In the 20 years that NASCAR has been racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, more of often than not, the winners have been future Hall of Famers and their teams among the most powerful in the sport.
Jeff Gordon, a four-time Brickyard winner, won the inaugural event. The late Dale Earnhardt won the second. Jimmie Johnson has four Brickyard victories, Tony Stewart and Dale Jarrett have two apiece. Bill Elliott has one, as do Kevin Harvick, Ricky Rudd and Bobby Labonte.
But in recent years the Brickyard has produced some surprise winners, most notably Paul Menard in 2011.
“This is usually a track you see your championship-caliber and championship-ready teams perform at their highest level,” Jarrett, now a TV broadcaster and member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, said this week on a teleconference. “That has happened more often than not. But this does lend itself to an opportunity for someone who hasn’t won this year that’s very competitive to put themselves this that position and possibly in Victory Lane, which then would put them in the Chase.”
Gordon, after 20 years, is still a contender for victory at what could be considered his home track since he lived in nearby Pittsboro during his sprint car racing days. He enters this year’s Brickyard as the Sprint Cup points leader, and he said on an earlier teleconference that he’s looking forward to it.
“Every time it’s something special when you go to Indianapolis,” he said. “It’s just such a cool place, so much history, and obviously a lot of great memories for me and confidence.
“As a driver when I go there, of course it takes a great car and a great team to win that race, but it seems like most years that we’ve been there, we’ve had a car that’s capable of winning.”
Success at Stewart’s track
When NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series ran the first Midsummer Classic at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway last year, the return of major league NASCAR racing to a dirt track for the first time since 1970 drew a packed house and the attention of fans and media from across the NASCAR landscape.
Wednesday’s second running of the Classic turned out to be an even bigger event. By all accounts, the attendance was higher, and the on-track action more exciting.
As the 150-lap main event began to unfold, it was Darrell Wallace Jr., the African-American driver who worked his way from a position in the sport’s Drive 4 Diversity to a ride in a powerful Kyle Busch Motorsports truck, who emerged as the class of the field.
Wallace took the lead for the first time on Lap 49 and dominated the remainder of the race, leading a total of 97 laps to get his second win of the season and third of his career.
But to seal the win, he had to beat back a furious charge from dirt racing veteran and Sprint Cup Series rookie Kyle Larson, who bounced off the outside wall dozens of times before finally damaging his truck too much with two laps remaining.
Wallace then cruised to victory over Ron Hornaday Jr., Ryan Blaney, Ken Schrader and Ty Dillon, who came back from a lap down after a pit-road penalty.
