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CUP: Favorites Rule At Indy
Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon collectively have won more than half the Brickyard 400s...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted July 25, 2010   Indianapolis, IN
Tony Stewart (Left) and Jimmie Johnson (Right) are both serious title contenders. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Listening to the drivers this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the message was unmistakable: The Brickyard 400 is no place for underdogs. And that’s likely to hold true today as well.

PDF> FINAL PRACTICE: BRICKYARD 400 - INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
LINK> UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS: BRICKYARD 400 - INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

This is a race that favors the heavyweights of the sport, the superstars of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing. Talladega Superspeedway is known for upsets and first-time winners, but Indy is known for the favorites dominating.

“It’s just one of those facilities that you’re not going to back into it and win it on track position, you have to have a good car here,” said two-time Brickyard 400 winner Tony Stewart. “This track always provided an avenue for the cream to rise to the top every time. You’re just not going to have somebody that’s going to back into a win here. Whoever wins it, it’s not going to be a guy that stayed out and tried to get track position and win it with the way the track is shaped. You can’t back into it here. You have to earn it.”

Thus, it’s no coincidence that Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, three drivers with 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup championships among them, also have nine Brickyard 400 victories.

Johnson said he thinks that’s because the 2.5-mile oval is an exceptionally difficult track to drive on.

“The track is very line specific and very technique specific from the driver standpoint,” said Johnson. “Most tracks we have a lot of room. If you miss your marks a little bit you can go up the race track and find a way to carry momentum and keep going here. And it is a very small window and very small margin for error to get it right.”

And that, Johnson said, results in a lot of driver mistakes.

“We see a lot of guys get on the outside fence,” he said. “It's just because they made a bad decision at the start of the turn. What happens at the start of the turn determines your arc and where you'll end up on the corner exit. So it's a demanding track mentally for the drivers to get it right each corner. You think it looks similar and all corners would drive the same or one half would drive similar to the other half. That's not the case. All four corners take a little different technique.”

So if the Brickyard favors the favorites — and it does — who are the favorites this time?
Jeff Gordon is a four-time winner of the Brickyard 400. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

THE BIG THREE — It goes without saying that Johnson, Stewart and Gordon are as likely to win here as anyone. Collectively, they’ve won nine of 16 previous Brickyards and they head the list of favorites again. Taking them vs. the field is usually a good bet.

RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING — NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Kevin Harvick and his teammates Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton have been fast throughout the weekend, and it would be no surprise whatsoever if one of those three is kissing the bricks tonight.

MONTOYA & MCMURRAY — Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray will start first and fourth, respectively. Montoya was the fastest in both practices Friday and he’s eager to redeem himself after last year’s pit-road speeding penalty fiasco.

Certainly, there are others who could step up big. Mark Martin, Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle all qualified in the top 10, and Martin nearly won here last year. But when the checkered flag falls, expect one of the big names to wind up in victory lane.

“When you win a race here, you've earned it,” Johnson said. “The Daytona 500 is an amazing event. But there are circumstances out of the team and driver's control that can lead to you winning the race. Somebody giving you a push or not pushing you in a certain situation. Here that doesn't take place. If you win this race, you've earned every inch of it for 400 miles and put yourself in a position to win.”

PDF> FINAL PRACTICE: BRICKYARD 400 - INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
LINK> UNOFFICIAL QUALIFYING RESULTS: BRICKYARD 400 - INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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