2011 Brickyard 400 Preview

            
            Finally, Brickyard 400 Weekend has arrived! This is definitely my favorite weekend of the summer, and second favorite of the whole year behind Memorial Day Weekend.  It’s always an awesome experience, and this year should not disappoint.

               
            The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the most difficult tracks to race on because of its low banked- turns and narrow straight-aways. The track was designed for open-wheel cars, and even they have a tough time getting around. The great thing about the configuration of the track is that only the best of the best win, as opposed to say the Daytona 500. 
            
            The past Brickyard winners are: Jeff Gordon(4), Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett(2), Ricky Rudd, Bobby Labonte, Bill Elliot (the only one I couldn’t remember), Tony Stewart(2), Jimmie Johnson(3), Kevin Harvick, and Jamie McMurray. From that list, only Ricky Rudd, Kevin Harvick, and Jamie McMurray have not won the Sprint Cup Championship before.
               
            Looking at who has won it in the past can easily tell you who has the best chance to win this year. Here are my drivers with the best chance to win the 2011 Brickyard 400.


Jeff Gordon – Spent his childhood racing until he became a big name driver, so he knows s the history of IMS. He has won at Indy 4 times, and is having a good season thus far. He will be attempting to be the first person to win at IMS five times.

Jimmie Johnson- He has won three times in the past five races. People think he’s struggling this year, but my god, he’s 2^nd in the points standings! Plus he’s Jimmie Johnson; he has a good chance to win everywhere.

Tony Stewart- Born and raised in Indiana, he is always the crowd favorite (unfortunately). He is a two-time winner, but is struggling a little this season. He is always better in the summer and just came off a second place finish, so look for him to be upfront.

Kevin Harvick- He won his only Brickyard in 2004, but he has been strong all season as he has three wins.

Carl Edwards- The current Sprint Cup points leader has never won at Indy, or any track similar to Indy. He is obviously having a great season, and this could be the year he gets that first win at the Brickyard.

Juan Pablo Montoya- The 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner is struggling this year. He has not had any success all season, and just got a new crew chief, so their first race working together will be in Indy. He has absolutely dominated the past two Brickyards, but has never been able to get the win.


            Before seeing any cars practice or even qualifications, I’m picking Tony Stewart to win the race. I’ll update that pick Saturday night though.

GRAND-AM in Indy?

Rumors began to start early this week that there were talks between NASCAR and the owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway about having the Grand-Am Series race on the road course at IMS. The Grand-Am series, which I know as the Rolex Sports Car Series, is owned by NASCAR.        

On Wednesday, June 15, it was confirmed that IMS and NASCAR are seriously considering adding a Grand- Am race to the Brickyard 400 weekend, and possibly holding the Nationwide race at IMS too.

            

           The Rolex cars had tested at IMS a few years ago, but nothing ever came of it. I even asked one Indianapolis Star writer a few months ago if IMS would ever have a Grand-Am race; his response, in short, was no.

           This is all just rumors right now, but I’m not a big fan of any of this change, esp. the Nationwide switch. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is for the best drivers in the world, and to bring the Nationwide drivers would dilute that. The other part that upsets me is that the Brickyard 400 weekend is something I really look forward to. I get to see all the drivers, cars, and teams that I love. I don’t want to see them share the track with anybody else. Not to mention the ticket prices for the whole weekend would increase greatly.

            Here’s the low-down on the Grand-Am Series, because I know next to nothing about the series.

“GRAND-AM Road Racing has the largest sports car fan base in the United States, with nearly 20 million adults, and has also had the highest percentage growth of any major motorsports series on television over the past five years.

GRAND-AM sanctions the Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. The Rolex Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge deliver professional sports car racing to key markets throughout North America in addition to being televised in the U.S. and Canada on SPEED and distributed globally through ESPN International.

GRAND-AM Road Racing showcases emerging and legendary drivers from around the globe and thoroughbred racing machines from the industry's leading constructors and the world's top automobile manufacturers.

GRAND-AM was founded in 1999. The organization's first race was February 6, 2000, at Daytona International Speedway - the 38th Rolex 24 At Daytona.”

http://www.grand-am.com

Apparently it’s spelled “GRAND-AM”, not “Grand-Am” like I was writing it.

When something is announced officially, I will post it on here ASAP!

Rolex Sports Car Series cars. The first two are "Daytona Prototype" class cars, the third one is a "GT" class car.