Another adjustment this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway may be less effective in refreshing one of the major events of the NASCAR season, however. The people said, ‘Sir, we know the address there. Gordon’s usual Axalta No. 24 paint scheme will have a unique twist to it for his final race as it will sport a special message. West coast audiences became more excited about stock cars as well, and soon race tracks started sprouting up in Fontana, Texas, Las Vegas, Chicago, Kentucky and Kansas.
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Tony Stewart says he’d rather be struggling and race well at Indy than be racing well and struggle at the Brickyard 400.
At the age of 43, the “Pride of Pittsboro” didn’t call the announcement his retirement. The all-time winningest Cup Series driver at Indianapolis, Gordon reflects on growing up in Indiana, winning the inaugural 1994 Brickyard 400, and the impact it had on his career.
“For teams, this is a last chance tune-up for the August 22 IRWIN Tools Night Race”, said Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager for BMS. The Brickyard 400, therefore, rarely produces the type of close-quarters dicing and exhilarating finishes such as that staged between Indianapolis 500 victor Juan Pablo Montoya this May after a pitched fight to the finish with Will Power and Scott Dixon. “I don’t think our cars are as good as they were at the beginning of the year”.
History and sentiment aside, the fact is Gordon has yet to win a NASCAR race this season and is one of only two top 10 drivers who have drawn that blank. Since then, Stewart has remained consistent at the track, maintaining an average finish of 8.5 there. He doesn’t look anywhere as good as he did last season when winning at Indy. Unlike Gordon, Stewart is well back in the points race (26th) and well out of step for a run at the championship with no wins and no top five finishes. “And the friends of mine that are here better rethink some things”.
Pocono and Indy are very similar 2.5-mile layouts with long straight-aways. Johnson is a four-time victor at Indy.
Yet another Hoosier will get his share of the spotlight as well. The defending IndyCar champion team owner – and current points leader – advocates a similar system for NASCAR. Only five drivers led laps at Pocono with Gordon, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards being the others. Fans will immediately see one difference in the cars as they will be competing with a nine-inch spoiler.
While the changes to his last paint scheme are nice, fans might have been expecting a bit more.
Busch’s older brother Kurt is also 10/1 with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth. Both should fare well this weekend. Indianapolis track historian Donald Davidson still enjoys telling the story of Gordon’s first win in Indianapolis.
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Jimmie Johnson is the second choice in the betting at odds of 7 to 1 to win the 2015 Brickyard 400. Truex has never won this race and he only has one win this season which came at Pocono but he also drives for Chevrolet.
