like end the race via darkness (which I’ll touch on in a few minutes), NASCAR held the caution until Kahne crossed the line.

    Unlike the XFINITY race at Daytona earlier this month, where you could argue they didn’t throw the yellow flag in time (although I find that hard to believe), there was no attempt to mask the blatant disregard for their own overtime rule.

    And when I say NASCAR purposefully held the caution, that’s not me looking too deeply at something that isn’t there. That’s practically what NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said to Motorsport.com after yesterday’s race, when asked if having a quick caution trigger before the leader reaches the overtime line would make more sense, especially if the goal is to end the race under green.

    “No, it wouldn’t, because again, like we’ve said, we want to make the attempt. But we want to do that under the regular regulations of how we call (the race),” O’Donnell said. “So, we look at that as our last attempt. We look at each (overtime) as our last attempt. If it can play out, it can play out.”

    He basically just admitted that NASCAR decided against throwing the caution immediately, even though Kahne was a ways away from reaching the line the moment it happened.

    There’s a problem with this line of thinking, as Jim Utter of Motorsport.com best puts it.

    “If the object is to allow the race to play out to its natural conclusion, then why have the OT rule (or any other similar scheme) in the first place?”

    I’ll also expand on his point. If NASCAR wants run overtime under “regular regulations,” why would you hold the yellow at this point when you wouldn’t do that at any other point in the race?

    And why did they holster the yellow? Because the sunlight was running out, and they believed they wouldn’t have gotten the track cleaned up in time.

    “It would have been (too dark),’’ O’Donnell said. “If we would have red-flagged the race, we would have never got it back in. There was clearly oil on the race track.’’

    Disregarding the fact that NASCAR essentially shortened the race because of darkness anyway, why does that matter? The fact that there was waning sunlight shouldn’t factor into this at all. The race leader hadn’t reached the overtime line when the wreck happened! The caution should’ve flown before then.

    NASCAR, either run the race to its scheduled conclusion, and no further, or go the ARCA route and do as many restarts attempts as needed to ensure a green flag finish. This overtime line approach of doing restarts is causing more trouble than it’s worth.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • Kahne Survives Multiple Late Restarts to Win at Indianapolis

    Kahne Survives Multiple Late Restarts to Win at Indianapolis

    Kasey Kahne made a late green flag stop at the right time and survived a myriad of restarts as the sunlight waned to end a long winless drought with victory at The Brickyard.

    He pitted from third with 11 laps to go just as a multi-car wreck involving Clint Bowyer, Erik Jones and Kurt Busch occurred on the front stretch. This timely stop proved vital as he opted to stay out when Brad Keselowski and the others elected to pit and assumed the race lead.

    He held off Keselowski’s charge into Turn 1 before the caution flew for Kyle Larson bouncing into the outside wall on the front stretch.

    On the following restart with two to go in regulation time, Kahne and Keselowski were side-by-side all the way from the start/finish line through Turn 3. This time, Jimmie Johnson threw his hat into the mix, making the two-wide battle three-wide entering Turn 3. This, predictably, caused him on the inside to spin out and slam the wall, sending the race into overtime.

    The first overtime attempt didn’t make it to the start/finish line before calamity erupted into another multi-car wreck on the front stretch. Keselowski was declared the race leader.

    The field was lined up and sent racing again. This time, Kahne shot ahead of Keselowski going into Turn 1. Exiting Turn 2, another multi-car wreck broke out well prior to the overtime line, but NASCAR chose to hold it, ending the race under caution and ending Kahne’s 102-race winless streak.

    “The career is big, for sure; but the win and the history here. To win at this track is unreal,” Kahne said in victory lane. “We used to always be really close. We lost to Jeff (Gordon) and we lost to Tony (Stewart); just some fast cars back then. Today’s strategy got us here. This Farmers Insurance Chevrolet was great once I got out front. I just had to get there. I’m exhausted. But, an unbelievable win. The team just kept working. We had great pit stops. Farmers Insurance, Great Clips, and Chevrolet have been huge to us. To win at Indy is unbelievable. I wish my son, Tanner, was here.”

    It’s his 18th victory in 448 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts.

    Keselowski came home second and Ryan Newman rounded out the podium.

    “We had a good, solid day,” Keselowski said. “Anytime that you’re that close (to winning) you can certainly taste it. I had a taste of it in my mouth, I didn’t get to eat it.”

    “Just a lot of adrenaline going through the gearbox I guess. Just guys running over each other,” Newman said. “Good run for the Velveeta Chevrolet. I’ve got to thank them for jumping on board. We were close. We didn’t have the best race car, we had a good long run car, but we were horrible on restarts and that is what we needed there at the end.”

    Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five.

    Kevin Harvick, Daniel Suarez, Matt DiBenedetto, Chris Buescher and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-10.

    “A top 10 in the Daytona 500 and a top 10 in the Brickyard 400 finishing eighth today. It’s crazy. It was a crazy day,” DiBenedetto said after an eighth-place finish. “It’s pretty unreal what we’ve been able to accomplish this year. I’m so proud. It’s not all me. My team are the ones that deserve the credit and I’m more happy for them than myself. I’ve worked so dang hard the old-school way to get here, countless late nights for these guys working, many sleepless nights in my career thinking it was over about 30 to 40 times and that’s not even an exaggeration, and to have these kinds of races this year is just unbelievable. It’s been fun.”

    RACE SUMMARY

    Kyle Busch led the field to the green flag at 2:46 p.m. He led every lap of the first stage on his way to winning it.

    The lead first changed under the fifth caution of the day, related to debris from JJ Yeley’s car, after Jones opted not to pit. He held it until the Lap 81 restart when Ryan Blaney took it going into Turn 1. Busch returned to the front on Lap 87 and won the second stage. Martin Truex Jr. exited pit road ahead of Busch under the stage break.

    Restarting on the inside and Busch on the outside on Lap 111, after another restart that ended in a wreck in Turn 2 two laps later, Truex got loose in Turn 1, then shot up and sent Busch into the outside wall. The side-force from Busch passing him on the outside spun him out, into the wall.

    Matt Kenseth inherited the race lead as it went back green with 40 laps to go. He pitted from the lead with 28 to go, as did Jones a lap later, handing it to Keselowski.

    In the closing laps, he, Johnson and Kahne didn’t have the fuel to stretch it to the end, while Trevor Bayne in fourth probably did.

    That strategy went out the window, however, with the multi-car wreck on the front stretch with 11 to go, setting up the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMARY

    The caution flew for the first time on Lap 10 for Corey LaJoie spinning out in Turn 3. A caution flew for the second time on Lap 31 for a scheduled competition caution. The fourth caution flew on Lap 58 when JJ Yeley spun exiting Turn 1, triggering a three-car wreck in Turn 1. Another caution flew for the sixth time on Lap 76 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. blew up exiting Turn 2. Caution eight flew on Lap 108 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got loose exiting Turn 2, spun down the track and slammed the inside wall head-on.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours and 39 minutes at an average speed of 114.384 mph. There were 10 lead changes among seven different drivers and 14 cautions for 55 laps.

    Truex leaves with a 48-point lead over Larson.

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  • The White Zone: NASCAR May Have Validated its Presence at Indianapolis

    The White Zone: NASCAR May Have Validated its Presence at Indianapolis

    When NASCAR announced they would be implementing a new convoluted package at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year, a package that included restrictor plates and aero ducts near the grille area, I was incredibly skeptical that it would work. And honestly, why shouldn’t I be? I’ve heard this story from NASCAR before, that what they’re trying will “enhance” the racing, only for it to royally bomb. This came across as just another attempt by the sanctioning body to save a race weekend at a track that never was and never will be suited for stock car racing.

    But then race day arrived, we saw the results firsthand and Saturday’s XFINITY Series Lilly Diabetes 250 was phenomenally serviceable.

    While in the past, the lead car had a greater aero advantage and could simply pull away from the cars behind, the trailing cars this time around could reel in the lead cars.

    Well, that’s all fine and dandy for cars down through the running order, but what about getting to the lead car? I won’t say the leader didn’t still have an aero advantage, but it was much more negated than in any previous race at the Brickyard, be it XFINITY or the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

    The numbers show that there were 16 lead changes, a new track record in the XFINITY Series (it was previously nine lead changes). However, those numbers don’t tell you that 10 of those took place during pit cycles (green and/or yellow). So we’re left with six that occurred on-track during green flag racing, which, proportionally, is on the lower end of what I’d expect for a XFINITY Series race not held at Daytona or Talladega.

    Hence, this is why I say this race was “phenomenally serviceable.” It was better than anything I’ve seen previously at the Brickyard, but this package could still use some work, especially on long runs. If you didn’t get a great restart, passing was, while not impossible or even difficult, a little harder.

    That’s not just my view, that’s also the view of No. 22 Team Penske Ford driver Joey Logano.

    “The package was really interesting. You had to race really smart,” he said in his post-race press conference. “For us, we may not have had the fastest Discount Tire Ford, so I had good restart early in the race and was able to get some track position. Then our pit crew and everyone did a great job of maintaining that track position. You just had to be smart on restarts and knowing when to race guys and when to just keep momentum because if you started losing momentum you lost five or six spots. Being smart inside the car was key. I just wanted a faster car. That would have been key to do that to go up there and race with those guys.”

    Teammate Brad Keselowski was also asked if this package is the way to go for at Indianapolis.

    “Not the restrictor plate, but the air ducts are the way to go, for sure,” he said. “That was a huge gain and something I’ve been pushing on NASCAR for a while, so it’s good to see them do it and give it a shot over there.”

    Bottom line, this package could use some work, but it’s the direction in which to go for Indianapolis. While I still believe the XFINITY Series belongs at Indianapolis Raceway Park (or Lucas Oil Raceway or whatever name the track goes by now), at least the race it was replaced with is no longer an absolute joke. Also, whoever at NASCAR concocted this deserves a raise and/or promotion.

    That’s my view for what it’s worth.

  • Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position at the Brickyard

    Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position at the Brickyard

    Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow afternoon after winning the pole for the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will start first after posting a pole lap of 48.051 and a speed of 187.301 mph, half a second faster than Kevin Harvick at a speed of 186.332 mph.

    Jamie McMurray will start third with a time of 48.316 and a speed of 186.274 mph. Jimmie Johnson will start fourth with a time of 48.426 and a speed of 185.851 mph. Denny Hamlin will round out the top-five with a time of 48.434 and a speed of 185.820 mph.

    Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney will round out the top-10.

    Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round.

    BJ McLeod’s time was disallowed because, per Dustin Long of NBCSports.com, the driver/cooling naca duct was shut. He goes from 35th to 40th.

    The 40-car field is composed of 20 Chevrolet’s, 13 Ford’s and seven Toyota’s.

    No car failed to make the race.

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  • Earnhardt Receives Piece of Indy’s Scoring Pylon During Retirement Tour

    Earnhardt Receives Piece of Indy’s Scoring Pylon During Retirement Tour

    Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s farewell tour rolled into Speedway, Indiana this weekend and the gift he received from the Brickyard was a piece of the old scoring pylon.

    The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the latest in the line of tracks to present Earnhardt with a going-away gift for his final race at the track of the week. It started with naming a litter of service puppies after him at Sonoma Raceway, a painting documenting momentous races through his career at Daytona International Speedway and a jukebox that was donated in his name to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

    To commemorate his final race at the track, Doug Boles, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, presented as a gift a panel with the No. 8 from the old scoring pylon during his media availability earlier this afternoon.

    “I like stuff like that. We have a lot of old memorabilia and I’ve got a great spot for that one,” Earnhardt said. “This track, to me, has so much history beyond obviously the stock cars. It’s really interesting what this track has been through and how its survived recessions and wars and initially you know this is where all the guys were bringing their cars that they were building Louis Chevrolet and guys like that were coming here and racing and kind of created the auto industry at Indy. I have a lot of respect and admiration for this race track, for its history, for what it means to American motorsports and what it means to motorsports globally. It’s an honor to have an opportunity to ever race here. So, I appreciate that a lot.”

  • Jones Fastest in Final Practice at Indianapolis

    Jones Fastest in Final Practice at Indianapolis

    Erik Jones topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 48.425 and a speed of 185.854 mph. Kevin Harvick was second in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 48.433 and a speed of 185.824 mph. Ryan Blaney was third in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 48.435 and a speed of 185.816 mph. Jimmie Johnson was fourth in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 48.521 and a speed of 185.487 mph. Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 48.528 and a speed of 185.460 mph.

    Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-10.

    Johnson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 180.951 mph.

    First Practice Results

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  • Kyle Busch’s Career at the Brickyard

    Kyle Busch’s Career at the Brickyard

    While Kyle Busch has amassed a higher win total at three other tracks and has led more laps at 19, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is statistically his most consistent race track.

    In 12 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts, Busch has only finished outside the top-10 twice. He’s got five top-five’s, a pole and two wins to boot. His finishes average out to a ninth, only bested by his finishing averages at Kentucky Speedway and Richmond Raceway. He’s finished on the lead lap in 11 of those starts as well.

    With a top-10 percentage of 83.3, it’s surprising that it took him 11 years to win for the first time at Indianapolis. Leading 19 laps on three different occasions, he shot past Joey Logano on the overtime restart (green-white-checkered prior to 2016) to score the victory.

    Last season, he put on a showcase of dominance by sweeping both the XFINITY Series and Cup Series race from the pole. In the XFINITY race, he led all but one lap. The next day, he led 149 of 170 laps, joining Jimmie Johnson as the only back to back winners of the Brickyard 400.

    If he wins this weekend, he’d join Michael Schumacher as the only driver to win three straight races at Indianapolis.

    Despite his success, Busch couldn’t tell you why he’s so great at Indianapolis.

    “I just think the last few years we just really have been able to capitalize on what I’ve been feeling in the race car and to be able to work on it and fix it,” Busch said. “I feel like that’s probably the biggest thing is just there’s times when you’re at race tracks and you’re working on your car, working on your car, working on your car and it just seems to be doing the same thing over again. You just can’t find the niche that will fix it and I think that Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and myself, we were able to find that here a couple years ago and we’ve been able to answer all of our questions, so that’s certainly been the biggest thing, so I think we’re now coming here for three years in a row, three different aero packages with the Cup car and so it’s certainly going to be interested what transpires this year. But one of the most difficult paces about the race here at Indy is just the ability to pass and getting runs on guys and being able to make that move whether it’s off the corner of [Turns] 1, 2 3 or 4. You’ve just got to kind of pick and choose how you can get to a guy and make that moves and not get too tight, you know? There’s a balance of being able to turn through the corners here – they’re really, really flat – and still being able to accelerate with the horsepower we have out of the turns and down these long straightaways.”