Brickyard is a prelude to the championship (Yahoo! Sports)
July 23, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS – Whoever takes the checkered flag in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 will win the 2010 Sprint Cup championship. It’s true almost all of the time.
Admittedly, stories about statistics are about as entertaining as analyzing the tire compound Goodyear brings to the race track, and many times are about as useful as one of those tires with a nail poking through it. But in this case, the numbers are impossible to ignore.
Eight of the last 12 Brickyard 400 winners have gone on to win that year’s title.
More From Jay Hart News from the track: Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Jul 23, 2010 Edwards rough play puts NASCAR in bind Jul 20, 2010
Coincidence?
Can’t be, not when three times in the last four years the drivers who finished 1-2 at Indianapolis wound up 1-2 in the final standings. And not when nine of the top 12 finishers at Indy go on to qualify for the Chase, which happened last season.
So if it’s not a coincidence, then what is it that makes the Brickyard 400 such a great predictor?
“This is a textbook place,” explained Ray Evernham, who was the crew chief for two of Jeff Gordon’s four Brickyard wins. “Nothing funny happens here. You win on speed, ability and not making mistakes, and that’s what wins championships. The same qualities that it takes to win championships are really what it takes to win here.”
In other words, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is as straightforward a race track as there is. It’s not a crapshoot like Daytona, it doesn’t have trouble lurking around every corner like Bristol or Martinsville and it rewards those who have everything dialed in at once, which only the best teams do.
“You can build a good car and go to Bristol and not have a good finish,” Evernham said. “You build a good motor [for Indy], you’re going to have an advantage. You build a good body, you’re going to have an advantage. Track position is so crucial, so if you have a good pit crew, you’re going to have an advantage. Indy lets you take advantage of all the things you’ve worked hard on.”
And it falls at a place on the schedule (just after the halfway point) when all the things teams have been working on start paying dividends. In his last three title runs, Jimmie Johnson’s average finish prior to the Brickyard was 12.9. Including and after Indy, it’s 8.3. Not surprisingly, Johnson has won the last two Brickyard 400s and three of the last four.
Evernham said that while he didn’t prepare more for this race than any other, he did work harder building the bodies and the engines. NASCAR’s newest resident genius inside the garage, Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus, said he doesn’t do anything differently for this race.
“I just think the teams that communicate the best and are the most prepared are probably going to win this race more often than not,” Knaus said. “If you hit your stride about this time of the year, you can usually carry your momentum through the rest of the season.
“So I think there’s a little bit to be said about that, but we’ve won the championship and haven’t won here.”
True, but only once, and in the 2007 race Johnson, who started 19th, had worked his way into the top 10 when he was involved in an eight-car accident on Lap 47.
Only once in the race’s 16-year history has the eventual champion finished outside the top 10 when completing all 160 laps – Johnson wrecked in 2007, Gordon wrecked in 1996 and Terry Labonte suffered an engine failure in 1997 – and in 2002 Tony Stewart came in 12th.
“I think the cream rises to the top,” said Stewart, who won the Brickyard 400 for the first time in 2005, the year he won his second championship. “There’s no slouches that win at the Brickyard. It’s always the cream rises to the top for this event, and I think, like you guys already know, the history and the stats of it and that backs it up.”
Jay Hart is the NASCAR editor for Yahoo! Sports. Send Jay a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
MILER</sponsor> </driver> </grid> <grid row=”6″> <driver country=”UNITED STATES” firstname=”Shelby” id=”2150641″ lastname=”Howard” rookie=”No”> <pole>11</pole> <qualify measurement=”mph” speed=”108.411″/> < (PA SportsTicker)
July 23, 2010
Deegan, Foust form new rally car team
July 23, 2010
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP)—Brian Deegan, the high-flying freestyle motocrossstar who founded the Metal Mulisha, is joining Tanner Foust on the new Rockstaretnies rally car racing team.
They will drive Ford Fiesta rally cars in the X Games next week, competingin Rally Car Racing and SuperRally.
Deegan has been racing trucks in the Lucas Oil off-road series and made hisdebut in X Games rally car racing last year, finishing fourth despite mechanicaltroubles. He also plans to get into NASCAR.
The 10-time X Games medalist says moving more into four-wheel racing issafer than flipping dirt bikes, although he’ll never fully give that up.
Foust is the 2007 X Games Rally Car Racing gold medalist and a movie stuntdriver.
Martin has “no road map” on future (PA SportsTicker)
July 23, 2010
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS(AP)—Mark Martin tried being polite. Really, really tried.
For weeks the NASCAR veteran has respectfully addressed speculation about his future, saying he has no plans to leave his job driving the No. 5 for Hendrick Motorsports next year to make way for the recently signed Kasey Kahne.
Frankly, he’s tired of talking about it. He plans on returning to Hendrick in 2011. Period.
“I feel very disrespected when the media doesn’t accept that because what that means is that you make me look like I’m about to get fired,” Martin said Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “That’s very disrespectful.”
Though the 51-year-old acknowledged his team has struggled at times this season, he’s not plotting a graceful exit.
“I’ve made myself perfectly clear over the last several weeks,” he said. “There’s no inclination of any change, but I will tell you this: there is no road map for me and my future. So don’t even start thinking about criticizing what I do in 2012 or beyond, because I don’t know.”
Not everyone is convinced.
Ray Evernham, who won three Cup titles as a crew chief for Jeff Gordon while working for Hendrick and now works as a TV analyst, believes if Martin races in 2011, it will be in a different car.
“I won’t be surprised if in the next 3-4 weeks that Mark makes some kind of announcement that says ‘Hey Rick Hendrick has been good to me, the best thing I can do for him is to make room for Kasey,”’ he said.
Kahne signed with Hendrick Motorsports in April to drive the No. 5 Chevrolet in 2012. The deal called for Hendrick to find a place for Kahne next season while he waits for his seat to open.
Owner Rick Hendrick dismissed a report last month that Kahne would drive for Phoenix Racing in 2011, saying he’s still weighing his options.
Until Kahne’s situation is sorted out, Martin knows chatter over his plans will persist.
“I understand it will all be put to rest whenever they announce what Kasey’s going to do. I understand that,” he said. “You should be focused on that. What is Kasey going to do? Because I’ve told you what I’m going to do.”
Namely, drive. Though Martin admits he has no idea what he’ll do after 2011, he’s enjoying his resurgence at Hendrick. He won five races a year ago and is 14th in the points heading into Sunday’s 400-mile race at the Brickyard.
“I’m at the point in my career where I get to do whatever in the heck I want to do,” he said. “Racing is my life. And I don’t know what I’ll do if I was to ever lose that. And I’m not going to lose that anytime soon.”
Hornish facing uncertain future at Penske
July 23, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Sam Hornish Jr. still doesn’t know where he stands with Penske Racing for next season.
Going into Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Hornish says he wants to continue racing NASCAR for Penske but doesn’t know if he’ll have a ride.
ExxonMobil is parting ways with Penske at the end of the season, and Hornish said the team is having a hard time finding a new sponsor.
Hornish, the 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner, has had mixed results since moving to NASCAR and is 29th in the Sprint Cup points standings.
Hamlin picks up 2nd quarter Driver of Year award
July 23, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Denny Hamlin has been honored as the second-quarter winner in Driver of the Year voting.
Hamlin had knee surgery one month before the quarter began, but still won three Sprint Cup Series races and one Nationwide Series race in the period that ended June 20.
Hamlin earned 12 first-place votes and 122 total points in voting to beat Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. Busch had two first-place votes and 56 total points.
Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti received one first-place vote, as did Mike Edwards of NHRA’s ProStock driver.
Driver of the Year is voted on by 20 media members from across the country. There are four quarterly winners, as well as the overall Driver of the Year award.
The competition is open to any American driver racing on four wheels in any series in the world.
Villeneuve back at Indy with eye on future
July 23, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Jacques Villeneuve was supposed to be in Europe this week working on a potential deal to return to Formula One next season.
Then a chance to try to qualify for Sunday’s Sprint Cup series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway came together at the last minute, so Villeneuve put those talks on hold to go racing.
The 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner and 1997 Formula One champion hasn’t had a steady ride in a top series since 2006. While the 39-year-old Canadian is working on an F1 deal, he also is interested in finding a full-time ride in NASCAR.
Villeneuve will attempt to put Braun Racing’s No. 32 Toyota in the field during Saturday’s qualifying.
Martin has “no road map” on future
July 23, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—NASCAR veteran Mark Martin said Friday he has no idea what his future holds and calls speculation about where he’ll be driving in 2011 “disrespectful.”
Martin is under contract to drive the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports through the end of next season. He’ll be replaced in the No. 5 in 2012 by Kasey Kahne.
Kahne’s current deal with Hendrick, however, leaves him without a Cup ride in 2011. Martin has said repeatedly he has no plans to step aside to make room for Kahne.
The normally reserved Martin grew angry when pressed on the situation Friday, saying the speculation “makes it look like I’m going to get fired.”
Martin, who finished second in points last year, is 14th in the standings heading into Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Reutimann gets extension with Waltrip Racing
July 23, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—NASCAR driver David Reutimann has signed a contract extension with Michael Waltrip Racing that will keep him in the No. 00 Toyota through the 2012 Cup season.
Reutimann, who picked up the second Cup victory of his career at Chicago two weeks ago, called the deal a relief. The 40-year-old had been driving for MWR on a year-to-year basis.
Aaron’s Inc. will continue to be the car’s primary sponsor, picking up at least 30 races in each of the next two seasons. Aaron’s also holds an option for 2013.
Reutimann is 15th in the points standings heading into Sunday’s race at Indianapolis as he attempts to make the top-12 cutoff for NASCAR’s playoffs for the first time.
Reutimann gets extension with Waltrip Racing (PA SportsTicker)
July 23, 2010
INDIANAPOLIS(AP) —NASCAR driver David Reutimann has signed a contract extension with Michael Waltrip Racing that will keep him in the No. 00 Toyota through the 2012 Cup season.
Reutimann, who picked up the second Cup victory of his career at Chicago two weeks ago, called the deal a relief. The 40-year-old had been driving for MWR on a year-to-year basis.
Aaron’s Inc. will continue to be the car’s primary sponsor, picking up at least 30 races in each of the next two seasons. Aaron’s also holds an option for 2013.
Reutimann is 15th in the points standings heading into Sunday’s race at Indianapolis as he attempts to make the top-12 cutoff for NASCAR’s playoffs for the first time.