Race: Brickyard 400
Date: Sunday July 25th, 2010
Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Time: 1 pm ET
Channel: ESPN
by Virginia Vroom, Professional NASCAR Handicapper, Predictem.com
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This weekend we are headed to the historic Indianapolis Speedway after a nice week off for the drivers. The Brickyard 400 is one of the most historic races on one of the most historic tracks. Not only do we see exciting Indy drivers, but we also get the stock cars out on this track which is a great rarity in the sport of racing.
While some people claim that the Brickyard isnt an exciting race, I beg to differ. I believe that the race is one of the best because of the anticipation and the magnitude of simply being at this great track. Everyone wants to kiss the bricks and the fighting to get there is pretty awesome.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a 2.5 mile true oval with 3330 feet comprising the front and back stretches. There is 9 degree banking in the turns and 0 degree banking on the straights, so overall its almost flat. This is why you will see a lot of the cross-over drivers from Indy do very well here. Not only do they have the experience at this particular track, but this is what they are used to driving. The banking on some tracks on the Sprint Cup series is much different than the flatness that the Indy cars are used to, being open-wheel and much more prone to magnificent accidents when not careful. Banking creates a much more treacherous drive and possibility of cars sliding up and down the track, which can be extremely dangerous for open-wheeled cars.
Jimmie Johnson is a true champ here. He has won the last two years in a row and overall has a total of 3 wins. Teammate Jeff Gordon has a total of 4 wins since the inception of this race in 1994. Overall, though, I think that we are going to see some major driving from Juan Pablo. Hes always a force here and hes been making up some ground throughout the season. If theres any track that this guy can win at, its Indy with his background in open-wheel. Hes my pick for this weekend. I think that overall, Johnson will be a strong force here too along with the Busch brothers and Jeff Gordon.
Heres a peek at your current top 12 in the points as we edge closer to the end of the regular season:
Kevin Harvick
Jeff Gordon
Jimmie Johnson
Denny Hamlin
Kurt Busch
Kyle Busch
Jeff Burton
Matt Kenseth
Tony Stewart
Carl Edwards
Greg Biffle
Clint Bowyer
Dale Jr. and Mark Martin are right outside the top 12 with only 37 points keeping Martin from the top 12. Indianapolis will certainly be a good race to watch. The drivers bring a lot of class and skill to this race along with a lot of fight since they all want to win it. This is going to be a good race where drivers tend to tone down their aggression yet still fight for the top spot. Stay tuned for this Sundays running of the Brickyard 400.
