From beginning to end, this was a weekend less about an individual race and more about two legendary champions tied closely to Indianapolis and its legendary Motor Speedway saying goodbye to stock vehicle racing at the track one last time (well, for one of them, another last time).
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If things go as planned, neither Stewart nor Gordon will ever race a stock auto at the Brickyard again.
The history of the speedway and the prestige of running there is likely what sparked the enormous interest when NASCAR elected to send its Sprint Cup Series there back in 1994 for the first time.
By definition, Sunday’s Brickyard 400 was a race. “Unfortunately those restarts at the end didn’t help me out although I did get a few spots back on that final corner, it was pretty exciting and insane”. Whatever happens from here, Stewart said, let’s find each other after the checkered flag.
NASCAR was always out of place at the track, but the mere merging of two motorsports giants was possibly that demanded to be explored and rightfully so.
Kyle Busch heard all about the potential to pull off a historic sweep at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After landing in Charlotte, Gordon was whisked to team headquarters for a seat fitting. “There’s no tweak or change that’s going to make that fundamentally different”. “That’s a tribute to him, the team and (crew chief) Adam Stevens”. Two legends. Two measuring sticks. I don’t even have the words for it. “That is a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life”.
Said Gordon: “It meant the world to me”.
“Nobody wants to miss a race, especially the Brickyard 400”, Gordon said. Now I know more about who Tony Stewart really is.
Three-time Super Bowl-winning coach Gibbs once said of Stewart, “Some guys just want to make the team and some want to be great”. His day started with a standing ovation at the driver’s meeting. “I’ve never had a dominant auto like this”, he said. “My focus is on the Sprint Cup Series and what I’m doing here, and being able to win races”. About the only thing missing was Jim Nabors singing “Back Home Again in IN”, the track’s theme song.
“You were born and raised in Indiana”. So in closing you can now say that the Indianapolis motor speedway is now Kyle Busch’s personal playground. Another recommendation would be to eliminate low finishers from racing in the main event just like most short tracks do.
“Well, Tony and I have gone through a lot over the years”, he said.
“I’m just so proud that I was able to be here and race with him in his final [Brickyard] race”. To share that moment with Jeff here at Indianapolis I don’t know.
Throughout 2016 we may have way too many quick thoughts for our post-race posts. After winning each of the last four NASCAR races at Indy, the two-time Brickyard victor was asked if he wanted to follow his brother’s lead and try the 500. But he got his money’s worth at this track and then some.
STRONG EFFORT: Busch won the race, but Gibbs had two other cars in the top four.
The Brickyard was kinder to him.
He led over 91 percent of the laps ran at Indianapolis this weekend, and he was only one of three drivers to lead laps in Sunday’s action. He had the fastest lap after two practice rounds Friday despite being sent into a spin after a brush with Patrick Carpentier. “Got a penalty on the last stop and it was a green-flag stop that turned into a yellow. We’re never going to get that chance to do that again”. He was penalized for speeding in the pits of lap 122 and was forced to the back of the pack and did not get the waive around. “Didn’t leave anything out there”.
Their final lap at Indy will be replayed for years to come.
It doesn’t hurt that Busch is driving for the best organization in NASCAR right now. Everything went the way we wanted it to. “We made some nice improvements today, we just were a little tight the second time we went out”, Gordon said. I had fun all day, had fun all weekend. Everybody, Drew Brown (Stewart’s PR Representative), everybody tried to make my weekend as easy as possible.
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“I enjoy dirt racing for sure”, 2016 Eldora victor Kyle Larson said.
