August 10, 2005

By Rebecca Gladden

Recently, a comedian on a late-night TV show was joking about the way the cable news networks cover major events. He talked about the messages crawling across both the top and bottom of the screen, the numerous picture-in-pictures, the time and temperature stamps and station logo in the corners and other distractions all superimposed on the actual news story being covered. The punch line was that he had suffered whiplash attempting to watch everything at the same time.

That's kind of what it was like trying to follow the many intriguing stories that emerged during Sunday's Brickyard 400, now titled the "Allstate 400 at the Brickyard", at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The feature story, of course, was Indiana native Tony Stewart, who fulfilled a childhood dream of winning at his home track and in the process took over the Nextel Cup points lead. He also answered what seemed to be the burning question of the week: If he won the race, would Stewart continue his fence-climbing tradition, and if so, where on the track he would do it? Stewart first mounted the wall in front of his Turn 2 suite and then climbed the fence near the flag stand, savoring every moment of an emotionally fulfilling victory.

One of many subplots on the day was whether either Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be able to answer their critics and deliver good finishes. Of the two, Gordon fared much better, although the four-time Brickyard winner was never really a factor up front. Gordon, who brought home an 8th-place finish and gained one spot in the points, is now just 87 points out of 10th. Earnhardt Jr. ran in the back of the field most of the day and got spun from behind on a Lap 64 restart. The ensuing wreck took both Junior and teammate Martin Truex out of the race. Earnhardt, who finished dead last and lost two spots in the points, concedes that his race for the chase is all but over.

Jimmie Johnson entered the race 1st in points, but his die was cast on Saturday when the 48 team failed to pass inspection and was not allowed to qualify the car. Johnson started the race in 42nd but had clawed his was up to the top 10 before blowing a right front tire. He nailed the Turn 4 wall in what he described as the hardest hit of his career. He maneuvered the car to his pit stall, although later said that he didn't remember how he got there. The driver was pulled from the vehicle by crew chief Chad Knaus, as team members worked to extinguish a fire under the hood. Johnson was treated at a local hospital for a possible concussion and was later released.

Elliott Sadler started on the pole at Indy and felt that he had a car capable of winning the race. Sadler ran up front all day until a possible tire issue sent him to the pits just five laps after Johnson. He dropped back to 32nd on the day and slipped three spots in the points, falling out of the top 10 to 12th. Adding insult to injury, his tire was not going down after all.

Veterans Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace had relatively quietly days. Mark Martin had a solid 7th-place finish and moved up one spot in the points to 6th. Wallace, who started from the 41st spot after crashing Saturday in qualifying, finished the race in 25th and held on to 4th in the points standings.

Along with these stories and others surrounding NASCAR's marquee drivers, the performance of five of the Cup series' young stars was perhaps the most overlooked news of the day:

Kasey Kahne (age 25): Started 4th, finished 2nd. He was Stewart's closest competition for much of the race, even passing Stewart and leading 15 laps in the late going before Stewart recaptured the lead for good. This was Kahne's second Indy start with two top-5 finishes.

Brian Vickers (age 21): Started 5th, finished 3rd. It was only his second Brickyard start as well, and Vickers was the highest finishing Hendrick driver.

Casey Mears (age 27). Started 40th, finished 6th. Mears was one of the biggest movers of the day and was in the top 10 for much of the race.

Kyle Busch (age 19): Started 16th, finished 10th. Busch quietly brought home a top-10 finish after starting 16th. This was the Cup rookie's first start at Indy and he was the race's highest-finishing rookie.

Carl Edwards (age 25): Started 38th, finished 12th. Edwards narrowly missed the top-10, but his 12th-place finished moved him into the top 10 in points. Edwards started the race from 38th place.

With results like these from its young stars, it appears that the sport's future is bright indeed.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN. Although we may not always agree with what is said, we do feel it's our duty to give a voice to those who have something relevant to say about the sport of auto racing.