July 23, 2008
By Chuck Abrams
The Brickyard 400 was my race. I had attended every single one since stock cars invaded the hallowed grounds of Indy. I had seen it all –- Jeff Gordon winning the inaugural event, Dale Sr. winning, Rooster, Harvick’s awesome tire-busting burnout. Unfortunately due to finances and travel timing, my last Brickyard 400 was in 2005 when Tony Stewart won and climbed the fence.
As we enter the beginning of the end of summer, drivers head towards Indianapolis with dreams of a championship in mind while others are trying to figure out where their seasons went wrong.
With just seven races left before the Chase starts, the Brickyard 400 looms as the next big feather in your cap before Richmond. Drivers are trying to use it as a spring board into the top twelve while others are looking to solidify their position in the top ten.
Stewart is the defending champion once again and currently sits tenth in points with Kahne and Hamlin breathing down his neck. Stewart used this race -- and a win at Watkins Glen to position himself last year but this year is different. He has announced that he is moving on from Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the year and his season has had its share of ups and downs. But Smoke rebounded from not even finishing the Coke Zero 400, to a top five finish at Chicago. And he is the last one to let something like a little fallout with his team get in the way of a win.
Jeff Gordon is the all time leading winner at the Brickyard and has climbed to sixth in points with less than stellar equipment this year.
Gordon's teammate Johnson is also moving up in the standings after a disastrous start to the year. Chad Knaus has them firing on nearly all cylinders now, which makes them a dangerous team late in the season.
Kyle Busch is still the points leader and has a better record at the Brickyard than I would have thought. He may not get win number eight on Sunday, but look for him to be in the top ten.
Kevin Harvick is a Brickyard 400 winner and is long overdue for a win. How he is still in ninth place befuddles me, but that just goes to show how strong RCR is and how off a year this has been for most of the top drivers. If he can find the set up in his car, he might actually rate a top five.
Juan Montoya is having a horrible year and is looking to this race and Watkins Glen to climb out of the cellar. It would not surprise me at all if he were to win this week. But that would mean a HUGE change race prep for this team.
Mr. Consistency Matt Kenseth is also a threat this week. He has never won here but his team is on a roll after a long, early season doldrums.
Kasey Kahne has been good or bad on this track and his season is a carbon copy of that. After a few weeks of basking in the glory of finding Victory Lane once again, he has disappeared and dropped into eleventh place. He will be looking for his mojo once again at the Brickyard.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has never had great luck at the Brickyard with only two top ten finishes in eight starts. Ouch. But this year he is living a charmed life. Not quite like Kyle Busch, but close. OK, a little close. Maybe his first top five?
Mark Martin has run well here but has never won this race. It could be his year, now that he has decided to go back to racing full time. How many times will we let this guy retire?
Brian Vickers? Kurt Busch? Who knows? Vickers has been the best Red Bull team all year and he might just make some noise. Penske has struggled a ton this year but Kurt has had some decent runs here. He could get a top ten if he can stay out of the wall this year.
Clint Bowyer has been almost nonexistent this year yet remains in thirteenth place and not that far out of the Chase. If he can avoid Vickers and Ragan this week and get a top ten run, he might just be able to still smell the Chase from where he sits.
And speaking of David Ragan –- he could be the sleeper this weekend. He has one of the best crew chiefs in the game and he seems like he is gaining confidence –- which he will need in spades on Sunday. He also needs a Chevy as Ford has not won here since Dale Jarrett did it in 1999. Chevy has won nine of fourteen trips to Indy.
Put that fact in your race day pipe and smoke it.
Those are my quick thoughts on the week. Let me know yours.
Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.
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