NASCAR Notebook: One City, Two Tracks-NASCAR At Indy

Besides the season-opening weekend at Daytona International Speedway, these upcoming few days might rank at the top of any “Biggest NASCAR Weekends Of 2011” lists. Here’s why …

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

It’s the Brickyard 400. Period.

Still, added bonuses join the usual pageantry and prestige affixed to any event at this historic venue.

For one, the Wild Card. After race No. 26 at Richmond, the top-10 drivers will be locked in the 12-driver Chase. Spots 11 and 12 will go to those drivers outside the top 10 with the most wins, provided they are in the top 20. Only seven races remain between now and NASCAR’s playoffs, and Wild Card-eligible opportunities are dwindling.

Three drivers, in particular, to watch: Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray. All three are outside the top 10, and all three have enjoyed success at IMS (see below for more).

Sunday’s Brickyard 400 is also the first race in the Sprint Summer Showdown presented by HTC EVO 3D. Any driver who wins between Indianapolis and Bristol (the next five races) will become a finalist for the AdvoCare 500 in Atlanta. If one of those eligible drivers wins the Atlanta race, then the driver, the driver’s charity and fan each collect $1,000,000. Peruse the pre-race Driver Rating for possible victory candidates in race No. 1. The top five at Indy: Stewart (109.3), Montoya (106.4), Mark Martin (105.3), Jimmie Johnson (100.1) and Greg Biffle (97.7).

NASCAR Nationwide Series at Lucas Oil Raceway
Travis Pastrana is on the mend.  The X Games gold-medalist and action sports superstar was slated to make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut this weekend.

But plans were derailed after Pastrana injured his foot and ankle in X Games competition Thursday.  His team chose to pull the entry from the event.  Pastrana will have to wait to make his first Nationwide series start.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Lucas Oil Raceway
This weekend pairs two long-standing trademarks of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: short-track racing and Ron Hornaday Jr.

Of the 20 races on the inaugural 1995 series schedule, 15 were held on short tracks – including a race at Lucas Oil Raceway.

Ron Hornaday Jr. competed in that event, finishing 19th. His finishes improved a bit since then, to the tune of series records in wins (48) and championships (four). But hard times have befallen the four-time champion. His points position of ninth is his second-lowest through 12 races in any of his full-time seasons. A reason for optimism: He’s won the last two LOR races, and three of the last four.

Sprint Cup: Threesome Favorites To Kiss The Bricks

“Home of Champions” is a slogan attached to many venues. Sometimes it’s apt. Most times it’s exaggeration. At Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it fits brilliantly.
Of the 17 races run at Indy, 14 have been won by past, reigning or future series champions. In eight of those seasons, the Brickyard winner went on to win that season’s championship.

This season especially, Indy could play an integral role in deciding the 2011 future champion – thanks to the Wild Card position.

Watch for three names in particular – Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray.

Stewart, currently 11th in points, seeks his first win of 2011. A two-time Brickyard champion, Stewart looks to become just the second driver-owner to win at Indy; the first was Ricky Rudd in 1997. (For more on Stewart, see page 2 story on Indy natives.)

Montoya, currently 17th in points, finished second in the 2007 Brickyard 400 and might have won in 2009 if not for a late-race pit road speeding penalty while leading. He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2000.

McMurray, 29th in points, won last year’s Brickyard 400. Winless in 2011, McMurray has scored a Driver Rating over 100.0 in two of the last three IMS races.

Gordon: One Weekend, Two Milestones

For Jeff Gordon, this one’s extra special.

An honorary Indiana native (Gordon’s actually from Vallejo, Calif. but moved to Pittsboro, Ind. when he was 14), the four-time champion has accomplished Indy feats that put him on yet another list of all-time greats.

Gordon’s four Brickyard 400 victories tie Rick Mears, Al Unser and A.J. Foyt for most all-time on the oval portion of IMS. One more victory, and Gordon ties Michael Schumacher for most “major” victories at Indy. All five of Schumacher’s wins came in Formula 1 competition.

If he does accomplish his “Drive for Five” at Indy, Gordon will reach 85 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories, which will put him alone in third on the all-time wins list behind Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105).

Last week during the final off-week/weekend of the 2011 season, Gordon visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo on a fact-finding mission as part of the Lead Group of the Clinton Global Initiative. Gordon appeared on NBC’s Today on Tuesday, saying the group’s initiatives included finding “better ways to deal with education, economic and health empowerment.”

Indiana Natives Ride Momentum Into Home Track

Assuredly, Stewart-Haas Racing enjoyed the off week more than most teams. Its two Indiana natives – Ryan Newman, from South Bend and Tony Stewart from Columbus – started and finished 1-2 in the last NASCAR Sprint Cup race, at New Hampshire. The last time two Indiana drivers finished 1-2 was in 2005, in the Chase race at New Hampshire – that time it was also Newman first, Stewart second.

Currently, Newman is eighth in the standings, 16 points ahead of Denny Hamlin in 10th-place. Though in a points-tie with Hamlin for 10th, Stewart officially sits 11th. Hamlin owns the tie-breaker (best finish), thanks to his victory at Michigan.

As the Race for the Chase hits its stride, Indianapolis Motor Speedway could be the golden ticket Stewart needs to lock himself into the Chase. In 12 starts at Indianapolis, Stewart has posted two wins (2005, 2007), six top fives, eight top 10s and a pole. He leads the series in pre-race Driver Rating with a 109.3 and is one of only three active drivers (Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick) with an average finish in the top 10 (8.2).

Newman has made 10 starts at IMS posting one top-five finish. His average finish is 21.0. Newman finished 17th last season at Indianapolis.
But one rare statistical quirk that plays in SHR’s favor: Manufacturer dominance. Chevrolet has won the last eight races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The last time a non-Chevy won at the Brickyard was Bill Elliott’s Dodge in 2002.

Another Indiana native that will be competing this weekend is South Bend’s David Stremme. Stremme has made three starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway posting his best finish (16th) in 2009.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Notes – Indianapolis

The largest driver autograph session of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season is scheduled for Saturday, July 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for race day ticket-holders for the Brickyard 400. Drivers will be split into two groups, signing in pairs from noon-12:45 p.m. and 1-1:45 p.m. at Pavilion 1A and 1B, adjacent to the Pagoda Plaza. Brickyard 400 ticket holders can obtain an autograph session wristband at 9 a.m. Saturday at Pavilion 1A and 1B. Fans can choose from the pairing of drivers they wish to receive autographs, with a maximum of 150 wristbands allotted per driver pairing. Only one wristband will be distributed to each ticket holder, first come, first served. … David Ragan will be sporting a special paint scheme this weekend that will honor NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Ned Jarrett. For a photo of the car, click here. … ESPN and ABC kick off their coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and will continue through the rest of the season. “The teams have made the cars better for the drivers,” ESPN analyst Dale Jarrett said. “The competition is better from 1st to 30th than we’ve seen in a long, long time and so the opportunity is there to make these strategy calls. It’s brought us some different winners along the way. But I think the competition level is very keen.” This weekend’s broadcast will be on ESPN at 12:00 p.m. ET. For audio of the ESPN NASCAR teleconference click here. … Scott Speed will make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series return this weekend at Indianapolis driving for Max Q Motorsports No. 37 car. He’ll attempt to make his first race since the 2010 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. … Possible upcoming milestones this week: Matt Kenseth is going for his 200th top-10 finish and Denny Hamlin needs one lap led to reach the 5,000 laps led mark (he currently has 4,999 laps led). … Rascal Flatts will play a pre-race mini concert, partially broadcast on ESPN, before singing the national anthem.
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Nationwide Series: Pastrana Debut Delayed

Saturday night was to be the much anticipated Nationwide Series debut of action sports star Travis Pastrana for Pastrana-Waltrip Racing.

According to a release on the Pastrana-Waltrip website on Friday, that debut has been postponed after Pastrana broke his right foot and ankle during the X Games competition in Los Angeles, CA Thursday.

The team chose to withdraw the #99 Boost Mobile Toyota from the event.  There’s been no word on when Pastrana will attempt to make his Nationwide Series debut.

Pastrana has run a combination of five NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West races this year including his best finish of sixth in his NASCAR debut in January at the Toyota All-Star Showdown. His other NASCAR K&N Pro Series races were Phoenix (25th), Richmond (33rd), Iowa (22nd) and Loudon (22nd).

Standings Battle Gets Fierce With 14 Races To Go

No one has been able to run away with the points lead this season and the trend continues into Lucas Oil Raceway – the top-three drivers are separated by 14 points. Turner Motorsports’ Reed Sorenson leads the way with 14 races to go just five points ahead of Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and 14 points ahead of Kevin Harvick Inc.’s Elliott Sadler, in third. There have been 11 points lead changes this season and the tight competition does not appear to be loosening up one bit.

Sorenson is a fan of short-track racing and it shows in his stats at Lucas Oil Raceway, site of his series debut in 2004. In four starts, he has notched three top fives, three top 10s, one pole and 49 laps led. Sorenson has completed 100 percent of the laps attempted and has an average starting position of 6.8 and average finish of 5.8. Sorenson’s best career finish at the .686-mile short track is second in 2006.

Stenhouse has made one start at LOR, starting third and finishing 11th last season. Sadler on the other hand has three starts, but hasn’t competed there since 1998. In his last two starts at the .686-mile track, he finished second.
Sorenson leads all championship contenders in pre-race Driver Rating with 116.1.

Drivers Emerge As The Future Of The Series

This time last season Trevor Bayne lit the wick on his rocket to stardom in NASCAR, posting his first of three consecutive poles at Lucas Oil Raceway. The feat tied a series record, and he went on to finish fourth that night.

“I love short-track racing and this race is all about the drivers,” Bayne said. “I have been in position to win the last two times we were at LOR and I am really looking forward to Saturday night.”

Like Bayne, Austin Dillon and Drew Herring are also beginning to climb the ranks of popularity. Dillon primarily races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, but last weekend finished third in the NASCAR Nationwide race at Nashville. Dillon has finished in the top 10 in all three of his starts this season and will be piloting the No. 33 car for KHI again this weekend.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Drew Herring made his second start of the season last weekend at Nashville in the No. 18 car. He posted his first top-10 finish and kept the No. 18 team atop the owners’ standings. This weekend Herring will still be working with the same crew chief, Adam Stevens, but will be in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota instead of the No. 18.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Notes

Joe Balash, the NASCAR Nationwide Series director, is from Hobart, Ind. Balash’s leadership has been instrumental in the introduction of the series’ new car, which makes its track debut at LOR. … The No. 70 ML Motorsports team owned by Mary Louise Miller, is based in Warsaw, Ind. The team’s driver, David Stremme is from South Bend. …  Jason Leffler may be a California native, but he considers Indiana his second home and LOR one of his favorite tracks. Leffler built his USAC legacy at LOR and also won his most recent NASCAR Nationwide Series race there in 2007.

Camping World Trucks: First Half Highlighted By Youth Movement

Names like Cole Whitt and Parker Kligerman and Joey Coulter, not to mention Austin Dillon and James Buescher, share a trait that has defined the first half of the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: The rise of young talent, possibly signaling a changing of the guard.

Friday night’s race at Lucas Oil Raceway marks the exact midpoint of the season, and the names above have become the key storylines of the first half – and, in all likelihood, the remainder of the season.

Cole Whitt: The 20-year-old launched into the 2011 season, tallying five top 10s in the first seven races. Since then, his pace has slowed. Over his last four starts, Whitt has just one top-10 finish and he has dropped from the points lead after Charlotte to his current position of fourth. Still, he owns the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings lead, 10 points up on the following two young guns.

Parker Kligerman: Flip-flop Whitt’s season, and you get Kligerman’s. The 20-year-old started 2011 with five finishes outside the top 10 in the first six events. Since then, he has had four top 10s in six races – including runner-ups at Texas and Kentucky. He’s currently seventh in points.

Joey Coulter: Quietly, Coulter has climbed the Sunoco Rookie standings thanks to five consecutive top-10 finishes (three of them in the top five).

Austin Dillon: Without frustration, there’s no such thing as perseverance. That might as well be Dillon’s 2011 motto. Inconsistency has plagued much of the 21-year-old’s season, but all seems well – for now. Last week’s winner at Nashville, Dillon has finished in the top-two in the last two races and has climbed to second in the points, 18 points behind Johnny Sauter.

James Buescher: The “what if” discussions continue. What if Buescher earned a spot in that Phoenix race, the second event of the season? Buescher has run off a string of eight consecutive top-10 finishes, the longest of any driver this season (the record is 24 straight by Jack Sprague over the course of the 1997-98 seasons). Buescher now sits third in points, 42 behind Sauter.

The young guns dethroned the veterans, at least atop the standings … for now. Two of those veterans are reigning series champion Todd Bodine and four-time champion Ron Hornaday Jr.

Todd Bodine: His campaign to become the first repeat champion has hit speed bump after speed bump. The 47-year-old struggled at the start (six of his first seven finishes were outside the top 10), and moved from his usual No. 30 ride to the No. 5 Toyota. Change was good, to the tune of two consecutive top 10s.

Ron Hornaday Jr.: Hornaday chewed off a four consecutive top fives early on, and a points position of third. But his performance has since dipped, and he now sits ninth, the second-lowest points position of his career through 12 races.

Crafton: Expert Driver and Now Coach

With two victories and more than 250 starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton has earned a reputation for being one of the most consistent drivers on the circuit. That experienced background makes Crafton the perfect choice as the driver coach for Travis Pastrana in his first NASCAR season.

This weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway, Pastrana, the action sports superstar, will make his much-anticipated NASCAR Nationwide Series debut. All the while, Crafton has served as Pastrana’s tutor, dating back to January and the beginning of his NASCAR initiation with K&N Pro Series events. Crafton has been at Pastrana’s side during each test and each race patiently coaching him throughout.

In his “full-time” job, Crafton is currently sixth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings and earned his second career victory earlier this month at Iowa Speedway. Crafton, driver of the No. 88 Menards Chevrolet, started his NASCAR national series career in 2008 and has consistently placed well in the standings. He ranks fourth in career starts among active series drivers and has 135 top-10 finishes. His first win came at Charlotte in 2008.

Crafton – who will compete in Friday night’s AAA Insurance 200 – will be on site for Pastrana’s NASCAR Nationwide debut this weekend at LOR.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Notes

Dakoda Armstrong will pilot the No. 98 Ferrellgas-Agrosure entry for ThorSport at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. The New Castle, Ind. native made his series debut two weeks ago at Iowa Speedway and finished 21st. Armstrong is a fourth generation farmer. His family owns Armstrong Farms (based in Indiana) which is the largest ethanol-producing corn farm in the Midwest. … Some series midpoint facts and figures: eight different winners, nine different Keystone Light Pole winners, an average of nine lead changes and seven leaders per race, and average margin of victory of .959 seconds with seven races featuring a margin of victory under one second. … Drivers pulling LOR-specific double duty: Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon, James Buescher and Jennifer Jo Cobb.