The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
Jul. 22, 2016
What to Watch: Friday
by The Frontstretch Staff
Records and facts
In last year's race, Kyle Busch led 19 laps, but had to get past Joey Logano on a GWC for the lead. From there, Busch was able to hold on to win his first race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Logano was second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex, Jr. and Denny Hamlin.
Since he's coming back for the next two weeks to sub for Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon is once again considered to be an active driver. He is the winningest Sprint Cup Series driver at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with five career victories. This total includes the inaugural Brickyard 400 back in 1994.
Jimmie Johnson is the winningest full-time driver at Indianapolis with four career victories, the most recent of which coming in 2012. Tony Stewart, who will be competing in his final race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, has two. No other active driver has more than one victory. The only non-active driver with more than one Indianapolis victory is Dale Jarrett with two.
Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 2.5-mile oval, 160 laps (400 miles)
Banking: 9.2 degrees (9 degrees, 12 minutes)
Straightaways: 3,300 ft., flat
Chutes: 660 ft., flat
Grandstand Seating: 235,000
Pit Road Speed: 55 mph
Pace Car Speed: 70 mph
Opened: 1909, first Cup race in 1994
Website: http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndianapolisMotorSpeedway
Twitter: http://twitter.com/IMS
Remaining Pre-Race Schedule:
Practice No. 1: Friday, July 22, 1:30 - 2:55 p.m. on NBCSN
Happy Hour: Friday, July 22, 4 - 5:25 p.m. on NBCSN
Qualifying: Saturday, July 22 at 1:45 p.m. on NBCSN
Say What?!
"Indianapolis is a very unique track. For me, it's kind of a cool place to go to as I grew up always wanting to race Indy cars. With Rick Mears being from Bakersfield (California), he was a hometown, childhood hero as we were all racing go-karts. So, to win there back in 2003, and be able to kind of achieve your childhood dream in a sense, but in a stock car, was a great moment. Going back to Indy is just knowing it's a very historic racetrack where it's a lot of fun to be a part of the event. It's always a place where you want to win, but it's fun to just go there and race to be a part of the next era of its history.
"Indianapolis is a very hard racetrack to pass on. Obviously, with how narrow the racetrack is and how fast the cars are going, you have to try and maintain your track position all day. It takes really everything – you have to have great motors, good handling and all the things you hear about at a lot of racetracks. You can't overcome a lack of horsepower or a lack of downforce and I feel like we've done a good job with both of those things all year. Hopefully, we can find the right handling package to go with the great pieces and parts that we have to go on the cars." - Kevin Harvick
"Based on the test session, one thing I forgot from only going there once a year is how temperature-sensitive that racetrack really is. The morning sessions opened up with a ton of grip and the car was pretty comfortable. That afternoon once the heat of the day set in it got really, really tricky. With a three o'clock start time I think that will allow for the track to cool down and it will be a little more forgiving. Indy has four distinct and unique corners. I will be happy with myself to get three of the four corners right each lap – it's a very, very challenging track. Lots of concentration required. It sure does feel good when you win there. It's a celebration like no other." - Jimmie Johnson
"I always enjoy going back to Indy since I didn't live too far from there for about a year when I raced Sprint Cars. Last year we raced a package with a taller spoiler which made it really hard to pass. I'm looking forward to getting on track Friday and seeing how the cars handle with our current aeropackage. I think if we can maintain our track position near the front and not have any misfortunes like last year then we should have a strong showing in our SunnyD Ford." - Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
"It's really chilling to go to Indianapolis every time you go through the tunnel and when you make your first laps on the race track -- your first time ever or your first time for the weekend. And it's a place where I really, really enjoy bringing people. I always enjoy having my family there or someone else that will really appreciate the experience.
"Snap Fitness is going to be on the car at Indianapolis. I'm really excited to have them at the track because they've never gotten to experience that level of a marquee race. And I think they're really going to appreciate the power of that speedway and just what it's like. When I sat down with Snap Fitness to talk about their race schedule this season, I told them, 'You need to take a serious look at Indianapolis,' and they were all over it." - Landon Cassill
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via e-mail at ashland10@mail.com.
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by the Frontstretch Staff
by Kevin Rutherford
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Q: The 1993 Kroger 200 was the one and only career victory in the Busch Grand National Series for Tracy Leslie. Leslie was more or less the beneficiary of some insanity. What happened at the very front of the field that put him in position to win?
Thursday's Answer:
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