| Luis Alberto's profileKamadevPhotosBlogLists |  Tools  Help |
|
|
July 26 The Brickyard 400Although technically not a native of Indiana, Jeff Gordon was raised in Pittsboro and his racing skills were honed during those formidable years in the Hoosier State. And in the 13 years NASCAR has been coming to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Gordon has made himself to home. He won the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994, and is the track's Cup leader in victories (4), top-fives (7), top-10s (10), poles (3) and laps led with 433, which far surpasses second-place Dale Jarrett's 186. Gordon finished 16th at Indianapolis last year, his first non-top-10 since 2000. While Gordon is one of eight drivers to make all 13 starts at Indianapolis, Juan Montoya will be making his first stock-car race at the famed speedway. The 200 Indianapolis 500 champ could make history by winning the Allstate at the Brickyard 400, as no driver has won both races. In fact, the crossover between IndyCar and NASCAR success has been few. Interesting Fact 6Drivers who have won a Cup Series race and the Indianapolis 500: Mario Andretti, Mark Donohue, A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Juan Montoya, Johnny Rutherford. Fun Fact 3.2Bricks, in terms of millions, used to pave the 2.5-mile track in the fall of 1909, thus deeming it "The Brickyard." Currently, only the "Yard of Bricks," a 3-feet section at the start/finish line, remain, although the original bricks are still in place under the asphalt surface. All the Facts 1Races won at Indianapolis by the pole-sitter: Kevin Harvick (2003).
1Drivers currently in the top 12 in points without a top-10 finish at Indianapolis: Martin Truex Jr.'s best finish in two Brickyard starts is 19th.
2Drivers with more than one win at Indianapolis: Jeff Gordon (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004); Dale Jarrett (1996, 1999).
2Top-10 finishes for Jeff Burton at Indianapolis, second-fewest of the eight drivers who have made all 13 starts at the Brickyard. Burton started from the pole last year and led a race-high 87 laps, but finished 15th.
2Top-10 finishes for Kyle Busch at Indianapolis in as many starts there (10th in 2005, seventh in 2006).
3Drivers who made their only Cup start at Indianapolis: Ron Barfield Jr. (1997); Geoff Brabham (1994); Danny Sullivan (1994). Sullivan won the 1985 Indianapolis 500.
3Times Indiana native Ryan Newman has finished 31st or worse in six career starts at Indianapolis. Despite a 5.5 average starting position, Newman has but one top-10 finish at the Brickyard (fourth in 2002).
3Consecutive top-10 finishes for Tony Stewart at Indianapolis, the longest current streak. Stewart has five top-10s in eight Brickyard starts.
4Top-five finishes for Matt Kenseth in the past five races at Indianapolis. Kenseth has been a Brickyard runner-up twice (2003, 2006).
4Place of finish in last year's Brickyard race for Clint Bowyer, his first start at Indy and one of only four top-fives he posted in his rookie season.
5Drivers who have completed more than 2,000 laps at Indianapolis, out of a possible 2,081: Bill Elliott (2,080); Joe Nemechek (2,056); Jeff Burton (2,045); Bobby Labonte (2,010); Dale Jarrett (2,003).
5Number of cars in which Bill Elliott has made a start at Indianapolis: No. 11 Ford (1); No. 94 Ford (6); No. 9 Dodge (3); No. 91 Doge (2); No. 00 Chevrolet (1). Elliott, who has five top-fives and nine top-10s at Indy, will drive the No. 21 Ford in this year's Brickyard race.
6Place of finish in last year's Brickyard race for Dale Earnhardt Jr., his best in seven career starts at Indianapolis.
6Times the winner of the Brickyard 400 has gone on to win the Cup championship that same season: Jeff Gordon (1998, 2001); Dale Jarrett (1999); Bobby Labonte (2000); Tony Stewart (2005); Jimmie Johnson (2006).
8Races at Indianapolis won from a top-10 starting position.
8Manufacturer wins at Indianapolis by Chevrolet, currently including four in a row.
20.4Average starting position and average finishing position for Jimmie Johnson at Indianapolis. Johnson's 2006 victory was just his second top-10 finish in five starts at the Brickyard.
30Place of finish for A.J. Foyt in his only Brickyard 400 appearance, which also marked his last NASCAR start. Foyt, a seven-time winner in the Cup Series, won the Indianapolis 500 four times.
41Place of finish in last year's race at Indianapolis for Jeremy Mayfield, his last start in the No. 19 Dodge.
1909Year the Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened, making it the second-oldest active track in the world. The Milwaukee Mile opened in 1903.
June 14 San Antonio Spurs 2007 NBA Champions ! ! !Spurs Complete Sweep to Capture NBA Title
CLEVELAND, June 14 (AP) -- True roundball royalty, the San Antonio Spurs are once again wearing the crown. LeBron James, Cleveland's preordained King, isn't quite ready for his. Tony Parker scored 24 points, Manu Ginobili had 27 - 13 in the fourth quarter - and the Spurs, who bounced over from the ABA in 1976, moved in among the NBA's greatest franchises with an 83-82 victory Thursday night for a sweep of the Cavaliers - court jesters through much of their first finals. With their fourth championship since 1999 - and third in five years - the Spurs joined the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls as the only teams in NBA history to win four titles. And No. 5 might not be far away either with Parker, Ginobili and Tim Duncan leading this Texas-oiled machine. Coach Gregg Popovich and the Spurs, now a perfect 4-for-4 together in finals appearances, spent most of the postseason dismissing talk that they should be considered a dynasty. But with titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007, there's no more reason to pretend they aren't one.
June 13 It's official ! ! !Dale Earnhardt Jr. to drive for Hendrick Motorsports !
As expected, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced on Wednesday that he will drive for Hendrick Motorsports beginning in 2008.
Earnhardt will replace Kyle Busch at Hendrick. No announcement was made in regards to sponsorship or what car number Earnhardt will drive. It was not announced where Busch will end up. Earnhardt joins Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears as a teammate. Hendrick Motorsports has won 10 of the 14 races this season.  June 12 Junior's going to HendrickDale Earnhardt Jr. has decided where he will drive next season, and all signs point to Hendrick Motorsports.
NASCAR's most popular driver called a Wednesday news conference at his race shop, JR Motorsports, and spokesman Mike Davis said it was to announce his plans for 2008 and beyond. WhilevDavis wouldn't elaborate on where those plans would take Earnhardt, sources close to the situation have told FOX Sports analyst Larry McReynolds Junior will indeed call Hendrick Motorsports home next season and will be driving the No. 5 car currently occupied by Kyle Busch. His sister, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, is handling his negotiations and has maintained their first choice was to keep Earnhardt in a Chevrolet. She has said the majority of her conversations have been with NASCAR's top Chevy teams. Hendrick is the best in NASCAR right now, with 10 wins through the first 15 points races this season. Rick Hendrick currently has four drivers under contract, and told the AP last month "there was no room at the inn" for Earnhardt. NASCAR rules permit a car owner to field four Nextel Cup teams. But multiple sources - speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because Earnhardt's plans have not been announced - said Hendrick officials have been working for nearly three weeks to figure out how to bring the star driver into the fold. One scenario could put Earnhardt into the No. 5 car that Kyle Busch currently drives.
August 06 This is not good...Gordon, Dale Jr. badly need Indy success
Associated Press
The pressure is on Jeff Gordon, and there might be no better place for him to deal with it than Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Gordon heads into Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard as the defending champion and the only four-time winner in the 11 years NASCAR has visited the Mecca of American auto racing.
He's also in the midst of the worst stretch of his illustrious career. Gordon, who turned 34 ON Thursday, won three of the first nine races this season and appeared to be solidly in the hunt for a fifth series championship. He finished second at Darlington on May 7 in the 10th race of the season and was second in the Nextel Cup standings, trailing Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson by just 127 points. In the 10 races since, Gordon's best finish is seventh and seven other results have been 25th or worse. That leaves the frustrated Gordon 15th in the standings, 541 points behind Johnson, who still leads the way. To even have a shot at winning another title, Gordon is going to have to qualify for the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. Only the top 10 drivers and any others within 400 points of the leader after the 26th race, Sept. 10 in Richmond, will be eligible to compete for the title. To do that, Gordon is going to have to make some serious gains in just six races. "Everywhere we've tested this year, we've run well," said Gordon, who recently tested on Indy's 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) oval. "Right now, we're looking at a stretch of races where we have to perform well to get into the top 10, and Indianapolis is one of those races. "Winning a big race like this can definitely help the morale of the team and build some momentum." Along with the four wins, Gordon tops the Brickyard statistics in poles (three), top-fives (seven) and laps led (433). He has finished sixth or better in nine of the 11 Indy races. The victory last year was a big one, tying him with open-wheel greats A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears as the only drivers to have won four races at the track. Formula One's Michael Schumacher joined that elite group in June. "I grew up in nearby Pittsboro watching the Indy 500, and I recognize the difference between that race, the Brickyard 400 and the U.S. Grand Prix," Gordon said. "It's great to be compared to and mentioned in the same sentence as A.J., Unser, Mears and Schumacher, but it's three different types of races under different circumstances. "Still, winning a fifth one would be overwhelming." Another Gordon win at Indy also could turn around what is close to being a lost season. Friday turned into a lost day for all the competitors when rain washed out both scheduled practices. The revised schedule for Saturday has the teams practicing for two hours in the morning, with qualifying moved to the afternoon. Like Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. badly needs a strong run on Sunday. After appearing to right his season with consecutive finishes of third, first and ninth, Earnhardt ran into a 32nd-place finish two weeks ago in Pocono, coming away 14th in the standings. He's 537 points behind Johnson and 110 out of 10th place. Beyond getting back into the battle for the Chase, though, winning Indy would be big for Junior, matching the victory his late father got there in 1995 - the second year NASCAR raced there. "It's hard to even imagine what it'd be like," Earnhardt said. "I definitely want to experience it before my career is over, if even only once. "Daddy won there, and I remember how special it was for him. He won a bunch of races, but I don't think there's any question winning the Brickyard was one of his career highlights." It won't be easy for Earnhardt to duplicate his father's feat, though. "It's a hard race to win, because all the teams put so much emphasis on it," he said. "You have to have the best car, the best pit crew, and the best driver to win that race. If you only have two of those three things, you'll lose."
"You win some, you lose some, and you wreck some."
August 02 New Ford Cup car gets first track testHAMPTON, Ga. (AP) - Dale Jarrett gave the Ford Fusion, the automaker's proposed NASCAR Nextel Cup entry for 2006, its first on-track test.
Associated Press
"I think things went really well," said Jarrett, who drives a Ford Taurus in the Cup series for Robert Yates Racing. "It has a very nice look to it and performed well."
He said he was able to achieve the speed he was looking for during a 10-lap run Tuesday at Atlanta Motorspeedway. Asked if he could tell the difference between the Taurus and the Fusion, Jarrett said the new car seemed to have better balance. "That's what we're trying to achieve with the Fusion," he explained. "I think that's what we've done." The car that Jarrett drove Tuesday was prepared and brought to the track by the Wood Brothers Racing team. "The day couldn't have gone better, in my opinion," said Greg Specht, operations manager for Ford Racing Technology. "We did the minimum amount of laps that were required to demonstrate the car's capability to NASCAR, and it performed flawlessly." That was a relief to Wood Brothers team owner Eddie Wood, whose team campaigns Tauruses for Ricky Rudd. "From my standpoint, I just wanted to come down here and run what we were supposed to run without anything happening to the race car," Wood said. "That was our main goal. "Dale got in the car and ran the speed that NASCAR needed and now it's headed to the wind tunnel." After the on-track test, The new Fusion was taken to the Lockheed wind tunnel later in Marietta, Ga., for its final NASCAR approval stage. The Fusion is Ford's first all-new nameplate car for NASCAR racing in 38 years. The last was the 1968 Torino. The Taurus was already in production when it debuted in NASCAR competition in 1998.
Note: This entry had to be done, I'm a big NASCAR fan so this one was for me and all my NASCAR friends. |
|
|
