Daily Trackside Report - Saturday, July 24
July 24, 2010 | By
Welcome to the 2010 Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Brickyard 400 is the 20th race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Notes, quotes, trivia, historical information and other items will appear on these pages through Sunday, July 25. Our Media Center staff, headed by Indianapolis Motor Speedway Manager of Public Relations Eric Powell, is here to assist you and answer your questions during this event.
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TODAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):
7 a.m. Public Gates Open
10:09 a.m. Honorary Starter Luke Bryan
10:10 a.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup Qualifying (Best of two laps)
2-3 p.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice
3:30-4:30 p.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice
6 p.m. Track Closes
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Ron Hornaday won the AAA Insurance 200 presented by J.D. Byrider NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Friday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
Hornaday led 129 laps and beat runner-up Kyle Busch by 2.095 seconds.
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Longtime Indy-car team owner and race strategist Barry Green is a visitor to Gasoline Alley this weekend, keeping a keen eye on the progress of Jacques Villeneuve. Green fielded the car that Villeneuve drove to victory in the 1995 Indianapolis 500.
Villeneuve is attempting to qualify for the Brickyard 400 for the first time. If he is successful, he will join fellow Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya as the only drivers to compete in all three major auto racing events at IMS, the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 and United States Grand Prix.
BARRY GREEN: “I just helped him as a friend several years ago when he broke up with (Formula One team owner Craig Pollock). I just come here to watch him because I believe in the guy, and I have so much fun with him. The Sprint Cup Series is so, so close. He has done well in the Indy cars, but this is going to be tough. We’ll see in qualifying.”
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BRICKYARD 400 QUALIFYING:
Track Milestones
•Qualifying record: 186.293 mph, Casey Mears, Aug. 7, 2004
•2009 pole speed: 182.054 mph, Mark Martin
•Fastest lap, Friday practice: 179.756, #42 Juan Pablo Montoya
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At 10:10 a.m., the beginning of NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying, the ambient temperature was 81 degrees with a relative humidity of 84 percent and west-southwest winds at 10 mph. Skies were sunny. The track temperature was 109 degrees, according to Goodyear engineers.
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POLE QUALIFYING CHRONOLOGY:
(Best of two laps)
Time
Of Day Car Driver Time Speed Rank
10:10 a.m. 14 Tony Stewart 49.894 180.382 1
10:12 a.m. 98 Paul Menard 50.140 179.497 2
10:14 a.m. 29 Kevin Harvick 49.666 181.210 1
#29 Harvick takes pole from #14 Stewart.
10:17 a.m. 24 Jeff Gordon 49.655 181.251 1
#24 J. Gordon takes pole from #29 Harvick.
10:19 a.m. 56 Martin Truex Jr. 49.798 180.730 3
10:22 a.m. 1 Jamie McMurray 49.519 181.748 1
#1 McMurray takes pole from #24 J. Gordon.
10:24 a.m. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 49.375 182.278 1
#42 Montoya takes pole from #1 McMurray.
10:26 a.m. 17 Matt Kenseth 49.842 180.571 6
10:28 a.m. 48 Jimmie Johnson 49.412 182.142 2
10:30 a.m. 6 David Ragan 50.303 178.916 10
10:32 a.m. 00 David Reutimann 50.310 178.891 11
10:34 a.m. 7 Robby Gordon 49.957 180.155 9
10:37 a.m. 71 Landon Cassill 49.941 180.213 9
10:39 a.m. 9 Kasey Kahne 50.058 179.791 11
10:41 a.m. 31 Jeff Burton 49.681 181.156 6
10:43 a.m. 12 Brad Keselowski 49.756 180.883 7
10:45 a.m. 77 Sam Hornish Jr. 50.114 179.591 14
10:47 a.m. 99 Carl Edwards 49.939 180.220 11
10:49 a.m. 37 Travis Kvapil 50.558 178.013 19
10:52 a.m. 47 Marcos Ambrose 51.264 175.562 20
#47 Ambrose hit outside retaining wall between Turns 1 and 2 with right side of car on qualifying lap, continued.
10:55 a.m. 82 Scott Speed 50.312 178.884 19
10:57 a.m. 19 Elliott Sadler 50.290 178.962 17
10:59 a.m. 33 Clint Bowyer 49.582 181.517 4
11:01 a.m. 2 Kurt Busch 49.882 180.426 11
11:03 a.m. 43 A.J. Allmendinger 49.901 180.357 13
11:06 a.m. 39 Ryan Newman 49.521 181.741 4
11:07 a.m.: The track temperature is 114 degrees, according to Goodyear engineers.
11:08 a.m. 5 Mark Martin 49.504 181.803 3
11:10 a.m. 34 Kevin Conway 51.376 175.179 28
11:13 a.m. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 49.928 180.260 16
11:15 a.m. 83 Reed Sorenson 50.325 178.838 27
11:17 a.m. 11 Denny Hamlin 49.931 180.249 17
11:19 a.m. 20 Joey Logano 50.341 178.781 29
11:22 a.m. 18 Kyle Busch 50.043 179.845 21
11:24 a.m. 16 Greg Biffle 49.627 181.353 7
11:26 a.m. 78 Regan Smith 49.987 180.047 22
11:28 a.m. 36 Casey Mears 50.955 176.626 34
11:30 a.m. 38 David Gilliland 50.910 176.783 34
11:33 a.m. 26 David Stremme 51.068 176.236 36
11:35 a.m. 66 Dave Blaney 50.682 177.578 34
11:37 a.m. 21 Bill Elliott 50.323 178.845 31
11:40 a.m. 13 Max Papis 50.386 178.621 34
11:42 a.m. 09 Bobby Labonte 50.455 178.377 35
11:44 a.m. 87 Joe Nemechek 50.326 178.834 33
11:46 a.m. 32 Jacques Villeneuve 50.714 177.466 39
11:48 a.m. 46 J.J. Yeley
#46 Yeley pulled off track after warm-up lap.
11:50 a.m. 55 Michael McDowell 50.465 178.341 37
11:52 a.m. 64 Todd Bodine 50.593 177.890 39
11:54 a.m. 46 J.J. Yeley
#46 Yeley hit SAFER Barrier with right rear corner of car exiting Turn 1, aborted qualifying attempt.
Failed to qualify for this event: #26 Stremme, #36 Mears, #38 Gilliland, #46 Yeley.
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Post-qualifying quotes will appear on separate sheets.
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BRICKYARD 400 QUALIFYING NOTES:
•This is Juan Pablo Montoya’s first career Brickyard 400 pole. His previous best starting spot was second in 2007 and 2009. Montoya started second in the 2000 Indianapolis 500, his only career start in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” His best start in the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis was third in 2001.
•This is the third Brickyard 400 pole for a car owned by Chip Ganassi. Casey Mears (2004) and Reed Sorenson (2007) also won poles in Ganassi cars.
•Juan Pablo Montoya has qualified on the front row for three of his four Brickyard 400 starts. He qualified second in 2007 and 2009. He qualified 13th in 2008.
•This is Jimmie Johnson’s second career front-row start for the Brickyard 400. He won the race from the pole in 2008.
•This is the third consecutive year in which Mark Martin has started in the top three for the Brickyard 400. He won the pole in 2009 and qualified second in 2008.
•Jamie McMurray qualified fourth, a Brickyard 400 career best. His previous best was eighth in 2004 and 2008.
•Ryan Newman has qualified in the top eight for nine of his 10 Brickyard 400 starts, including this year. His only start outside of the first four rows came last year, when he qualified 17th.
•Jacques Villeneuve qualified for his first Brickyard 400. Villeneuve joins Juan Pablo Montoya as the only driver to compete in all three major auto races at IMS, the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 and United States Grand Prix. Villeneuve won the 1995 Indianapolis 500.
•Five drivers will make their Brickyard 400 debuts Sunday: Brad Keselowski (starting 11th), Landon Cassill (20th), Max Papis (35th), Kevin Conway (42nd), Jacques Villeneuve (43rd).
•Fourteen drivers now have started the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 with the addition of Max Papis and Jacques Villeneuve. The others: John Andretti, Geoff Brabham, A.J. Foyt, Larry Foyt, Robby Gordon, Sam Hornish Jr., Jason Leffler, Juan Pablo Mo