RYAN
NEWMAN SCORES FIFTH WIN OF 2003
BROOKLYN,
Mich. -- With the laps winding down and gas a big question mark,
Ryan Newman asked permission to go after leader Kurt Busch in
Sunday's GFS Marketplace 400.
"Seeing
that there were five laps to go and we had a shot at catching
Kurt, I didn't want to ... have plenty of fuel left over and say,
`Man, we could have chased him down but we were too conservative,"'
Newman said. "But I didn't want to jeopardize the team because
of my greed and (mess up) a good finish, so I asked for permission
to make that move."
It worked
as Newman was able to stretch his final tank of gas 52 laps on
the two-mile oval at Michigan International Speedway to win for
the fifth time this season.
Matt Borland,
Newman's crew chief on the No. 12 Penske Racing South Dodge, said,
"Ryan saved quite a bit of fuel there at the end. He's real
good at that and still carrying a lot of speed.
"With
four laps to go, we just told him to go for it and we'll see what
happens."
Busch,
who also gambled on having enough gas at the end, came a lap short
and wound up 18th.
Busch
had more problems after the race when Jimmy Spencer hit his car
from behind and turned it around on pit road, then went up to
Busch's car and allegedly punched him in the face.
NASCAR
talked with both drivers and said it would look into the matter
further on Monday. A spokesman for the Lenawee County Sheriff's
Dept. said the department was considering filing assault charges
against Spencer.
Most of
the leaders pitted during a caution period on the 149th lap of
the 200-lap race, and Busch and Dale Jarrett came back onto the
track behind only Spencer, who stayed out.
Busch
easily passed Spencer for the lead on the restart on lap 150 and
Jarrett moved to second the next time around the high-banked track.
Jarrett, a four-time Michigan winner, then took the lead from
Busch on lap 152.
But Busch
wouldn't let Jarrett get away, finally repassing him for the top
spot on lap 157. He stayed there nearly to the end, building leads
of up to 3.3 seconds before Jarrett was forced to pit on lap 188,
giving Newman the runner-up spot.
Newman,
last year's top rookie, was 3.2 seconds behind when he moved into
second, but quickly began to reel in Busch, moving up to the rear
bumper of the leader's No. 97 Roush Racing Ford on lap 197 and
charging past the slowing Busch on lap 198 after a short side-by-side
battle.
"It
was just a matter of pushing the issue and going for it,"
Newman said. "If we could make it, I wanted to win. I didn't
want to settle for second then find out we had enough fuel to
make it."
On lap
199, Busch slowed and drove onto pit lane for a splash of gas.
Newman easily held on to beat Kevin Harvick, who made his last
stop on lap 149, to the finish line by 1.652-seconds - about 10
car lengths.
"Ryan
was just on rails and he passed us and then he ran away from us,"
Harvick said. "Our car came around to us at the end, but
it was too late."
Jimmie
Johnson, who led a race-high 50 laps and also pitted on lap 149,
ran out of gas on lap 198 and finished 27th.
Tony Stewart,
the reigning series champion, finished third, followed by rookie
Greg Biffle, Steve Park and Robby Gordon, who won a week earlier
at Watkins Glen.
Series
leader Matt Kenseth, who also ran the last 52 laps without stopping,
wound up ninth after running back in the pack most of the day.
With Dale Earnhardt Jr. finishing 32nd, eight laps off the pace,
he fell from 258 points behind to a whopping 329 back with 13
races remaining.
The winner
averaged 127.310 mph in the race slowed by eight yellow flags
and a total of 42 laps of caution.
Most of
the yellows were caused by debris or minor incidents, but two
of them were spectacular.
The first,
on lap 63, began when Todd Bodine tried to go between Busch and
Kenny Wallace racing off of Turn 2.
Busch
became loose and tapped Bodine, sending him into a half-spin and
hard into the wall directly in front of Wallace. Wallace slammed
into Bodine's front bumper and pushed it up the concrete barrier,
where it nearly overturned.
As the
entangled cars slid, Wallace burrowed under Bodine and Wallace's
engine compartment burst into flame, nearly engulfing the front
of his car.
Both drivers
scrambled from their cars and neither was injured.
On lap
78, during a caution for a crash involving Ricky Craven and Casey
Mears, Rusty Wallace damaged his car when he suddenly changed
his mind about pitting and tried to get back onto the track. He
pulled right in front of Earnhardt and the two slammed together,
causing serious damage to Earnhardt's car.
Wallace,
Newman's teammate, stayed on the lead lap but the engine on his
Dodge blew on lap 106 and started another fire, filling the cockpit
with flame. Wallace was able to ease the car to a stop in the
infield grass and scramble to safety without injury.
BOBBY
LABONTE SWEEPS MICHIGAN POLES
BROOKLYN,
Mich. -- There's something about Michigan International Speedway
that brings out the best in Bobby Labonte.
He picked
up his second straight Michigan pole, topping qualifying Friday
for the GFS Marketplace 400 and earning his fourth pole at the
track in the Irish Hills.
The 2000
Winston Cup champion turned a lap of 190.240 mph, just a bit shy
of the 190.365 that earned him the pole on the 2-mile, high-banked
Michigan oval in June.
Labonte,
who has been mired in a slump during which he has finished no
better than 14th in his last five starts and fallen from fourth
to seventh in the points, became the first driver to sweep the
Michigan poles since Bill Elliott in 1988.
Racing
here also could get him back in stride, considering Labonte has
won three times and finished in the top-five 14 times in 22 starts.
``I just
like coming here,'' Labonte said. ``It just falls into the category
of a good track. The cars can race here from the white line (at
the bottom of the banking) to the white wall, which is about 100
yards. That's a lot of fun.''
The qualifying
session was delayed by rain for nearly two hours. Labonte said
the downpour might have given him a slight advantage since he
was the 16th of 43 drivers in line as the sun came out and began
to bake the track surface.
``If it
turned out an early draw was an advantage, today was the day,''
said Labonte, who finished second to Kurt Busch here in the June
race in his Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet. ``The rain gave the track
a little more grip early on. After that, it may have given up
some grip as the track got hotter.''
Ryan Newman,
who leads the series with five poles this season, was second this
time. He went out ninth and ran a lap of 189.929.
``It had
a lot of grip in it,'' Newman said. ``That sun was real good to
us. It just kept cooking (the track).
``I left
a little on the table through turns three and four.''
Robby
Gordon, coming off a victory last Sunday on the road course at
Watkins Glen, N.Y., was third on Friday at 189.499, followed by
surprising Kevin Lepage -- making only his third Winston Cup start
of the season -- at 189.086.
Terry
Labonte, Bobby's older brother, was next at 188.927; Jason Leffler,
in only his second Cup race of the season followed at 188.828,
with Christian Fittipaldi, in his ninth race of the year at 188.803.
Rounding
out the top 10 were Jeff Burton and Dave Blaney, both at 188.620,
and Jimmy Spencer at 188.575.
Busch,
who started fourth here in June, will have a harder job Sunday,
starting 20th in the 43-car field.
The top
drivers in the points had an off-day, too.
Series
leader Matt Kenseth qualified 33rd, runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr.
19th and third-place Jeff Gordon 21st.
``We've
started farther back than that,'' Kenseth said, shrugging off
the poor showing. ``It's just a starting position and not a finishing
position, We'll just have good pit stops and, hopefully, have
a good handling car that can get to the front on Sunday.''
Kenseth,
who goes into the race with a whopping 258-point lead over Earnhardt,
has started better than 17th only six times but leads the series
with 17 top-10 finishes in 22 starts.
ROBBY
GORDON WINS AT WATKINS GLEN
WATKINS
GLEN, N.Y. -- Robby Gordon was doing everything he could to preserve
fuel, and his timing was perfect because those in pursuit of him
were in the same predicament.
``I backed
up 20 car-lengths for each corner,'' Gordon said after stretching
his fuel over the final 39 laps to complete a sweep of this year's
NASCAR road-course races with a victory Sunday at Watkins Glen
International.
That was
not only an effort to save gas. He wanted to be ready in case
he was forced to run harder over the final few laps.
``I didn't
want to use up the brakes or the tires in case Jeff Gordon or
one of those guys got to us at the end of the race,'' he explained.
``So we had plenty in reserve.''
It was
his third career victory, but this time nobody complained.
It wasn't
that way two months ago at the other road course in Sonoma, Calif.,
when Gordon won after violating the so-called gentlemen's agreement
by passing teammate Kevin Harvick under caution.
ADVERTISEMENT
Gordon's only other victory, two years ago at New Hampshire International
Speedway, also resulted in controversy. He took the lead near
the end of the race by spinning out Jeff Gordon.
The key
for Robby Gordon was pitting Sunday when Rusty Wallace went off
the course on the 51st of 90 laps.
He was
chasing down Wallace when the two-time Watkins Glen winner left
the pavement.
``I saw
Rusty lock up the right front tire, and I called and said, `Rusty's
in the sand,''' Gordon said.
Crew chief
Kevin Hamlin reacted quickly.
``We heard
the guy on the loudspeaker say, 'trouble,' so we decided to dive
in for gas,'' Hamlin said.
He called
Gordon and said, ``Pit now, pit now.''
That move
paid off when the field pitted under caution two laps later. That
put him ahead of them, and Gordon took the lead when those still
in front of him pitted on lap 61
``Track position is so important,'' he said. ``I don't know if
we had the best car today, but we won. That's what teamwork is
all about.''
Jeff Gordon
had the best car, but the worst luck. He started on the pole and
was last after one lap because Greg Biffle spun him out on the
first turn.
Then the
four-time series champion spent the rest of the day trying to
make it up. He reached third, but ran out of gas on the final
turn and was knocked into the wall by Harvick.
``I was
trying to get out of his way, but when you're out of gas you don't
have too many options,'' said Gordon, who wound up 33rd.
Harvick
was summoned to the NASCAR trailer for consultation, just as Biffle
had been after hitting Gordon in anger last month in New Hampshire.
``If he
was out of gas he should have gotten out of the groove,'' Harvick
said of Gordon.
Biffle,
who said he didn't mean to spin out Gordon on Sunday, also was
called in, but for another infraction.
``They
must have been mad at me spinning out Jeff on the first lap,''
Biffle said.
The rare
sweep was the first in NASCAR since Jeff Gordon won both road-course
events for the second year in a row, in 1999.
Robby
Gordon's Chevrolet beat the Dodge of road-course ace Scott Pruett
by 2.33 seconds to take the $4 million Sirius at The Glen. The
winner led only once, for the final 30 laps.
It was
the best career finish for Pruett, a former Winston Cup driver
who has spent most of his career in sports car racing and the
CART series. He also was trying to conserve fuel at the end, so
there was no dramatic charge at the winner over the final laps.
``We had
a strategy that we thought we could play,'' Pruett said. ``It
all depended on how many yellows we got, and they all worked out.''
Gordon
agreed, saying his team had the fuel figured just right.
``In Winston
Cup, the key is not to make mistakes,'' Gordon said.
He made
only one, spinning out Boris Said.
``I felt
terrible because he had a good run,'' Gordon said. ``I thought
I could give him a little shove and we both could get by those
guys up the backstretch, but I must have shifted before he did.''
Dale Earnhardt
Jr. finished third in a Chevy, followed by those of Jimmie Johnson
and Harvick, the winner of last week's Brickyard 400.
Earnhardt
looked like a winner for much of the race, but fell back to 20th
after the final pit stop before charging through the field at
the end.
``We had
a great car,'' he said. ``But I had to drive real hard to get
up there and didn't have much left for the leaders.''
The winner's
average speed was 90.420 mph in a race slowed for 14 laps by six
caution flags. There were eight lead changes among eight drivers.
Ward Burton,
Dale Jarrett, points leader Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Mark
Martin completed the top 10. Defending race champion Tony Stewart,
forced to go start at the back of the field because of an engine
change, wound up 11th.
Kenseth
leads Earnhardt by 258 points after 22 of 36 races.
JEFF
GORDON WINS POLE AT WATKINS GLEN
WATKINS
GLEN, N.Y. -- Jeff Gordon's miserable season took a positive turn
Friday when NASCAR's king of the road won the pole with a record-shattering
run at Watkins Glen International.
The four-time
Winston Cup champion -- with a record seven victories on road
courses -- sped around the 2.45-mile serpentine track at 124.580
mph. It was the second pole this season for Gordon, a distant
third in the points standings with only one victory.
Gordon
said the combination of a fast racing surface and a testing session
last month helped him immensely.
``We were
really fast all day,'' he said, alluding to being second-quickest
in practice. ``The conditions couldn't be any more perfect for
qualifying.''
He was
among those who weren't a bit surprised that Dale Jarrett's 2-year-old
record of 122.698 mph was broken by 18 of 47 cars. He said the
teams have put a greater emphasis on road-course programs in the
last few seasons.
Gordon
also said he has rededicated himself to being a constant threat
on the road courses.
``After the last race here we knew he had to come back and test,''
he said. ``We had a plan that paid off for us. The last couple
of years we weren't good enough to win a pole.''
That bothered
Gordon, who said he was further inspired to go faster after watching
Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. post very quick laps before
his run. He decided he would not even think about a conservative
lap.
Passion
and the dedication of his crew also played a part, Gordon explained.
``I love
the road courses, and these guys supply me with such great equipment
that it makes it easy,'' he said. ``I was a second faster in practice
than in testing, and things are really going well.''
It was
his second pole on the 11-turn layout, one of only two road courses
on the circuit, and the 44th of his career. Gordon will try Sunday
in the Sirius at The Glen to win here for a fifth time and claim
his 63rd career victory.
Second
to Gordon's Chevrolet was Biffle's Ford, which got around the
track at 124.497.
Despite
his run, Biffle rejected the notion that he laid down a perfect
lap.
``I probably
left at least a tenth (of a second) on the table coming back to
the checkered flag,'' he said. ``We're excited because our car
is just as fast in race trim.''
Third was Biffle's teammate, Mark Martin, who swept the pole and
the race from 1993-95 and has four road-course victories. He got
around at 124.464, and was very happy.
``No driver
can drive a slow car fast,'' he said. ``That was an incredible
piece of equipment I was in today. That's the best starting spot
I've had all year.''
Martin
will line up on the inside of the second row, flanked by defending
race champion Tony Stewart, who went 124.267 in a Chevy.
Two-time
Watkins Glen winner Rusty Wallace -- with six road course victories
overall -- qualified fifth by touring the track at 124.255 in
a Dodge.
Earnhardt,
points leader Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte and road
course ace Boris Said -- the polesitter in June in Sonoma, Calif.
-- completed the top 10.
WILL IT BE EVEN TOUGHER TO TAME UNDER THE LIGHTS?
DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Darlington Raceway's long-term prospects just
got brighter.
Track
officials say they have gotten the go-ahead to install a lighting
system that would be ready for testing by early fall 2004. An
official announcement is expected Thursday.
``This
just adds to the long list of exciting announcements made by Darlington
this summer,'' track president Andrew Gurtis told The Associated
Press on Wednesday.
Two months ago, the ``Track Too Tough To Tame,'' found out it
was losing its Labor Day weekend date for the Southern 500 in
realignment to California Speedway. But the 53-year-old facility
retained two NASCAR race weekends on next year's schedule.
Gurtis
would not say if the 2004's fall race, scheduled for Nov. 14,
would be the old country track's first night event. He would not
talk about how much lighting the track now might cost or other
details of the project.
``For
about 12 months we're going to have a lot of construction workers
running around,'' he said.
The idea
for night racing at Darlington was first discussed publicly by
NASCAR's chief spokesman -- and then the raceway's president --
Jim Hunter in 1999.
Hunter
put a $2.9 million plan before track owner International Speedway
Corp. to light up NASCAR's oldest speedway.
Hunter
is thrilled his idea will finally see the light. He said from
his Daytona Beach, Fla., office Wednesday evening that he told
former NASCAR star David Pearson that one of his favorite tracks
-- Pearson is Darlington's all-time winner with 10 victories --
was getting lights.
``Boy,''
Pearson told Hunter, ``that's going to be something.''
Darlington's
1.366-mile oval is one of the trickiest and nastiest on the circuit.
It's misshapen corner coming out of turn two has long separated
the best racers from the rest of the pack. It's no accident its
biggest winners -- Pearson, the late Dale Earnhardt (9) and Jeff
Gordon (6) -- have dominated the sport.
``As tough
as it is in the daytime, it's going to be even tougher at night,''
Hunter said. ``The whole atmosphere will change. It will really
make a difference and make the races more exciting.''
Darlington
was called out by NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. as a track whose
two-race-a-year future was in question because of its troubled
history of selling seats. Despite NASCAR's two stops there in
2004, there was no guarantee for anything beyond.
Could
lights keep the track going two years from now?
``I don't
think (International Speedway Corp.) would invest in the lights
if they didn't think there was a future at Darlington,'' Hunter
said. ``I just hope the fans come out and support it.''
HARVICK
BECOMES FIRST POLE WINNER TO CAPTURE BRICKYARD 400
INDIANAPOLIS,
Sunday, Aug. 3, 2003 – Kevin Harvick made Brickyard 400 history
Aug. 3, becoming the first pole sitter to win in the 10-year history
of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series race at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway.
Harvick
pulled away on a late restart in the No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet
and beat Winston Cup Series points leader Matt Kenseth by 2.758
seconds for his first career Brickyard 400 victory and first victory
this season. He averaged 134.554 mph.
“I
can’t believe this,” Harvick said. “I don’t
even know if I can explain it. It’s so awesome. I can’t
wait to kiss the bricks.”
Rookie
Jamie McMurray finished third in the No. 42 Havoline Dodge, 4.587
seconds behind Harvick. It was the best finish for a Brickyard
400 rookie since the inaugural year in 1994.
Three-time
Brickyard 400 winner Jeff Gordon was fourth in the No. 24 DuPont
Chevrolet, and 2002 Brickyard 400 winner Bill Elliott rounded
out the top five in the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge.
Harvick’s
victory fulfilled a dream that was spawned when he was a youngster
growing up in Bakersfield, Calif., home of four-time Indianapolis
500 winner Rick Mears.
“I
told Matt (Yocum, NBC pit reporter) I’ve got a picture hanging
on my wall that says, ‘Good luck, hope to see you here someday,’
from Rick Mears. Damn if we aren’t here in victory lane at
the Brickyard. This is awesome.”
Harvick
took the lead for good during an intense duel on Lap 145 after
a restart.
McMurray
led when the green flag flew on Lap 145, with Robby Gordon and
Harvick in pursuit. Harvick pulled past McMurray and Gordon toward
the end of the lap when a seven-car incident between Turns 3 and
4 triggered the final caution period of the race. It was the last
of 17 lead changes among 12 drivers.
The No.
97 Rubbermaid Ford driven by Kurt Busch hit the rear of No. 5
Kellogg’s/got milk? Chevrolet between Turns 3 and 4, collecting
the cars driven by Sterling Marlin, 1997 Brickyard 400 winner
Ricky Rudd, Jimmie Johnson, Mike Skinner and Joe Nemechek in the
melee. No one was injured.
Harvick
led the field on the final restart on Lap 151, leading by .633
of a second over teammate Robby Gordon in the No. 31 Cingular
Wireless Chevrolet after one lap around the historic, 2.5-mile
oval.
Then Harvick
pulled away on Lap 152, expanding his lead to 1.311 seconds over
Gordon.
By Lap
155, the race for the checkered was over, as Harvick’s lead
grew to 3.491 seconds. Meanwhile, McMurray used drafting help
from behind from Kenseth to pass Gordon entering Turn 3 for second.
Kenseth also squeaked his No. 17 Smirnoff Ice Triple Black/DeWalt
Ford past Gordon to take third.
Kenseth
then passed McMurray for second on the inside of Turn 3 on Lap
157. Kenseth expanded his series lead to 286 points over Dale
Earnhardt Jr., who finished 14th in the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet.
“I
was a little too far behind,” Kenseth said. “All my
guys did a great job. We had good pit stops, and we had a good
strategy. I knew it was going to be tough to get around the 31
and then get around the 29.”
Defending
Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart appeared to be the driver to
beat midway through the 160-lap race. He started 15th in the No.
20 Home Depot Chevrolet but picked his way through the pack and
climbed to the lead by Lap 26.
Stewart
led a total of 60 laps – more than any other driver –
and led at the 60-, 70-, 80, 90- and 100-lap marks. Stewart’s
lead ballooned to 10.272 seconds on Lap 88.
But the
field gradually reined in Stewart, and he led for the last time
on Lap 106. Stewart lost ground on a green-flag pit stop on Lap
131, and many of the other leading cars pitted after a caution
on Lap 139.
“Poor
finish,” said Greg Zipadelli, Stewart’s crew chief.
“The Home Depot Monte Carlo ran good all day. The guys put
up a great car. We kind of had a poor pit stop and gave up track
position and kind of struggled from there.
“We
put tires on that were a little loose. We were still doing OK,
and then that caution came out and gave up all of that ground
and big lead that you had. Just from that point on, it seemed
like with 30 or 40 to go or whatever, we just struggled. Nothing
went our way or did not play the right game.”
Harvick
and Richard Childress Racing definitely played the right game.
The victory returned Childress’ team to victory lane at Indianapolis
for the first time since late seven-time Winston Cup champion
Dale Earnhardt won the 1995 Brickyard 400.
“Anything
we can do that Dale Earnhardt did is an accomplishment,”
Harvick said. “That’s why we still have this ‘3’
on the side (of the car). He’s what made this whole organization
what it is today. I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
CREW
MEMBER, PHOTOGRAPHER RELEASED FROM METHODIST HOSPITAL
INDIANAPOLIS,
Sunday, Aug. 3, 2003 – John Bryan, jackman for the No. 88
UPS Ford driven by Dale Jarrett, and Joe Krupa, a photographer
for the Muncie (Ind.) Star Press, have been released from Methodist
Hospital in Indianapolis.
Jarrett
spun entering pit lane on Lap 36 of the Brickyard 400 on Aug.
3 and made contact with crew member Bryan, who was prepared to
jack the car. The IMS Fire and Safety crew responded immediately
to Jarrett’s pit stall and began attending to Bryan and Krupa.
Jarrett’s pit stall was the first pit stall on pit lane.
Krupa
was behind the pit wall and was struck by one of the tires set
to be put on Jarrett’s car.
HARVICK
EDGES NEWMAN WITH RECORD LAP TO WIN BRICKYARD 400 POLE
INDIANAPOLIS,
Saturday, Aug. 2, 2003 – Kevin Harvick edged Ryan Newman
for the Brickyard 400 on a record day of speed Aug. 2 at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway.
Harvick
earned his first career Brickyard pole and his first pole of the
NASCAR Winston Cup Series season with a lap of 48.822 seconds,
184.343 mph in the No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet. Indiana native
Newman, who has won two of the last three Winston Cup races this
season, was second at 48.850, 184.237 in the No. 12 Alltel Dodge.
“We
took our practice yesterday and made six laps and tried to pay
attention to what we did last year,” Harvick said. “We
knew we had a good draw, so we knew the car was going to need
a little bit different gear, and we needed to be a little bit
free yesterday afternoon. That’s what we did.
“Anything
you do here (Indianapolis) means a lot to me. Obviously, there’s
a lot of history with open-wheel and stock cars. It’s an
important place for the GM Goodwrench team.”
The 10th
Brickyard 400 starts at 1:30 p.m. (EST, Indy time) and will be
broadcast live by NBC Sports and the IMS Radio Network.
Harvick’s
pole lap was the fastest ever turned by a stock car at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway. The previous best was 182.960 set by Tony Stewart
en route to winning the pole for the 2002 Brickyard 400.
Defending
Brickyard 400 champion Bill Elliott qualified third at 48.933,
183.925 in the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge. Ward Burton was
fourth at 48.982, 183.741 in the No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, while
Michael Waltrip rounded out the top five at 48.987, 183.722 in
the No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet.
The draw
order played a big role in qualifying, as the five fastest qualifiers
each made their attempts under cloud cover among the first 12
cars in the order. The sun came out just as No. 13 qualifier Hermie
Sadler made his attempt on the historic 2.5-mile oval.
“The
cooler the track gets, the faster these cars are going to go,”
Elliott said. “That’s pretty evident with what happened
this morning. I was lucky enough to get a good draw. A lot of
times I’d rather be lucky than good any day of the week.
“I
was fortunate enough to get an early draw. It worked out for us.
You know, it was pretty bad for the guys kind of in the middle
when the track temp got up; it kind of hurt them.”
The top
11 drivers in the lineup today were faster than the previous mark
set by Stewart, the defending NASCAR Winston Cup champion. Stewart
qualified 15th today at 49.304, 182.541 in the No. 20 Home Depot
Chevrolet.
“Every
year we go faster here,” Stewart said. “I’m not
surprised at all. If the track could have stayed cooler, we would
have run faster.”
John Andretti,
fastest in Friday practice at 182.708, qualified 11th at 49.154,
183.098 in the No. 81 Kraft 100th Anniversary Chevrolet.
Elliott
was the leading qualifier among past Brickyard 400 winners. 2000
race winner Bobby Labonte qualified eighth at 49.071, 183.408
in No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet.
Three-time
Brickyard 400 winner Jeff Gordon qualified 19th at 49.390, 182.223
in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet. Two-time winner Dale Jarrett was
34th at 49.838, 180.585 in the No. 88 UPS Ford.
1997 Brickyard
400 winner Ricky Rudd needed to use a provisional to earn the
39th starting position in the 43-car field. His lap of 50.064,
179.770 in the No. 21 Rent-A-Center/Motorcraft/USAF Ford was too
slow to qualify.
Among
the drivers to fail to qualify for the race were Brickyard 400
veterans Brett Bodine and Ken Schrader and Indianapolis 500 veteran
Christian Fittipaldi.
ANDRETTI
COMES HOME TO LEAD OPENING BRICKYARD 400 PRACTICE
INDIANAPOLIS,
Friday, Aug. 1, 2003 – John Andretti, who grew up just a
few miles from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, came home to lead
the first day of practice for the Brickyard 400 with a lap of
182.708 mph.
This is
Andretti’s first race in the No. 81 Kraft 100th Anniversary
Chevrolet fielded by the powerful Dale Earnhardt Inc. team. Andretti
drove for Petty Enterprises from 1998 until this June, when he
was released. Andretti tested with the DEI team at Indianapolis
last month after his release from the Petty team.
“It’s
because it’s the Brickyard 400, and all that not because
of any other circumstances,” Andretti said when asked about
the importance of this weekend on his career. “I have a great
opportunity with the race team I’m driving for, and I had
a really good opportunity the last couple of weeks. I’m not
going to lay any pressure on me that will make it any more difficult.
“One
race doesn’t tell you where I stand, but if we keep coming
out and running fast, it’s only going to help us.”
Pole qualifying
is scheduled to start at 10:05 a.m. (EST) Saturday on the 2.5-mile
oval. The race starts at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
Jimmie
Johnson was second fastest in today’s practice at 182.645
in the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet.
But surprises
filled the next two spots, as Joe Nemechek was third at 181.389
in the No. 25 UAW-Delphi Chevrolet, and Dave Blaney was fourth
at 181.148 in the No. 77 Jasper Engines & Transmissions Ford.
“Hopefully
I’m the guy that’s the sleeper out there this week,”
Nemechek said. “We’re quick right now. We’ve got
awesome power. To run that in the heat of the day, I think you’re
going to see some speeds tomorrow that are going to be phenomenal.”
Two-time
Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip rounded out the top five at
181.105 in the No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet.
Winston
Cup points leader Matt Kenseth was seventh at 181.036 in the No.
17 Smirnoff Ice Triple Black/DeWalt Ford, while defending Winston
Cup champion and Indiana native Tony Stewart was ninth at 180.930
in the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet at his home track.
It was
not the greatest day for past Brickyard 400 champions.
2000 Brickyard
champion Bobby Labonte was the fastest former winner, 11th at
180.527 in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet. Defending
winner Bill Elliott was 19th at 179.766 in the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW
Dodge.
Three-time
winner Jeff Gordon was 33rd at 178.267 in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet.
Only three drivers have won four races at Indianapolis –
four-time Indianapolis 500 winners A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al
Unser.
“You
know, I keep saying, do not compare me to those guys,” Gordon
said. “Don’t compare the Brickyard 400 to the Indy 500,
either. I just do not think they are in the same category.
“Yeah,
we are at the same racetrack, but we are talking about totally
different history and totally different types of race cars. You
know, I do not care what I ever do here, I do not think I will
ever be able to compare myself to those guys.”
Two-time
Brickyard winner Dale Jarrett was 34th at 178.257 in the No. 88
UPS Ford, while 1997 Brickyard winner Ricky Rudd was 45th at 177.350
in the No. 21 Rent-A-Center/Motorcraft/USAF Ford.
Practice
continued for the True Value IROC drivers in anticipation for
that series’ season-ending IROC at Indy at 1 p.m. (EST) Saturday.
Points leader Kurt Busch, second place Mike Bliss and third place
Mark Martin are eligible to win the season title for racing’s
“all-star game” that pits 12 drivers from different
series in identically prepared stock cars.
HOT
NEWMAN HOPES TO JOIN ELITE AS BRICKYARD 400 WINNER
Busch hopes to clinch first True Value IROC crown in IROC at Indy
season finale
INDIANAPOLIS,
Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - The hottest driver in NASCAR Winston
Cup Series racing is coming back home again to Indiana to race
in the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
And his
last name isn't Gordon or Stewart.
Ryan Newman,
a native of South Bend, Ind., is one of the favorites to win the
10th Brickyard 400 on Sunday, Aug. 3 after winning two of the
last three Winston Cup races in the No. 12 Alltel Dodge. Newman
has recorded five poles and has four victories this season, both
series bests.
The 10th
Brickyard 400 is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. (EST, Indy time)
on Sunday. The 160-lap race will be broadcast live on NBC Sports
and the IMS Radio Network.
Newman,
2002 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, won the Pennsylvania 500
from the pole on July 27 at Pocono Raceway and won the Tropicana
400 on July 13 at Chicagoland Speedway. He finished fourth in
the New England 300 on July 20 at New Hampshire, as the recent
hot streak helped him climb to ninth in the series standings.
"We're
just going to try to do the best job we can, just like we did
here," Newman said after winning at Pocono. "Hopefully
we can run as good and be competitive."
Newman
finished fourth in his second career Brickyard 400 start last
season. If Newman wins the Brickyard 400, he would be in elite
company, joining illustrious names like Earnhardt, Gordon, Jarrett,
Labonte and Elliott.
Every
winner of the nine previous Brickyard 400s has won at least one
NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship except for 1997 winner
Ricky Rudd. But Rudd is the most durable driver in NASCAR history,
as he just extended his record of consecutive Winston Cup starts
to 700 on July 27 at Pocono.
A Brickyard
400 victory also has been a springboard to a Winston Cup championship
in the same season four times. Jeff Gordon won the Winston Cup
in 1998 and 2001 after winning the Brickyard 400 those respective
seasons. Dale Jarrett pulled off the same feat in 1999, as did
Bobby Labonte in 2000.
The chances
for Newman to win the Winston Cup are slim this season, as he
is 614 points behind leader Matt Kenseth after 20 of 36 races.
But Gordon is in contention for a historic fourth Brickyard 400
victory and a fifth Winston Cup championship this season.
Gordon,
who grew up in Pittsboro, Ind., is third in the Winston Cup standings,
308 points behind Kenseth. Gordon finished 36th on July 27 at
Pocono after a crash, and he will look to rebound at Indianapolis
in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet.
And there's
no better spot for Gordon to bounce back than the historic 2.5-mile
oval. He has a record three victories in this event - the inaugural
in 1994, 1998 and 2001 - and also has won the pole a record three
times.
Another
Indiana native who needs to bounce back at the Brickyard 400 is
defending Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart. He finished 37th
in the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet last weekend at Pocono and
fell to 14th in the series standings.
Stewart,
who grew up in Columbus, Ind., never has won at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway in four Brickyard 400 starts or five Indianapolis
500 starts. But he has shown plenty of recent speed at the track,
winning the pole for the 2002 Brickyard 400 with a record lap
of 182.960 mph.
"Take
the one thing in your life that you're the most passionate about,
and you'll have a good understanding of what Indy means to me,"
Stewart said. "There's at least something in everybody's
life that they're very passionate about, and for me that's winning
at the Brickyard.
"The
fact that it comes around only once a year is the hard part. It's
not like everyday you can work to accomplish that goal. I only
have one chance out of every 365 days to win at Indy."
Other
Indiana drivers entered in the Brickyard 400 are John Andretti
in the No. 81 Kraft 100th Anniversary Chevrolet and rookie Tony
Raines in the No. 74 BACE Motorsports Chevrolet.
Andretti,
who grew up in Indianapolis, was second fastest overall during
Brickyard 400 testing in July with a lap of 181.246 mph in the
No. 81 car fielded by Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Jimmie
Johnson was the fastest during July testing at 182.028 in the
No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, marking him as a prime contender for
victory in this race.
Bobby Labonte and Rusty Wallace also are prime contenders for
Brickyard 400 victory, based on past results.
Labonte
has finished in the top 10 in five of his last six Brickyard 400
starts, including a victory in 2000. He is fifth in the Winston
Cup point standings in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet
as a teammate to Stewart with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Wallace
is 11th in the series standings with no victories in the No. 2
Miller Lite Dodge fielded by Penske Racing, which has won a record
13 Indianapolis 500s. But like Penske drivers in the Indy 500,
Wallace always is competitive at the Brickyard.
He finished
second to Bill Elliott last season, his third runner-up finish
in this event. Wallace has finished outside of the top eight only
once in nine previous Brickyard 400 starts, 38th in 1997. Otherwise,
he has been a model of excellence at Indy, with finishes of fourth
in 1994, second in 1995, seventh in 1996, eighth in 1998 and 1999,
second in 2000 and fourth in 2001.
Defending
event winner Elliott also can't be ruled out to become the first
repeat winner in the race's history in the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW
Dodge. He has the best average finish at Indianapolis, eighth,
of any active Winston Cup driver with two or more Brickyard 400
starts.
"There's
just something about it," Elliott said of the Brickyard 400
"I just think it adds to how special it is when you do well
there. There's a lot of racing history at that track, and it just
means so much to be a part of that now.
"I
can't describe what it was like to kiss those bricks. It's a day
I'll never forget."
Series
points leader Kenseth has used consistency in the No. 17 DeWalt
Power Tools Ford to produce a 232-point lead over second-place
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kenseth finished third last season in the Brickyard
400, his only top-20 finish in three starts in the event.
Earnhardt
is second in the standings in the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 232
points behind Kenseth. His best finish in three prior Brickyard
400 starts is 10th in 2001. A victory for Earnhardt would be historic,
as it would mark the only time a father and son have won the Brickyard
400. Earnhardt's late father, seven-time Winston Cup champion
Dale Earnhardt, won this race in 1995.
Many top
NASCAR stars will join drivers from the IRL IndyCar( Series and
the O'Reilly World of Outlaws for the IROC at Indy race at 1 p.m.
(EST, Indy time) Saturday, Aug. 2. It's the season finale of the
four-round True Value International Race of Champions series,
racing's "all star game."
Drivers
race in identically prepared stock cars for 40 laps around the
Indy oval. ESPN will televise the race at 1 p.m. (EDT) Sunday,
Aug. 3.
NASCAR
Winston Cup star Kurt Busch leads the IROC standings with 57 points
after three races as he aims for a $250,000 prize for winning
his first IROC season title. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver
Mike Bliss, a former USAC short-track standout, is second at 49.
Winston
Cup star Mark Martin is third with 48 points. Martin is a four-time
IROC champion and won the first three IROC at Indy races, from
1998-2000.
The series
standings are inverted to determine the IROC starting grid, so
IndyCar Series star Helio Castroneves will start from the pole
in an attempt to continue his run of success at Indianapolis.
Castroneves
won his first two Indianapolis 500 starts, in 2001 and 2002, and
finished runner-up to teammate Gil de Ferran in the 2003 Indianapolis
500. Castroneves also finished second to Dale Jarrett in the 2002
IROC at Indy race.
The top
six drivers in the series - Busch, Bliss, Martin and NASCAR Winston
Cup drivers Newman, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick, the 2002 IROC
series champion - are mathematically eligible to win the series
title at Indy.
***
10th Brickyard
400 Event Schedule
(All times local, subject to change)
Friday,
Aug. 1
9 a.m.
Public gates open
10:30-11:30
a.m.
True Value IROC Series practice
12:30-1:50
p.m.
True Value IROC Series practice
2-4 p.m.
NASCAR Winston Cup Series practice
4:05-5
p.m.
True Value IROC Series final practice
Saturday,
Aug. 2
7 a.m.
Public gates open
10:05
a.m.
NASCAR qualifying (two laps, all positions)
1 p.m.
IROC at Indy race (40 laps, 100 miles)
2-2:45
p.m.
NASCAR Winston Cup practice
3:45-4:30
p.m.
NASCAR Winston Cup final practice
Sunday,
Aug. 3
7 a.m.
Public gates open
1 p.m.
NASCAR driver introductions
1:30 p.m.
Brickyard 400 (160 laps/400 miles)
***
Brickyard
400 Television Schedule
(All times EDT - one hour ahead of Indianapolis)
Date
Program
Air Time
Network
Friday,
Aug. 1
Trackside
at Indianapolis
8 p.m.
SPEED (live)
Saturday,
Aug. 2
Brickyard
400 qualifying
11 a.m.-2 p.m.
TNT (live)
NASCAR
"Happy Hour" practice
4:30-5:30 p.m.
SPEED (live)
Sunday,
Aug. 3
Brickyard
400 Pre-race
2-2:30 p.m.
NBC (live)
Brickyard
400 race
2:30-6 p.m.
NBC (live)
NASCAR
Edition Speed News
7-8 p.m.
SPEED
NASCAR
Victory Lane, Indianapolis
8-9 p.m.
SPEED
***
Brickyard
400 Radio Schedule
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
(All times EDT - one hour ahead of Indianapolis)
Date
Program
Air Time
Friday,
Aug. 1
Brickyard
400 Preview show
6-7 p.m. (live)
Saturday,
Aug. 2
Brickyard
400 qualifying
11 a.m.-1 p.m. (live)
IROC at
Indy race
1:45-2:45 p.m. (live)
Brickyard
400 qualifying wrap-up show
6-7 p.m. (live)
Sunday,
Aug. 3
10th Brickyard
400
1:45-5:45 p.m. (live)
***
IROC at
Indy Television Schedule
(All times EDT - one hour ahead of Indianapolis)
Date
Program
Air Time
Network
Sunday,
Aug. 3
IROC at
Indy
1 p.m.
ESPN (tape)
IROC at
Indy rebroadcast
6 p.m.
ESPN2
Sunday,
Aug. 10
IROC at
Indy rebroadcast
3 a.m.
ESPN
Saturday,
Sept. 6
IROC at
Indy rebroadcast
4:30 a.m.
ESPN2
BRICKYARD
400 TURNS 10, HAS BECOME NASCAR SUMMER TRADITION
INDIANAPOLIS,
Monday, July 28, 2003 – On Saturday, Aug. 7, 1993, one thing
filled the grandstands of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: silence.
One year later, on Saturday, Aug. 6, 1994, eager race fans witnessed
the dawn of a new era in NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing –
and a new era at the then-85-year-old Speedway, as the inaugural
Brickyard 400 played in front of a packed house and national television
audience.
What a
difference a year made. And what a difference 10 years has made.
Adopted
hometown favorite Jeff Gordon, of nearby Pittsboro, Ind., had
the crowd going wild when he crossed the finish line first in
the inaugural Brickyard 400. But we now know that Gordon’s
first Indy victory was just the tip of iceberg for what immediately
became NASCAR’s largest-attended event, and what would rapidly
become one of its most important races every year.
The Brickyard
400 has become a race that has separated superstars from contenders
in Winston Cup racing. Of the six drivers that have won the Brickyard,
all but one have claimed at least one Winston Cup championship.
The late
Dale Earnhardt, 1995 winner of the Brickyard 400, won seven championships;
Jeff Gordon, a three-time Brickyard winner (1994, 1998, 2001)
is a four-time Winston Cup champion, including two of his Brickyard-winning
years in 1998 and 2001; two-time race winner Dale Jarrett (1996,
1999) would capitalize on his ’99 Brickyard win and earn
the championship that year; 2000 race winner Bobby Labonte also
won the championship in the same year; and Bill Elliott, the 2002
Brickyard 400 winner, won the Winston Cup championship in 1988.
The only
Brickyard winner yet to capture the championship, Ricky Rudd,
is scheduled to start his 701st consecutive Winston Cup start
at the Brickyard 400 on Aug. 3. Rudd has 23 career wins, and nearly
half his starts have, amazingly, resulted in a top-10 finish.
That’s a championship career by any standard.
In 10
short years, the Brickyard 400 already has created a memorable
list of triumphs and heartbreaks. The following is a synopsis
of the first nine Brickyard 400s. It’s hard to imagine what
memories the 10th race on Aug. 3 – and the next 10 and beyond
– will create:
1994:
Now-retired Winston Cup veteran Rick Mast was the first driver
to put his name in the record books by taking the pole for the
inaugural Brickyard 400 with a lap of 172.414 mph. Earnhardt started
next to Mast, in second, but brushed the Turn 4 wall on Lap 2.
Earnhardt continued, however, and finished fifth. On Lap 101,
a trade of bumps between Bodine brothers Brett and Geoffrey resulted
in Geoffrey spinning and the brothers feuding publicly after the
race.
Gordon and Ernie Irvan traded the lead four times in the last
21 laps. But Irvan’s day would end in heartbreak when his
car suffered a cut tire on Lap 156, forcing him to the pits and
a 17th-place finish.
Gordon,
who had just turned 23 on Aug. 4, would beat second-place Brett
Bodine to the checkered flag, winning by .53 of a second to collect
$613,000 of the NASCAR-record $3,213,849 purse. The race average
speed was 131.932 mph.
“Without
tears coming up, I tell you, this is the greatest thing in the
world,” Gordon said. “It’s far past our expectations.
I never thought it would happen. I’m a kid in a candy store.
I don’t know what to say.
“As
bad as my memory is, I still remember Ray Harroun’s name
(the inaugural Indianapolis 500 winner). Everyone wanted to win
this race. There wasn’t anyone who wanted it any more than
us.”
1995:
With the remnants of Hurricane Erin pushing across Indiana on
race day, it appeared the only winner on Aug. 5, 1995, would be
Mother Nature. But after a four-hour rain delay and a fast race
slowed by only one caution, Dale Earnhardt was crowned 1995 Brickyard
400 champion.
Jeff Gordon
returned from his 1994 victory to take the pole at 172.536. Elliott
lead the most laps, with 47, but Earnhardt led only once for 28
laps, and it was the ones that counted at the end.
Rusty
Wallace had a commanding lead over second-place Earnhardt when
he pitted on Lap 129, but he got caught behind a pit-lane accident
involving Joe Nemechek and Rich Bickle, allowing Earnhardt, who
had already pitted, to take the lead. Earnhardt would outrun Wallace
to the finish, winning the race by .37 of a second with a blistering
155.218 race average speed.
1996:
Dale Jarrett and Ernie Irvan, at the time teammates at Robert
Yates Racing, provided the story of the day with a duel to the
finish at the Brickyard 400, but defending race winner Dale Earnhardt
showed equal courage under great duress.
Earnhardt
suffered a broken collarbone and cracked sternum in a serious
accident at Talladega Superspeedway only six days before the 1995
Brickyard 400 yet he managed to qualify 13th at Indy’s challenging
2.5-mile oval on Thursday (four days after the accident) and complete
six laps of the race before Mike Skinner took over the No. 3 Goodwrench
Chevrolet.
Jarrett
made contact with the wall in qualifying and started 24th, yet
had a dominating car on race day and took the lead for the first
time on Lap 135. Irvan lead the race from Lap 139-153, when Jarrett
passed him on the inside of Turn 2.
Robert
Pressley hit the Turn 4 wall with two laps to go, and Jarrett
won his first Brickyard 400 under caution. The average speed of
the race was 139.508.
Jarrett also won the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 that year,
making him the only driver to win those three major events in
the same year.
1997:
It is widely known in the racing community that the fastest car
doesn’t always win, and Ricky Rudd and his No. 10 Tide Ford
team put that wisdom to use at the 1997 Brickyard 400 to give
Rudd the biggest win of his career.
Ernie
Irvan won the pole in the No. 28 Robert Yates Racing Ford at 177.736.
Irvan, his teammate, Dale Jarrett, and Jeff Gordon collectively
dominated the race, together leading 95 of the 160 laps. Rudd
pitted for fuel and tires on Lap 114, and when the leaders made
their final stop on Lap 147, Rudd stayed out.
While
Jarrett, Irvan and Gordon had horsepower, Rudd had fuel mileage,
and thanks to a final caution on Lap 155, he made it to the end,
beating Bobby Labonte to the finish line by .138 of a second,
the closest finish in Brickyard 400 history.
The Tide
Ford ran out of the gas as Rudd entered Victory Lane, appropriately
enough.
1998:
From dominance, to disbelief, to heartache in a matter of seconds.
That was Dale Jarrett’s day at the 1998 Brickyard 400.
Ervin
Irvan took the race pole for the second-consecutive year, setting
a track record in the No. 36 Skittles Pontiac at 179.394 mph.
With a clearly dominant car in the race, Jarrett was leading by
several seconds when he ran out of gas on the backstretch on Lap
80, the halfway point of the race.
The car
coasted around to the pit entrance where members of his pit crew
and that of his Robert Yates Racing teammate, Kenny Irwin Jr.,
hurriedly pushed the car to his pit stall.
Jarrett
was away on Lap 84, but four laps down.
Jeff Gordon
arguably had the second-fastest car of the day, and he would lead
a total of 97 laps. He took the lead from Dale Earnhardt between
Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 127 and never relinquished it, winning his
second Brickyard 400 under caution and earning a $1 million No
Bull Five bonus from Winston. He also became the first two-time
winner of the event.
The race
also saw an event-record number of caution flags: nine cautions
for 34 laps.
Further
demonstrating the dominance of his car that day, Jarrett came
back to finish on the lead lap, in 16th place.
1999:
Dale Jarrett and his crew proved his early-race dominance of 1998
was no fluke. Jarrett and the No. 88 Quality Care Ford crew made
the day look easy, leading a total of 117 laps and beating Bobby
Labonte to the finish line by 3.351 seconds and averaging 148.228
for the race.
“We
tried to become the first two-time winner in the Brickyard 400,
but (Jeff) Gordon beat us to that,” Jarrett said in reference
to his heartbreaking 1998 Brickyard 400. “It’s a race
you want to do well in. You have to approach the Brickyard 400
just like the Daytona 500. Four hundred miles around that place
is a long time.”
Jeff Gordon
won his third career Brickyard 400 pole at 179.612.
2000:
After finishing second, third, and second, respectively, the three
previous years, Bobby Labonte finally got a taste of Victory Lane
at Indianapolis in the 2000 Brickyard 400.
Rusty
Wallace valiantly tried to deliver team owner Roger Penske his
first stock car victory at Indianapolis, leading 110 laps. Penske
has the record for the most Indianapolis 500 victories as a team
owner, with 13.
Wallace
took the lead on Lap 44, and from that point on only he and Labonte
led, trading the lead five times. But Labonte drove under Wallace
exiting Turn 4 on Lap 146, gave Wallace a little nudge on the
main straightaway and cleared Wallace’s No. 2 Miller Lite
Ford entering Turn 1 on Lap 147. Labonte would go on to win by
4.229 seconds, the largest margin of victory in event history,
and finished the race with an average speed of 155.918, also an
event record.
Popular
NASCAR champion Darrell Waltrip, in the midst of a farewell tour
as a driver, thrilled the crowd by qualifying second for his final
Brickyard 400 start. The sight of Waltrip dancing near the start-finish
line and hugging his younger brother, Winston Cup standout Michael
Waltrip, after the qualifying run was a memorable Brickyard moment.
2001:
Three-for-eight. Jeff Gordon became the first three-time winner
of the Brickyard 400 in only eight starts at the fabled Indianapolis
Motor Speedway. Gordon also set the record in the 2001 Brickyard
400 for the lowest-starting driver to win the event, after starting
27th.
Gordon
credited crew chief Robbie Loomis with an important pit-lane call
on Lap 132. Race leader Sterling Marlin did not pit, but Gordon
came in for fuel and only two tires. Gordon got out ahead of the
rest of the field, placing him second behind Marlin. On the restart
on Lap 136, Gordon got a good jump on Marlin and passed him entering
Turn 1.
Gordon
turned smooth, consistent laps in the waning stages of the race
and beat Marlin to the line by .943 of a second, averaging 130.790
in a race that saw seven cautions for 28 laps.
2002:
Despite a heat index that surpassed the 100-degree mark, popular
NASCAR veteran Bill Elliott maintained a dominating edge throughout
the 2002 Brickyard 400 weekend. Elliott qualified second in Evernham
Motorsports’ No. 9 Dodge, led 93 laps and won by 1.269 seconds.
Elliott became the first driver to win the Brickyard 400 from
the front row.
Rusty
Wallace finished second – again – earning the dubious
distinction of finishing the Brickyard 400 in second place three
times, in 1995, 2000 and 2002, more than any other driver.
Several
records were set during the event: 30 cars finished on the lead
lap, the most in event history; the average speed was 125.033
mph, the slowest in event history; and there were eight cautions
for 36 laps, the most yellow-flag laps in event history.
Tony Stewart,
a native of nearby Columbus, Ind., won the pole for the race with
a track-record lap of 182.960 mph in the No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac.
RYAN
NEWMAN TAKES POCONO AND NOW HAS MOST WINS OF THE SEASON
LONG POND,
Pa. -- Late caution flags helped Ryan Newman stretch his gas to
the end, allowing him to barely hold off hard-charging Kurt Busch
and win Sunday at Pocono Raceway.
Newman, who started on the pole, would not have been able to make
the final 46 laps without stopping. But crashes involving rookie
Casey Mears and Bobby Labonte slowed the field for a total of
12 laps in the Pennsylvania 500.
Newman used the same strategy to win two weeks ago at Chicagoland
Speedway, and Jimmie Johnson won with a fuel economy run last
Sunday in New Hampshire. Newman said he wasn't thinking entirely
about fuel as Busch made a determined bid after the race went
green for the final 12 laps.
"The 97 there at the end, I had to do some stuff to keep
his nose in the dirty air,'' Newman said. "Fuel mileage and
track position paid off.''
Handling also had a role in the victory.
"I had to line myself up to get off the corners,'' he explained.
"We didn't have great steam down the straightaways.''
Busch never let up in a battle between the biggest winners this
season on the Winston Cup circuit.
"It was a great day,'' he said. "But he was in position
to win.''
That was because Newman proved again that Pocono is about driving
talent as much as anything else. Never was that more evident than
in the final few laps.
"I had to check up in turn two just to get a good run in
the corner,'' he explained.
Busch nearly provided the first victory on the mountaintop for
Roush Racing -- now a five-car unit -- since the team entered
Winston Cup racing in 1988. But every time he pulled within a
car-length or two, Newman got away.
"We could get a good run on him through turn one,'' Busch
said. "We had a good car for that.
"We were equal in two and he was better than us in three.''
Newman parlayed his series-leading fifth pole of the year into
his fourth victory. He and Busch came into the race leading the
circuit with three wins apiece.
Newman's Dodge beat the Ford of Busch by .307 seconds -- about
six car-lengths _to take the $4.2 million event. He led 88 of
200 laps in just his fourth Cup race on the 2½-mile triangular
track.
Newman also won here in an ARCA series race in 2000.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. also played the fuel card and lasted to be
third in his Chevrolet, followed by teammate Michael Waltrip and
the Chevy of two-time Pocono winner Terry Labonte.
"We just needed track position,'' said Earnhardt, who fell
a position after initially challenging Newman for the lead. "I
could catch the 12 but after three laps he just drove off.''
Earnhardt moved into second place in the standings, passing Jeff
Gordon, who was spun out by Dave Blaney on the 124th lap. Four-time
series champion Gordon wound up 36th and fell to third in the
points.
Points leader Matt Kenseth, among those who made late gas stops,
finished 13th. He leads Earnhardt by 232 points and Gordon by
308 after 20 of 36 races.
"They did a real good job with their pit strategy,'' Kenseth
said of Earnhardt's team.
The winner's average speed was 127.705 mph in a race slowed for
36 laps by eight caution flags. There were 18 lead changes among
11 drivers.
Jeff Burton, Joe Nemechek, Todd Bodine, Blaney and Sterling Marlin
completed the top 10.
Tony Stewart, who won in June, had the fastest car in the field,
moving to the lead from 33rd on the grid. But he blew his engine
on the 154th lap.
Stewart's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, three-time Pocono winner
Bobby Labonte, blew his Chevy engine before crashing on lap 181.
RYAN
NEWMAN WINS POLE AT POCONO
LONG POND,
Pa. -- Ryan Newman left no doubt about who has the car to catch
at Pocono Raceway when he backed up the fastest practice speed
with his fifth pole of the season in qualifying Friday.
Newman
hustled his Dodge around the 2 1/2 -mile triangular track at 170.358
mph to claim the top starting spot for Sunday's Pennsylvania 500.
He continued to demonstrate his liking for the track, where he
qualified second seven weeks ago before finishing fifth in the
Pocono 500.
On a day when most drivers took one lap and shut down because
the second was expected to be slower, Newman tried to go even
faster.
``I didn't
get the first lap that I wanted, so I ran the second,'' he said.
``It's a good way to start the weekend and a big morale booster
for the team.''
His second-lap
speed of 170.007 came up short, but was faster than the best of
any other qualifier.
Newman
extended his Winston Cup series lead in poles this year.
``I told
the crew earlier in the season that if they gave me a straight
arrow, I'd shoot it straight,'' he said.
He will
be going for his fourth victory of the season -- which would give
him the series lead -- and fifth overall.
The Purdue
graduate has established himself as the best qualifier in the
NASCAR. He led with six poles last year and has 12 overall.
``It's
definitely important,'' he said of the poles, but tempered that.
``If you can't get to the end, it doesn't do you any good.''
Despite
the victories and seven finishes in the top five, Newman is 13th
in the points. The reason is six results of 39th or worse in 19
races.
``But
we're finishing races now, and that's a big improvement over the
first half of the season,'' he said.
The speed
Newman posted did not approach Tony Stewart's 3-year-old track-record
of 172.391, but was good enough to hold off June Pocono polesitter
Jimmie Johnson. He took the outside of the front row in his Chevrolet
with a lap at 169.821.
``This
is a place where we've really learned how to qualify well,'' Johnson
said. ``Too bad I wasn't just a little faster to catch Ryan.''
He said
speed is not necessarily the most important factor at Pocono.
``You
have to have track position,'' he explained. ``And fuel mileage
is very important.
Johnson
won last Sunday in New Hampshire in part by saving gas over the
last quarter of the race.
Elliott
Sadler was third in a Ford at 169.246. He was delighted with his
lap, a vast change from his earlier mood.
``That
was the worst hour-and-a-half of my life in practice,'' he said.
``We were about 40th on the sheet, and I felt like committing
suicide.''
But changes
on the car brought him up to sixth-fastest by the end of the session
and set the stage for his outstanding qualifying lap.
He will
line up on the inside of the second row, flanked by three-time
Pocono winner Bobby Labonte, who went 168.932 in a Chevrolet.
John Andretti
qualified fifth by touring the track at 168.925 in just his second
start in the Haas CNC Racing Pontiac.
Terry
Labonte, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, points leader Matt Kenseth
and rookie Casey Mears completed the top 10.
Wallace
has four victories on the mountaintop, Jarrett three and Labonte
two.
Defending
race champion Bill Elliott -- the biggest winner in Pocono history
-- will start 11th as he seeks his sixth victory here.
J.
BURTON REACHES 179.959 MPH IN FINAL DAY OF BRICKYARD 400 TESTING
INDIANAPOLIS,
Wednesday, July 23, 2003 – Jeff Burton and Kevin Lepage each
topped 179 mph July 23 in the final day of testing for the Brickyard
400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 10th
Brickyard 400 is scheduled for Aug. 1-3 at the famed 2.5-mile
oval, with qualifying Aug. 2 and the race Aug. 3.
Burton’s
top speed was 179.959 mph in the No. 99 Citgo Ford, and Lepage
turned a lap of 179.742 in the No. 71 Matrix Motorsports Ford.
Both were making simulated qualifying runs.
Indiana
native Ryan Newman, the defending NASCAR Winston Cup Series Raybestos
Rookie of the Year, also tested in the No. 12 Alltel Dodge. Newman’s
top speed from the private test day was not released at the request
of his team, Penske Racing.
Lepage,
who said July 22 that his independent Matrix team was focused
solely on finding a solid qualifying speed, left the Speedway
this morning after completing only nine laps. Newman and Burton
tested all day and recorded 91 and 100 laps for the day, respectively.
Burton
said it’s imperative that teams test at Indy, for two reasons:
Despite frequent comparisons to other venues such as Pocono Raceway
and Michigan International Speedway, there’s nothing like
Indy’s 2.5-mile oval, and the importance of winning the Brickyard
400.
“It’s
a real specialized race, and we feel it requires direct attention,”
Burton said. “There’s nothing at all like this. The
only thing the same about this and Pocono is that it has long
straightaways. The corners are totally different.
“This
place is so much smoother, (and) Pocono is rough. There’s
not a corner on this racetrack that resembles Pocono. A lot of
people look at the straightaways and say, ‘It’s like
Pocono,’ but it’s nothing like Pocono.”
Burton
said both he and his team owner, Jack Roush, place winning the
Brickyard 400 high on their “to do” list.
“Anybody
that has been involved or is involved in motorsports that doesn’t
have a respect for Indianapolis doesn’t deserve to be in
motorsports,” Burton said. “It’s a historic place
with a tremendous amount of heritage, and I have a lot of reverence
for that. Everybody’s heard of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
so anytime you can be successful at a track with that much history
and heritage, that’s a special thing.”
Jimmie
Johnson remained fastest overall during seven days of private
testing this month at Indianapolis, turning a lap of 182.028 on
July 15 in the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. Tony Stewart’s
track record, set during qualifying for the 2002 Brickyard 400,
is 182.960.
***
Tickets: Reserved-seat Race Day tickets for the Brickyard 400
remain available. Tickets and parking can be purchased on the
World Wide Web via www.imstix.com or by calling the IMS Ticket
Office at (800) 822-INDY or (317) 492-6700.
***
NASCAR
WINSTON CUP TESTING REPORT, INDIANAPOLIS
July 22-23, 2003
Car No.
Driver Speed (mph) Day Total Laps
99 Jeff Burton 179.959 July 23 167
71 Kevin Lepage 179.742 July 23 62
55 Jeff Fultz 176.318** July 22 76
12 Ryan Newman NA* NA 187
Total Laps: 492
*Team did not authorize speeds to be released.
**Did not test July 23.
JIMMIE
JOHNSON WINS FUEL DUEL AT LOUDON
LOUDON,
N.H. -- Jimmie Johnson gambled on fuel and made it. Ditto for
points leader Matt Kenseth. Jeff Gordon's strategy was a disaster,
and all the right calls Dale Earnhardt Jr. made meant little to
the big picture.
Johnson
proved to be an expert fuel strategist Sunday, conserving his
gas to win at New Hampshire International Speedway in a race that
widened Kenseth's hold on the Winston Cup points standings.
Johnson
stretched his final tank of gas for 93 laps, then carefully conserved
the fuel after taking the lead in the New England 300. He had
to keep a close eye on his fuel gauge to make sure he had enough
to hold off Kevin Harvick at the finish in a battle of Chevrolets.
"I
think some strategy played into it at the end with us gambling
we had enough gas to finish it," Johnson said. "After
I took the lead, I had to look in my mirror the rest of the way
while I conserved fuel and kept an eye on whoever was second.
But I was able to ride around and watch my gas and we made it."
The win
was the second of the year for Johnson, fifth of his two-year
career and the 400th overall for Chevrolet.
Kenseth
-- also cutting it close on gas -- finished third to extend his
lead in the championship race to a whopping 234 points over Jeff
Gordon. It's Kenseth's largest margin since he took over the lead
in early March.
"I
don't know where anyone else finished, but I know we finished
in front of them so that was good," Kenseth said. "All
you can do is show up every week and do the best job you can.
This week I feel real fortunate to get out of here and gain points."
Ryan Newman finished fourth in a Dodge, and Robby Gordon was fifth
in a Chevrolet.
Earnhardt
Jr. ended up sixth and maintained the third spot in the points
standings. But Earnhardt is now 273 behind Kenseth and felt like
he's competing in a losing battle.
"Matt
is having a spectacular season and I applaud what his team is
doing," Earnhardt said. "I feel like we're not chipping
away, and we can't gain anything on Matt at all. But we've still
got to enjoy our success because we're having the best season.
We've got to be proud of that."
Jeff Gordon,
who easily had the best car for most of the day and led a race-high
133 laps, finished a disappointing 24th.
He didn't
pit for gas when his teammate Johnson did. That meant he had to
stop later, and when he made the final trip into the pits, his
stop was slower than most because he decided to change all four
tires instead of a gas-and-go.
Gordon
came out in 28th. He struggled with traffic and his Chevrolet's
handling, and was devastated with his finish even though Johnson,
his protege, was the winner.
"I'm
happy for Jimmie, but I'm just so devastated in our own performance
right now," he said. "It's not the points, it's not
that. It's just that we had the car to either win or finish in
the top five. I wanted to put the heat on these guys and I really
don't know what happened.
"I'm
completely in shock and I'm just completely drained from the devastation."
Dale Jarrett
finished seventh and Steve Park was eighth -- putting all three
of Richard Childress Racing's cars (Harvick and Robby Gordon)
in the top 10 for the first time this season.
Roush
Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle rounded out the top
10.
The field
was set by points after rain washed out Friday's qualifying, putting
Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt up front at the start. Johnson
began sixth, but quickly moved into second and was racing for
the lead soon after.
Drivers
then jockeyed for track position over many of the race's 12 cautions,
with some pitting for gas and tires and others staying out to
pick up spots.
When caution
came out with 96 laps to go, about 15 cars decided not to pit.
Harvick and Johnson did, gambling that would be the last time
they would have to stop for gas.
Kenseth
came in under that caution, too, boosting his chances of getting
to the end without a stop.
But the
12th caution came out with 66 to go when Christian Fittipaldi
hit the wall. So the 15 cars that didn't stop under the previous
caution went in for gas.
Newman,
who used fuel mileage to win last week in Chicago, inherited the
lead. Johnson was fifth at the restart.
It didn't
take Johnson long to get up on Newman's bumper and with 37 laps
