Harvick bounced back from an unscheduled pit stop early in Sunday’s 23rd Annual Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to finish sixth, marking his series-best 16th Top-10 finish of 2016 and his 10th Top-10 finish in 16-career starts at Indianapolis, stewarthaasracing.com reports.
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To say he accomplished his second straight weekend sweep of the Indy races emphatically is to understate the case.
For those watching Tony Stewart slowly wind his way around Indianapolis Motor Speedway for what likely will be the final time, Sunday’s Crown Royal 400 had a sense of finality.
SECOND ACT: Busch’s brother, Kurt, already has raced in the Indianapolis 500. He has no experience in an open-wheel auto. “I’ve never had a dominant vehicle like this”, he said. “I’m not sure [when]”. “I didn’t know we’d have that speed in our auto”.
“But obviously my focus is on the Sprint Cup Series and what I’m doing here”.
“Almost impossible to describe how good this Dude is”, Andretti tweeted. When the green came out, Logano and Busch got door-to-door, getting Busch’s vehicle loose and allowing Logano to temporarily surge ahead. “I’ve tried and been successful at being able to do a lot of things that others haven’t been able to do before”. “I don’t think [our guys] think much about the Chase – they’re thinking about trying to win every week”. He recommended four heats with the top finishers up front. Still planning to make one less stop, Keselowski and Logano stayed out until lap 42 before hitting pit road for the first time.
Having combined to win seven of the 23 races at IMS in their careers, Gordon and Stewart have elicited the largest cheers from anyone save for Dale Earnhardt, Jr., for many years at their home track.
“The conditions were what caused the biggest problem for all of us….”
“It was just not good”, Logano said of his final restart.
In addition to his two victories this week, Busch also claimed the pole in both races, making his the first NASCAR driver to sweep both poles and both races on the same weekend. But the entire weekend needs a dramatic overhaul, and with the main event likely to remain as is, that leaves the IN 250 Xfinity Race or whatever it was called on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, a yellow flag was brought out after Jamie McMurray caused a wreck, setting the field back up for another overtime run.
Busch was never passed on the track throughout the race.
Kyle Busch stands on his vehicle after his burnout.
Over the years, a race that once drew sellout crowds at IMS has turned into a laughingstock to numerous sport’s biggest fans.
As the Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway continues to be successful, the idea of more truck races on dirt is enticing. “We just weren’t quite as fast as the Gibbs cars, but we were competitive”.
“Eldora is just a unique place that fits well”. Rookies Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney have enjoyed solid seasons, while youngsters like Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon continue to improve. “I wasn’t aware of that, but that would have been a really cool deal”.
“I have gained so much respect and admiration for Tony”, Gordon said.
The duo finished their “Lap” parked nose to nose on the finish line, got out of their cars and hugged it out.
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– Unknown to Stewart, the team had reached out to Gordon as a replacement for Stewart, who was recovering from a back injury from an off-season dune buggy accident in California, for the Daytona 500.
