Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
By Richard Tix
This week NASCAR heads to the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Last week Kyle Busch won for the third time in four races and takes his hot streak to Indy. But the real focus maybe on Jeff Gordon, the 2014 Indy race winner.
Gordon won the inaugural NASCAR Cup race here at Indy and will be running it one last time (at least as a full time driver). Gordon has 5 career wins here and when many fans think NASCAR at IMS they think of Jeff Gordon.
This maybe one of the hardest farewell tracks for Gordon so if he is running up front during the end of the race the crowd could go wild. Add onto all the history, a win would also lock Gordon into the Chase instead of him going week to week looking to get in on points. So, other than Gordon, who can we expect to be a front runner Sunday?
Gordon won the inaugural NASCAR Cup race here at Indy and will be running it one last time (at least as a full time driver). Gordon has 5 career wins here and when many fans think NASCAR at IMS they think of Jeff Gordon.
This maybe one of the hardest farewell tracks for Gordon so if he is running up front during the end of the race the crowd could go wild. Add onto all the history, a win would also lock Gordon into the Chase instead of him going week to week looking to get in on points. So, other than Gordon, who can we expect to be a front runner Sunday?
The Good
- Jeff Gordon- Gordon has done it all here at IMS. He has 17 top 10's in 21 career starts, 5 wins, 3 poles, and an average finish of 8.4. He won last year and will look to go out at IMS with one last win.
- Kyle Busch- Kyle Busch, the same Kyle that has won 3 of 4, is one of the best current drivers at IMS to not have a win yet. So, will he steal the show from Gordon and win 4 of 5? It could be done.
- Jimmie Johnson- JJ had some early career struggle here with mostly luck, but since then he has four total wins. If he stay's away from his bad luck here that has dragged his average finish down he has a good shot at winning on Sunday
The Middle
- Kevin Harvick- Not many times does a guy with a win at a certain track end up in the NASCAR Behind the Wall "Middle" category, but that's where Harvick finds himself. His lone win was in 2003 and since he only has two top 5's. In his last 9 starts he has an average finish of 11.66. I would expect him to finish between 5th-13th at Indy almost every time.
The Bad
- Danica Patrick- Last year was not her fault, but in her short career here she has not done well. Most of it has to do with the fact that she has not had a lot of seat time in a Cup car here, but many drivers don't. She has yet to finish better than 30th.
- Sam Hornish Jr- Only four starts here and Hornish has yet to crack the top 15. Worse yet, he only has finished better than 30th twice. Granted it is only in four tries, but he is now with RPM so more is expected.
- Martin Truex Jr- Truex only has one top 10 at Indy in 10 tries so far in his career. What is more worrisome than that is that he only has three top 15's and only five top 20's in that same time. Many of those races were with DEI or MWR, so he doesn't have a ton of excuses not to be a top 20 car.
About the Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Track Stats
- A race has been won from the Pole three times in 21 NASCAR races (Newman 2013, Jimmie Johnson 2008, and Kevin Harvick 2003).
- Chevy has won the last 12 races and 16 of 21 races total. Ford- 3, Pontiac- 1 Dodge- 1
- Jeff Gordon won the Inaugural Cup race in 1994
- Most cautions was 13 in 2004
- Gordon has the most career wins here with 5. Jimmie Johnson is next in line with 4
- 12 drivers have won at Indy including 8 that only won once.
- Only four drivers have multiple wins (Gordon, JJ, Tony Stewart, and Dale Jarrett).
- Gordon also has the most poles (3), top 5's (12), and top 10's (17) of any driver.
Track Info
- Surface
- Asphalt
- Length
- 2.5 miles
- Banking
- Turns: 9 degrees
- Straights: 0 degrees
Indianapolis
Motor Speedway
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Race
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Date
|
Cars
|
Winner(s)
|
St
|
Make / Model
|
1994-19
|
8/6/1994
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
3
|
Chevrolet
|
1995-19
|
8/5/1995
|
41
|
Dale Earnhardt
|
13
|
Chevrolet
|
1996-19
|
8/3/1996
|
40
|
Dale Jarrett
|
24
|
Ford
|
1997-19
|
8/2/1997
|
43
|
Ricky Rudd
|
7
|
Ford
|
1998-19
|
8/1/1998
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
3
|
Chevrolet
|
1999-20
|
8/7/1999
|
43
|
Dale Jarrett
|
4
|
Ford
|
2000-20
|
8/5/2000
|
43
|
Bobby Labonte
|
3
|
Pontiac
|
2001-21
|
8/5/2001
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
27
|
Chevrolet
|
2002-21
|
8/4/2002
|
43
|
Bill Elliott
|
2
|
Dodge
|
2003-21
|
8/3/2003
|
43
|
Kevin Harvick
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
2004-21
|
8/8/2004
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
11
|
Chevrolet
|
2005-21
|
8/7/2005
|
43
|
Tony Stewart
|
22
|
Chevrolet
|
2006-21
|
8/6/2006
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
5
|
Chevrolet
|
2007-20
|
7/29/2007
|
43
|
Tony Stewart
|
14
|
Chevrolet
|
2008-20
|
7/27/2008
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
2009-20
|
7/26/2009
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
16
|
Chevrolet
|
2010-20
|
7/25/2010
|
43
|
Jamie McMurray
|
4
|
Chevrolet
|
2011-20
|
7/31/2011
|
43
|
Paul Menard
|
15
|
Chevrolet
|
2012-20
|
7/29/2012
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
6
|
Chevrolet
|
2013-20
|
7/28/2013
|
43
|
Ryan Newman
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
2014-20
|
7/27/2014
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
2
|
Chevrolet
|
2014 Crown Royal Presents The John Wayne Walding 400 Photos
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