The Indianapolis Motor Speedway track simply wasn’t built for NASCAR. Setting up a vehicle at Indy is tricky as all four corners are different characteristically and the racing groove is narrow.
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He added, “We had shots at winning the past two races at Kentucky and New Hampshire, but a (pit-road passing) penalty that I questioned spoiled our chance in Kentucky and a broken shifter was the culprit in New Hampshire”.
The Brickyard week actually starts early as far as being special for Stewart.
The series has another doubleheader next weekend in Lexington, Ohio, but then is off until the three-race finale weekend September 9-11 in Monterey, Calif.
What better place to capture his 50th win than the state and track that he loves. “I think the state of IN takes a lot of pride IN that, and that’s why it makes it a big weekend”. He has recorded top 10 finishes in each of his starts, and the driver rating he has posted would put him second among active drivers.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not race again this month because of concussion-like symptoms and the No. 88 vehicle will be turned over to trusted former teammate Jeff Gordon for the next two weeks. Louis-Philippe finished fourth and Jean-Francois finished tenth at the end of Saturday’s race.
The Honda Indy took over the Exhibition grounds and Lakeshore Road again last weekend, with a full card of support races that included the return of NASCAR to Toronto after five years. Stewart’s weekend began with an induction into the USAC Hall of Fame on Thursday at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. Replacing Jr. this weekend at the Brickyard will be former teammate Jeff Gordon, who retired last season. He’ll be driving Earnhardt’s auto. Busch will be a contender this weekend and look for him to be up front as the laps wind down in Indianapolis in both the Sprint Cup and Xfinity races. Sunday’s race is relatively short when compared to a typical event, and with just 160 laps on tap, the value of the points available in the laps led and fastest laps run categories are minimized a bit. Indianapolis has a way of playing on the nerves of rookie drivers but Chase Elliott is as cool as they come.
Hendrick Motorsports announced Wednesday that Earnhardt has not yet been cleared to drive by doctors and will miss Sunday’s Brickyard 400 as well as next weekend’s race at Pocono. It was his 2005 victory at the Brickyard 400 that tops the list of career wins for “Smoke”. Morad finished seventh in the NASCAR stock auto and came first in the Porsche on Saturday and second on Sunday.
The symptoms kept Earnhardt from racing in New Hampshire on July 17.
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