“We don’t just decide to make an example out of somebody on a given lap at a given race”.
Advertisement
Last year: Kyle Busch, starting from ninth, won for the fourth time in five races. Line-setters have him at +800 to make the same move again and bring in his second win in 2016.
In 11 career starts at the Brickyard 400, Truex has one top five, two top 10s.
Written warnings for failing pre-qualifying template inspection twice were issued to a number of teams: Chip Ganassi Racing (Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson), Richard Childress Racing (Austin Dillon), Roush Fenway Racing (Trevor Bayne), Stewart-Haas Racing (Danica Patrick and Tony Stewart), HScott Motorsports (Clint Bowyer), Gibbs (Edwards), Wood Brothers Racing (Ryan Blaney), JTG Daugherty Racing (AJ Allmendinger) and BK Racing (Matt DiBenedetto).
Wouldn’t it be something, Stewart and Gordon, Gordon and Stewart, battling down the backstretch for a Brickyard victory?
Matt Kenseth: Three straight top-10 finishes for Kenseth in his last trio of visits to Indianapolis. “I specifically remember it was Jimmie Johnson at Atlanta – maybe it was earlier this year or last year – that made a couple passes to the left side before getting into his box and slowing down and nothing was ever called”. He has won four times on the 2.5-mile oval.
Practice at the giant IMS track is scheduled at noon and 3 p.m. Friday.
Kurt Busch: He was eighth past year but that was a high water mark for Busch in recent Indy outings.
Last race: Busch won in Loudon for his sixth series win in his last 10 tries.
Denny Hamlin: Three top-10 finishes in the last four races for this year’s Daytona 500 victor including a third and fifth the last two Indy outings. He needs an additional win to clinch his spot in the 2016 Chase field after race No. 26 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Since 2005, only five drivers have led more than 100 total laps at Indianapolis Last weekend at New Hampshire, two drivers led more than 100 laps in the same race. NASCAR fans tend to like their good ol’ boys while Gordon, a polished, corporate, media-savvy driver from the North has always been seen as an interloper.
“Indy is another race that we all want to win”, said Truex. Smith started 35th and finished 22nd at Pocono, and if he qualifies outside the top 30 this weekend, he could be worth a flier if you are looking for substantial cap relief. Newman is on a roll lately with three top ten finishes in the last four races (Sonoma – 8th, Kentucky – 3rd, New Hampshire – 7th).
Kevin Harvick has been quick in all races, but something keeps happening each week to stop him from finding victory lane.
Advertisement
Track: Hungaroring (circuit, 2.7 miles).
