Don`t need it Sure would be nice The downright desperate

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7/19/10
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NASCARRundown
BRICKYARD PREVIEW
Every Cup driver covets a Brickyard
400 win. But this year it would mean
more to some than to others. Here’s
the breakdown. By Rob Sneddon
Don’t need it
Sure would be nice
The downright desperate
Picking the favorites in the 2010 Brickyard
400 is easy. Over the past five years, two drivers have hogged all the Indy glory: Tony Stewart (two wins) and Jimmie Johnson (three
wins). Add to this elite group Jeff Gordon,
who has won the Brickyard 400 a record four
times — a career winning percentage of 25
percent in NASCAR’s biggest event of the
summer. No other active driver has won
Indy more than once.
Of the repeat winners, Johnson, who sits
third in points but is tied with Denny Hamlin for the 2010 series lead in wins with five,
has the least to gain at the Brickyard this year.
Gordon and Stewart are both winless in
2010 and would love to break through in Indianapolis, where each has deep roots and a
large following.
At second in points, however, Gordon is
in far better shape than Stewart, who is
ninth in the standings and is just 103 points
off the bubble.
So while it’s a stretch to say that Stewart
needs to win the Brickyard 400, a victory on
Sunday would pay a higher dividend to him
than to Johnson or Gordon.
This group includes the other three active
Brickyard 400 winners; drivers who have won
in 2010 (besides Johnson); and all other legitimate Chase contenders.
Of the three former winners — Bobby
Labonte, Bill Elliott and Kevin Harvick — only
Harvick has a realistic chance. As the points
leader, however, he hardly faces a must-win
scenario. Ditto for Denny Hamlin and the
Busch brothers, all of whom have made multiple visits to Victory Lane in 2010.
Jamie McMurray has already assured himself a successful season by winning the Daytona 500. So has David Reutimann, whose
Chicagoland triumph proved that last year’s
rain-shortened Coke 600 win was no fluke.
And regardless of what happens on the track,
Kasey Kahne has had a good year because he
signed with Hendrick Motorsports, effective
in 2011. That leaves Indiana native Ryan Newman; the Roush-Fenway trio of Greg Biffle,
Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth; and a pair
of pairs: RCR teammates Jeff Burton and
Clint Bowyer, and Hendrick ’mates Dale
Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin.
It’s tempting to say that Junior is the neediest of this bunch because an Indy win would
serve as a pressure-release valve. A similar argument can be made for Edwards, who could
use a major Cup win to shift the focus away
from his ongoing feud with Brad Keselowski.
But in the broader picture Martin would
gain even the most from a Brickyard 400 win.
He’s never won the Cup title, never won the
Daytona 500. The 2010 Brickyard 400 is one
of his few remaining opportunities to claim
one of Cup racing’s majors.
This group consists of those who have yet to
win in 2010, who have never won at Indy and
who have little chance of making the Chase. In
other words, the group for whom a win at Indy
could spell the difference between a miserable
season and a memorable one.
A few, including A.J. Allmendinger and
Reed Sorenson, have shown enough at Indy
in the past to rate long-shot status. But realistically, the members of this group stand little chance. With one exception.
He was the runner-up at the Brickyard in
2007. And last year he not only could have won
the race, he should have. He led more than half
the laps before a pit-road speeding penalty
handed the race to Johnson instead. He recovered from that disappointment to make the
Chase for the first time and was a title contender deep into the autumn. Now his car owner is in position to accomplish an unprecedented trifecta: wins in the Daytona 500, Indy
500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season.
Put all of that together, and Juan Pablo
Montoya would gain more from winning the
2010 Brickyard 400 than any other driver.
RUSTY JARRETT | GETTY IMAGES FOR NASCAR
Carl Edwards
Why he matters Controversial Nationwide
win reignited his feud
with Brad Keselowski.
What he says “I’m
sure some (Keselowski) fans didn’t
like that.”
What the numbers say With Edwards now within 168 points of Keselowski for the Nationwide series
lead, the battle isn’t over.
ABOUT THE
BRICKYARD
DESPERATE
DRIVERS
The Brickyard at Indianapolis
Motor Speedway on July 27, 2008.
ONE TO WATCH
TRACK Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Indianapolis, Ind.), 2.5-mile
paved track
RACE LENGTH 160 laps, 400 miles
FIRST RACE 1909 (first NASCAR
race: 1994)
SERIES NASCAR Sprint Cup
Quote of note
“I’ll get my own damn uniform
back on and take care of this. He
ain’t gonna kill my boy.”
— Brad Keselowski’s father, retired racer Bob Keselowski, on Carl
Edwards
Where to watch
Sunday’s pre-race show on ESPN
starts at noon EDT, followed by the
race at 1 p.m.
UP TO SPEED
Gordon is the leader
It’s no shock that Jeff Gordon, only
four-time winner of the Brickyard
400, is the all-time Sprint Cup lap
leader at Indy. Gordon, in fact, has led
more than twice as many laps as any
other driver in Brickyard 400 history.
Still, the top 20 is sprinkled with surprises. Juan Pablo Montoya is eighth
despite just three career Brickyard
starts — two fewer than anyone else
on the list. But the biggest headscratcher is that journeyman Johnny
Benson Jr. has led 15 more laps at Indianapolis than Mark Martin, and in
half as many starts.
Hot day in the heartland
The plan was for Gateway International Raceway to host its first-ever
Camping World Truck and Nationwide twinbill last Friday and Saturday. Instead, the track ended up with
a same-day doubleheader when a
power failure led to the postponement of the truck race from Friday to
Saturday. Kevin Harvick steamed to
the truck win in 95-degree heat. With
Harvick leading 143 of 160 laps, the
race was a laugher. But one driver
not laughing was runner-up Brad Keselowski, who contended that Harvick had committed a violation by
passing the pace car while pitting
under yellow. Although the weather
had cooled for the Nationwide nightcap, the controversy surrounding
Keselowski got much hotter.
Milestone
Just four drivers have started all 16
previous editions of the Brickyard
400: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby
Labonte and Mark Martin. But only
one has been running at the finish
each time: Burton.
NEXT RACE
THE LOWDOWN NASCAR got a shot of intensity last weekend heading into this Sunday’s Brickyard
400. Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski, full-time Nationwide and Cup series competitors, compressed their rivalry into a single lap at Gateway International Raceway on Saturday night. Keselowski
executed a bump-and-run pass with one lap left; Edwards responded on the final turn, sending Keselowski into the wall. Edwards won and Keselowski wrecked, taking several other cars with him.
FEB 6 BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT
WEEKLY STATS
BRICKYARD 400 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
1st Kevin Harvick
2nd Kasey Kahne
3rd Jamie McMurray
PAST WINNERS
2009 Jimmie Johnson
2008 Jimmie Johnson
2007 Tony Stewart
2006 Jimmie Johnson »
JUL 3 COKE ZERO 400
1st Kevin Harvick
All-Time Brickyard 400
lap leaders
Tony Stewart
217
3rd Jeff Gordon
3
Dale Jarrett
186
4
Bill Elliott
157
5
Rusty Wallace
148
6
Jimmie Johnson
128
Bristol, Tenn.
7
Jeff Burton
123
Juan Pablo Montoya
116
JUL 10 LIFELOCK.COM 400
1st David Reutimann 2nd Carl Edwards
FEB 21
AUTO CLUB 500
1st Jimmie Johnson 2nd Kevin Harvick
3rd Jeff Burton
JUL 25 BRICKYARD 400
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Speedway, Ind.
FEB 28 SHELBY AMERICAN
1st Jimmie Johnson 2nd Kevin Harvick
3rd Jeff Gordon
AUG 1
Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pa.
MAR 7 KOBALT TOOLS 500
1st Kurt Busch
3rd Juan P. Montoya
AUG 8 HELUVA GOOD! AT THE GLEN Watkins Glen International
FOOD CITY 500
MAR 28 GOODY'S 500
1st Jimmie Johnson 2nd Tony Stewart
1st Denny Hamlin
2nd Joey Logano
3rd Kurt Busch
3rd Jeff Gordon
AUG 15 CARFAX 400
AUG 21
IRWIN TOOLS NIGHT RACE
440
2
1st Jamie McMurray 2nd Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3rd Greg Biffle
MAR 21
LAPS LED
Jeff Gordon
3rd Jeff Gordon
DAYTONA 500
2nd Matt Kenseth
DRIVER
2nd Kasey Kahne
FEB 14
PENNSYLVANIA 500
RANK
1
Michigan International Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway
Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Brooklyn, Mich.
3rd Jimmie Johnson
SEP 5
TBA 500
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta
8
2nd Jimmie Johnson
3rd Kyle Busch
SEP 11
CHEVY ROCK & ROLL 400
Richmond International Raceway
Richmond, Va.
9
Ernie Irvan
114
2nd Jamie McMurray
3rd Juan P. Montoya
SEP 19 SYLVANIA 300
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Loudon, N.H.
10
Kevin Harvick
87
2nd Jeff Gordon
3rd Kevin Harvick
SEP 26 AAA 400
Dover International Speedway
Dover, Del.
11
Elliott Sadler
76
1st Denny Hamlin
2nd Jamie McMurray
3rd Kurt Busch
Kansas Speedway
Kansas City, Kan.
12
Johnny Benson Jr.
72
MAY 16 AUTISM SPEAKS 400
1st Kyle Busch
2nd Jeff Burton
3rd Matt Kenseth
OCT 10 PEPSI MAX 400
Auto Club Speedway
Fontana, Calif.
13
Mark Martin
57
MAY 22 SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE
1st Kurt Busch
2nd Martin Truex Jr.
3rd Joey Logano
OCT 16 NASCAR BANKING 500
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Concord, N.C.
MAY 30 COCA-COLA 600
3rd Kyle Busch
Martinsville, Va.
54
2nd Jamie McMurray
Martinsville Speedway
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
1st Kurt Busch
OCT 24 TUMS 500
14
1st Denny Hamlin
2nd Kyle Busch
3rd Tony Stewart
oct 31 AMP ENERGY 500
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Ala.
15
Sterling Marlin
42
3rd Kurt Busch
NOV 7 LONE STAR 500
Texas Motor Speedway
Fort Worth, Texas
16
Kasey Kahne
40
APR 10 SUBWAY 600
1st Ryan Newman
APR 19 SAMSUNG 500
1st Denny Hamlin
APR 25 AARON'S 499
1st Kevin Harvick
MAY 1 CROWN ROYAL 400
1st Kyle Busch
MAY 8 SOUTHERN 500
JUN 6 POCONO 500
JUN 13
HELUVA GOOD! 400
JUN 20 TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350
1st Denny Hamlin
2nd Jeff Gordon
2nd Kasey Kahne
1st Jimmie Johnson 2nd Robby Gordon
JUN 27 LENOX INDUSTRIAL TOOLS 301 1st Jimmie Johnson 2nd Tony Stewart
OCT 3 PRICE CHOPPER 400
3rd Kevin Harvick
NOV 14 TBA 500
Phoenix International Raceway
Avondale, Ariz.
17
Kyle Busch
39
3rd Kurt Busch
NOV 21 FORD 400
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Fla.
18
Steve Park
39