Atleast two thirds of the field suffered flat tires during the 30 lap feature, and they all occurred in the last 13 laps, with only two finishing on the lead lap. Track was apparently extremely dry, The sooner you had an issue, the better you finished and the top 3 finishers were the first 3 to have the flat tire. Kyle Larson was one of the last to have it and ended up finishing 16th
I saw people posting about something online last week about tires blowing out or something. What exactly happened?
Disclaimer: I did watch the race live and knew about the tire issues from the beginning.
Honestly, I thought NASCAR handled the race in a pretty safe manner, I believe Dale Earnhardt Jr. even said he kinda liked how the race was broken down into a bunch of sprints. Unlike the 2005 USGP or the first Talladega race, nobody withdrew or boycotted the race because of their concerns about the tires, and once the race started, I don't think anybody wound up suffering any serious incidents or injuries as a direct result of the tires. Heck, Jimmie somehow won the race on only two fresh tires.
So was this basicially the climax of everyone being frustrated at Goodyear with past tire concerns, or am I forgetting something else?
Edit/Follow-Up: Thanks guys, nice to hear your perspectives from this race. I probably would have been frustrated about it had I attended the race, but again, given the name of safety and that nobody actually withdrew, I wouldn't have felt as completely lost about it as most everyone else.
According to the stats, if you were one of the top drivers during a NASCAR Cup Series season, there was a a very good chance that you either won the Brickyard 400 or finished well in the race.
I'd say the only exceptions to that rule were Ricky Rudd in 1997 (17th in points), Paul Menard in 2011 (17th in points), and Kasey Kahne in 2017 (15th in points), all of which I've italicized below. All other winners either finished well in points or had multiple wins that season, proving them to be contenders.
Over the course of 27 oval races, only three eventual champions DNF'd from the Brickyard 400, with the average finishing position of the eventual champion being 8.6 in the race. In the first 10 Brickyard 400's, the average finishing position of the eventual champion was a staggering 3.6.
There was a 33% chance that if you won the Brickyard 400, you would later go on to win the championship at the end of the season (this happened 9 times in 27 races, which I've bolded below).
The Raw Stats:
-
1994: Jeff Gordon - finished 8th in points with 2 wins that season. Eventual champion Dale Earnhardt finished 5th in the race.
-
1995: Dale Earnhardt - finished 2nd in points with 5 wins that season. Eventual champion Jeff Gordon finished 6th in the race.
-
1996: Dale Jarrett - finished 3rd in points with 4 wins that season. Eventual champion Terry Labonte finished 3rd in the race.
-
1997: Ricky Rudd - finished 17th in points with 2 wins that season. Eventual champion Jeff Gordon finished 4th in the race.
-
1998: Jeff Gordon - finished 1st in the race and points with 13 wins.
-
1999: Dale Jarrett - finished 1st in the race and points with 4 wins.
-
2000: Bobby Labonte - finished 1st in the race and points with 4 wins.
-
2001: Jeff Gordon - finished 1st in the race and points with 6 wins.
-
2002: Bill Elliott - finished 13th in points with 2 wins that season. Eventual champion Tony Stewart finished 12th in the race.
-
2003: Kevin Harvick - finished 5th in points with 1 win that season. Eventual champion Matt Kenseth finished 2nd in the race.
-
2004: Jeff Gordon - finished 3rd in points with 5 wins that season. Eventual champion Kurt Busch finished 10th in the race.
-
2005: Tony Stewart - finished 1st in the race and points with 5 wins.
-
2006: Jimmie Johnson - finished 1st in the race and points with 5 wins.
-
2007: Tony Stewart - finished 6th in points with 3 wins that season. Eventual champion Jimmie Johnson finished 39th in
https://twitter.com/Turbo500000/status/1427090298933444611?s=20
Ginn Racing has been a disappointment this season to say the least. Going into this season with new ownership, the team formerly known as MB2 Motorsports had a bit of hype for 2007. In addition to the veteran Joe Nemechek and a solid rookie prospect in David Stremme, they had 2005 Champion and 39 time winner Mark Martin running most of the races for them, which was sure to be a recipe for success for the team. But it hasn't worked out that way.
Mark Martin started the year by sitting on the pole for the Daytona 500, but that's been his only highlight. In 15 starts, Martin has 0 top 10s, a best finish of 12th in the Coke 600. That right there tells you the equipment hasn't been good. At this point last year, Joe Nemechek had 4 top 10s in this car, which makes it seem like either the equipment has regressed or other teams have pulled away. Rookie Regan Smith has actually equaled Martin's best finish in the car, with a 12th at Talladega, but other than that has a 26th at Sonoma and 3 other finishes outside the top 30.
But the other two cars are what has been truly abysmal. David Stremme is having a brutal rookie season, with 9 DNQs, and 7 DNFs. He's only seen the checkered flag 4 times, and due to that sits a horrific 45th in points, which is below Boris Said, who has only run 4 races so far. His best finish is just 22nd at Charlotte.
But somehow, Joe Nemechek has been even worse. 14 DNQs with only 6 starts, and in 4 of those he DNF'd. 49th in points, below part time drivers like Scott Wimmer, Kyle Petty, and even his rookie teammate Regan Smith! His one highlight is running top 10 in the July Daytona race before blowing an engine near the end, and it was still his season best result at 21st. Concerningly, the 13 car has even shown up to the last two races unsponsored, and didn't make the show for either.
And now due to having little sponsorship lined up, and poor performance, Ginn has announced that the 13 team is shutting down effective immediately. Joe Nemechek has also been released from the team, and becomes a free agent. The good news for Nemechek is that he has found a ride for the Brickyard 400 with E&M Motorsports (formally known as R&J Racing, who had an alliance with Front Row Motorsports to start the season that has fallen through) to drive their #08 car in their first attempt of the year.
The #01 and #14 teams will operate through the end of the season as planned, but many wonder about the future of Ginn Racing, as rumo
... keep reading on reddit ➡
The xFinity race at the IMS road course was fun. The finish was beyond amazing. The road course should've been run years ago when IPR was cut from the lower tier schedule. The fans are thrilled & the future looks good for xFinity at IMS.
But the Brickyard 400 should stay on the oval. Period.
When Cup first went to Indy in 1994 it was a huge deal for stock car racing. That track is dripping in tradition & prestige. Indiana is a racing hub of America & that track is their Mecca. I understand stock car racing can be hit-&-miss there but winning at that joint means everything to the drivers & teams. They understand the importance of IMS & what is means to have won there. Ask around the garage & I'm convinced the drivers would agree. Ask the ones lucky enough to have claimed victory at the Brickyard. Would their accomplishment be held in the same esteem if it wasn't on the oval? I'd love to hear those answers.
Look at Briscoe's comments after winning today's race, "It's not as prestigious as winning on the oval". That says it all. I'm down for adding more diversity to the schedule but not at the price of a Crown Jewel & moving the Brickyard 400 to the road course would tarnish it's luster.
Moving a date from a track that has two & adding the IMS road course makes sense. I'm for that. All in. But the Brickyard 400 needs to remain on the oval.
But I'm just a fat guy . . . what do I know?
Looks like Amazon has 5 1/64th from 94 if anyone is interested.
I know that people have talked about Bristol or Talladega being worthy of the crown jewel distinction, but since so many new tracks have been added and removed there are many possibilities.
