| July 2011 |
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New Support Races for 2012 Brickyard 400 Announced
July 6 - the NASCAR Nationwide Series and GRAND-AM Road Racing will join the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for four exciting days during the 2012
Brickyard 400 race weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
July 6 - the NASCAR Nationwide Series and GRAND-AM Road Racing will join the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for four exciting days during the 2012
Brickyard 400 race weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
2012 Schedule:
Thursday, July 26: NASCAR Nationwide Series practice
Friday, July 27: GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and Continental Tire
Sports Car Challenge practice, qualifying and races
Saturday, July 28: NASCAR Nationwide Series practice, qualifying and
race; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice and qualifying
Sunday, July 29: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Brickyard 400 race
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Race day, Rascal Flatts will sing the National Anthem and three other
songs. Reba McEntire will sing America the Beautiful. The race is
sponsored by Big Machine Records.
Thursday, July 26: NASCAR Nationwide Series practice
Friday, July 27: GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and Continental Tire
Sports Car Challenge practice, qualifying and races
Saturday, July 28: NASCAR Nationwide Series practice, qualifying and
race; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice and qualifying
Sunday, July 29: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Brickyard 400 race
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Race day, Rascal Flatts will sing the National Anthem and three other
songs. Reba McEntire will sing America the Beautiful. The race is
sponsored by Big Machine Records.
Country Music at the Brickyard 400
July 8 - There will be a country music concert in the infield
before the start of the Brickyard 400, July 31st. It will be in the
same area as the Carb Day concert, ie. north of the museum
(the south east area of the infield.)
The Band Perry, Justin Moore, Thomas Rhett and
Brantley Gilbert will be performing from 9:00 am to 11:30
am. (Seriously? You're last name is Gilbert and you then
name your kid Brantley? Ew, I bet he got beat up a lot.)
The concert is free. Race day general admission tickets are
only $30.
July 8 - There will be a country music concert in the infield
before the start of the Brickyard 400, July 31st. It will be in the
same area as the Carb Day concert, ie. north of the museum
(the south east area of the infield.)
The Band Perry, Justin Moore, Thomas Rhett and
Brantley Gilbert will be performing from 9:00 am to 11:30
am. (Seriously? You're last name is Gilbert and you then
name your kid Brantley? Ew, I bet he got beat up a lot.)
The concert is free. Race day general admission tickets are
only $30.
NASCAR Driver Autographs
July 15 - 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.
July 15 - 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.
The speedway says they are providing
the following to the PARTIERS in the 3rd
turn at this year's Brickyard 400:
• Go-go dancers
* Playboy Bunny
• Beer pong
• $500 bikini contest
• Swim pool and sandy beaches
* DJs and recording artist IYAZ
the following to the PARTIERS in the 3rd
turn at this year's Brickyard 400:
• Go-go dancers
* Playboy Bunny
• Beer pong
• $500 bikini contest
• Swim pool and sandy beaches
* DJs and recording artist IYAZ
| AJ Alexander |
| 2011 Brickyard 400 Qualifying Order |
July 30 - Hope Solo, who is the goalie for the U.S.
Women's soccer team, has been given the honor of
driving the pace car for tomorrow's race.
Why can't Sammy Hagar be a pace car driver?
Because he can't drive 55.
NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing
won the Nationwide Race that was held at Lucas Oil
Raceway (formerly O'Reilly Raceway, formerly
Indianapolis Raceway Park) Saturday night.
NASCAR's Nationwide Series has been racing at LOR
since they came to town. However, next year the
Nationwide series will join the Sprint Cup series by
racing at the Indy Speedway. And for the first time, the
Grand Am series will be racing here during next year's
Brickyard 400 race weekend.
Women's soccer team, has been given the honor of
driving the pace car for tomorrow's race.
Why can't Sammy Hagar be a pace car driver?
Because he can't drive 55.
NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing
won the Nationwide Race that was held at Lucas Oil
Raceway (formerly O'Reilly Raceway, formerly
Indianapolis Raceway Park) Saturday night.
NASCAR's Nationwide Series has been racing at LOR
since they came to town. However, next year the
Nationwide series will join the Sprint Cup series by
racing at the Indy Speedway. And for the first time, the
Grand Am series will be racing here during next year's
Brickyard 400 race weekend.
| BRICKYARD 400 RESULTS July 31, 2011 |
Menard stretches fuel to win Brickyard 400
July 31 - Years ago, as a garage rat at Indianapolis
Motor Speedway, Paul Menard dreamed of
winning a race at the Indy Speedway.
On Sunday, the dream came true. In a season full
of improbable first-time winners in NASCAR's
foremost races, Menard, 30, stretched his fuel
mileage and held off a charging Jeff Gordon to
win Sunday's Brickyard 400 at the 2.5-mile track.
The victory was Menard's first as a Sprint Cup
driver, and it catapulted him into the conversation
for a wild-card berth in the Chase. Gordon, who
closed rapidly in the final five laps, crossed the
finish line .725 seconds behind the season's fourth
first-time winner.
"My first year here was 1989, that I can remember
anyway -- I think I was here when I was 3 or 4 years
old, too," said Menard, whose father, John
Menard, has fielded IndyCars for a variety of
drivers. "I just spent a lot of time in the garage area.
I didn't miss an Indy 500 from 1989 to 2003.
"I was here for the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994.
It's just a really special place for my family and
myself."
This was Menard's fifth race at the Brickyard. It was
Richard Childress Racing's third victory at Indy.
The first two-thirds of the race were the Brickyard
as we've always known it, with the obvious power
brokers up front taking turns trying to run away
from one another. Then on Lap 120, everything
changed. Landon Cassill and David Ragan found
themselves side-by-side entering Turn 3, and on
older tires Cassill's No. 51 car couldn't hold the
position. He turned sideways, and vehicles went
skidding to the apron or through the grass in his
wake. The accident required a lengthy cleanup,
and afterward a few drivers ducked on to pit road to
fill up, willing to sacrifice their track position for a
shot at glory in the end.
"Those guys who made it topped off at the very end
of that, and gave up all their track position. But they
didn't have any to start, so it didn't matter," said
Alan Gustafson, Gordon's crew chief. "I think Paul
had to come in and clean the grass off the grille.
That just gave him the opportunity to save fuel and
make it, because he was able to stop and go. We
were running obviously a lot better than that, so we
couldn't take that risk to get the fuel and give up
the track position."
Neither could the other top contenders at the time,
who waited another 10 laps or more to come in for
their final pit stops. One by one, they found
themselves dumped out into deep traffic -- the
worst possible place at Indianapolis, where it's
notoriously difficult to pass -- and pinned behind
rivals who had decided to either stretch fuel as long
as they could, or try and make it to the end. "How
did we get all the way back here behind all these
people?" Juan Montoya asked on the radio after
he gave up a top-five position to pit, and emerged
in 32nd.
Matt Kenseth thought he and Jeff Gordon had the
best cars, but considered himself lucky to have
finished in 5th.
Tony Stewart salvaged a sixth-place result despite
a litany of problems throughout the race.
July 31 - Years ago, as a garage rat at Indianapolis
Motor Speedway, Paul Menard dreamed of
winning a race at the Indy Speedway.
On Sunday, the dream came true. In a season full
of improbable first-time winners in NASCAR's
foremost races, Menard, 30, stretched his fuel
mileage and held off a charging Jeff Gordon to
win Sunday's Brickyard 400 at the 2.5-mile track.
The victory was Menard's first as a Sprint Cup
driver, and it catapulted him into the conversation
for a wild-card berth in the Chase. Gordon, who
closed rapidly in the final five laps, crossed the
finish line .725 seconds behind the season's fourth
first-time winner.
"My first year here was 1989, that I can remember
anyway -- I think I was here when I was 3 or 4 years
old, too," said Menard, whose father, John
Menard, has fielded IndyCars for a variety of
drivers. "I just spent a lot of time in the garage area.
I didn't miss an Indy 500 from 1989 to 2003.
"I was here for the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994.
It's just a really special place for my family and
myself."
This was Menard's fifth race at the Brickyard. It was
Richard Childress Racing's third victory at Indy.
The first two-thirds of the race were the Brickyard
as we've always known it, with the obvious power
brokers up front taking turns trying to run away
from one another. Then on Lap 120, everything
changed. Landon Cassill and David Ragan found
themselves side-by-side entering Turn 3, and on
older tires Cassill's No. 51 car couldn't hold the
position. He turned sideways, and vehicles went
skidding to the apron or through the grass in his
wake. The accident required a lengthy cleanup,
and afterward a few drivers ducked on to pit road to
fill up, willing to sacrifice their track position for a
shot at glory in the end.
"Those guys who made it topped off at the very end
of that, and gave up all their track position. But they
didn't have any to start, so it didn't matter," said
Alan Gustafson, Gordon's crew chief. "I think Paul
had to come in and clean the grass off the grille.
That just gave him the opportunity to save fuel and
make it, because he was able to stop and go. We
were running obviously a lot better than that, so we
couldn't take that risk to get the fuel and give up
the track position."
Neither could the other top contenders at the time,
who waited another 10 laps or more to come in for
their final pit stops. One by one, they found
themselves dumped out into deep traffic -- the
worst possible place at Indianapolis, where it's
notoriously difficult to pass -- and pinned behind
rivals who had decided to either stretch fuel as long
as they could, or try and make it to the end. "How
did we get all the way back here behind all these
people?" Juan Montoya asked on the radio after
he gave up a top-five position to pit, and emerged
in 32nd.
Matt Kenseth thought he and Jeff Gordon had the
best cars, but considered himself lucky to have
finished in 5th.
Tony Stewart salvaged a sixth-place result despite
a litany of problems throughout the race.
| Landon Cassill's spin was the first turn of events at the Brickyard 400. |
| Paul Menard Won the 2011 Brickyard 400 Race |
| RACE NEWS & VIEWS |