2010 Brickyard 400:
The Brickyard 400 has a remarkable record of predicting the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship winner. The winner of this race has gone on to win the crown in eight of the sixteen seasons that the Brickyard 400 has been in existence. Who has the tools to win the race this year? Will they carry that momentum forward to win the title?
Tickets:
Speedway ticket office 317-492-6700 or 800-822-INDY
The Track:
Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5 mile rectangle is one of the most famous race courses in the world. Unfortunately it wasn't built for stock cars as it has only 9 degrees of banking in the four distinct corners and very long straightaways. This makes passing very difficult and track position is everything. As a result, this fast, flat track isn't a great place for stock car racing.
Race Distance:
160 Laps = 400 Miles
The Big Picture:
The current top twelve are:
- Kevin Harvick
- Jeff Gordon -103
- Jimmie Johnson -188
- Denny Hamlin -203
- Kurt Busch -221
- Kyle Busch -257
- Jeff Burton -280
- Matt Kenseth -299
- Tony Stewart -356
- Carl Edwards -400
- Greg Biffle -453
- Clint Bowyer -459
Storylines:
The Brickyard 400 has successfully predicted the NASCAR Sprint Cup champion in eight of the last sixteen seasons. There seems to be something about this race that exercises the same traits that make a championship winning team.
Who will have the patience, teamwork, top quality equipment and skill to get the job done?
Media Coverage:
TV: ESPN Sunday, July 25th, 12:00PM Eastern.
Actual Race: 1:00PM Eastern
Recent Events:
2009 Winner: Jimmie Johnson
2009 Polesitter: Mark Martin
Last Year:
In 2009 Juan Montoya looked like he was going to run away with the Brickyard 400. Montoya lead 116 laps of the 160 lap race and was in front of Mark Martin by more than 4 seconds when he was caught speeding on pit road under green.
That left Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson to battle for the win. Although Martin looked to be a little bit faster at the end he couldn't find a way past Johnson for the win and Jimmie took the win and parlayed that into another NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.
Predictions:
In 2009 Mark Martin won the pole and had the best car at the end. Mark wasn't able to find his way into the lead last year as the laps ticked away but clearly his team has hit on a setup that works on the tricky Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Mark is currently 14th in points and needs to put some top finishes on the board in order to solidify his place in the Chase. This weekend Mark Martin makes a great pick.
For my backup this week Jimmie Johnson would just be too easy to pick. I'm going deeper this week to Kasey Kahne. Kahne finished fourth in Sonoma which tends to be a good indicator of Brickyard performance plus he had a solid seventh place effort here last year. I think Kasey Kahne makes a great pick this weekend.
