 |
| Paul Menard "kisses the bricks" after his victory Sunday |
The 18th Brickyard 400 was all about fuel strategy, and the man with the best strategy on Sunday was Paul Menard. Menard won the first race of his career at the track that his father and he have been a part of for a very long time. Paul’s father, John Menard, has fielded cars in the Indy 500 for 35 years but had never been a part of a victory.
If the Menard name sounds familiar, that’s because it is. John Menard owns the Menard home improvement stores and is one of the richest men in the world. Many said Paul was only in NASCAR because his father was able to sponsor his car without Paul having to prove himself. One of those critics was Tony Stewart, when a few years ago he said “You can have your father buy a ride and write a big check, but you can't buy talent." But as Jeff Gordon said after the race, “You don’t win at Indy by fluke”. I had never been impressed with Menard before the Brickyard. After seeing him hold off a fast-charging Gordon was very impressive and conserve enough gas to finish was impressive.
 |
| Paul Menard(right) and his father, John |
The first third of the race was dominated by Red Bull Racing’s Kasey Kahne. Kahne led all the laps until the first round of pit stops at Lap 30, then took back over the lead and led until Lap 60 when Hendrick Motorsports took over. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson went back and forth from positions 1, 2, and 3. Then when a caution came out, the fuel insanity began.
Some drivers came in, some did not. Some drivers took 2 tires and others took 4. Drivers with great cars were stuck in the back while drivers with mediocre cars were upfront. From this point on, Lap 100, the race was going to come down to strategy and fuel conservation. There were numerous different leaders including Brad Keselowski, Landon Cassill, and Paul Menard.
With 20 laps left, Indiana’s Tony Stewart had the lead. He has won the Brickyard twice, but there was no way he could make it to the finish without getting gas. This was the same song for most of the drivers except ones who had pitted around Lap 125 during a caution; one of the drivers that did pit was Paul Menard. Stewart did eventually pit on Lap 145, and Paul Menard took over the lead.
Menard lead with Mark Martin 2nd, Jamie McMurray 3rd, Greg Bifle 4th, and Regan Smith 5th. All of these drivers were pretty low on fuel and had to conserve to make it to the end. The first driver in line behind these conservationists was Jeff Gordon. Gordon had to pit under green and was 10 seconds behind the lead group of cars with 20 laps to go.
10 laps to go and Menard still lead with McMurray 2nd, Martin 3rd, Trevor Bayne 4th, and Smith 5th. Gordon was now only 8 seconds behind. With 8 laps to go McMurray took over the lead and looked like he had Menard beat, but Gordon was now only 7 seconds behind. .
4 laps left and Menard was given the message that he had conserved saved enough gas and could run flat out. He passed McMurray and took over the lead. Gordon was now 2 seconds back and in 4th place. 3 to go and Gordon moved into 3rd, then into 2nd. 2 laps to go and Gordon was just one second behind Menard. The white flag came out and Menard still held his lead. He made his last four turns and came down the frontstretch to take the checkered flag and win the 2011 Brickyard 400.
Jeff Gordon definitely had the fastest car all day. I was really upset to see him not be able to seal the deal. Menard knows what it means to win at the Brickyard, so I’m happy he won. Kasey Kahne also had an incredibly fast car but got caught up in strategy and never saw the lead except for earlier in the race. My driver A.J. Allmendinger also had a fast car and if the race would have played out without the fuel strategy he would have at least had a top 5. Instead he finished 22nd.
My pick to win the race, Matt Kenseth, had a strong car all day and finished 5th. My other picks to win the race with their finishing position: Jeff Gordon (2nd), Jimmie Johnson (19th), Greg Bifle (7th), and Carl Edwards (14th). If you recall, I originally had Tony Stewart (6th) and Kevin Harvick (11th) instead of Kenseth and Bifle. Neither Stewart nor Harvick had good cars; they just played the strategy right. The same could be said for Bifle too.
