Daily Trackside Report - Sunday, July 25
July 25, 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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ORDER OF THE DAY:
7 a.m. Public Gates Open
9:45 a.m. Q&A Session with Jamie McMurray, Chevy Display
10 a.m. Q&A Session with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevy Display
10:30 a.m. Q&A Session with Jimmie Johnson, Chevy Display
11 a.m. Live Music by Casey Jamerson, Plaza Stage
11:30 a.m. Pre-Race Ceremonies Begin
12:30 p.m. Driver Introductions
12:50 p.m. “America the Beautiful,” Casey Jamerson
1 p.m. Invocation by Rev. Howard Brammer, Traders Point Christian Church
1:01 p.m. National Anthem, Steven Curtis Chapman
1:02 p.m. Flyover, Four T-38 Talon jets, Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas
1:07 p.m. Command to Start Engines, Mari Hulman George, IMS Chairman of the Board
1:19 p.m. Green Flag, Start of 2010 Brickyard 400
6 p.m. Track Closes
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Kyle Busch won the Kroger 200 benefitting Riley Hospital for Children NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Fellow Brickyard 400 starter Carl Edwards finished second.
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IZOD IndyCar Series team owner/driver Sarah Fisher is attending the Brickyard 400 today to support the Braun Racing/Dollar General entry driven by 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve.
Dollar General is the primary sponsor of Fisher’s entry in the IZOD IndyCar Series.
SARAH FISHER: “We're very excited that Jacques Villeneuve is in the show. We're happy to be here at the Brickyard. I have a very unique sponsor with Dollar General in that they're in both IndyCar and NASCAR. I was at ORP with them last night and again here today at the Brickyard. I miss not being at Edmonton, but this is definitely an awesome place to come. It's really neat to be here with the partners on the IndyCar side.” (About her stock car career): "They're really fun to drive. I spent a year out in the West Series. They're most like a sprint car, which is what I grew up racing. I enjoy driving them, but I put all my heart and soul into my IndyCar team. That's my primary focus.”
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Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear points leader Conor Daly is visiting Gasoline Alley today. Daly, from nearby Noblesville, Ind., has four wins this year in the series, part of the IZOD IndyCar Series’ “Road to Indy” ladder system. Daly, 18, is the son of Indianapolis 500 veteran Derek Daly.
CONOR DALY: “I haven't been to the Brickyard 400 in about 10 years. I'm here with one of my sponsors, Electric Sunglasses, to support Kyle Busch. It's great to come out for the day, have some fun and see what happens.”
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Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark, selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time after the 2009 season, will serve as the grand marshal of the Brickyard 400.
Clark will wave the green flag to send the field of 43 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers at speed into Turn 1 at IMS. He met with the media this morning in the Media Center.
DALLAS CLARK: “I’m still trying to figure out why they picked me, but I’m excited to be a part of it. It’s a fantastic event. It’s really cool to be able to see all the work that goes on behind the scenes with the drivers and the crews. My family is here with me, and everything has just been a lot of fun. Everyone had treated us really well, and I can’t wait to help get this event started.” (On the Indianapolis Motor Speedway): “I’ve been out here before for the Indy 500, but this is the first time I’ve been involved with NASCAR. We’ve always been in training camp during the race, so this is a really cool opportunity. When we came out here for the “500,” we went to the Museum and everything, and that was definitely a cool experience. This place is just a phenomenal place to be at, and if people haven’t been out here before, they definitely need to come here and experience everything that it has to offer. There’s so many different things out here to see and experience that anyone at any age can come out here and really enjoy the day.”
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1992 Indianapolis 500 Chase Rookie of the Year Lyn St. James, the founder of the Women in the Winner’s Circle Academy, visited the Speedway today with her guest Kerry Graham, past president of the LPGA.
LYN ST. JAMES: “I’ve been coming to most of these; I’m still a race fan besides being a racer. I’m here with Kerry Graham, and I’m showing her around. She has never been to a NASCAR race. I’m also here to see friends and to see a great race. This always a great race; it’s a little slower than our (IZOD IndyCar Series) races. I’ve got some old buddies like Bill Elliott that I always like to see do well here and then Tony (Stewart) and some of the other guys I know that I would like to see in the winner’s circle. Our Women in the Winner’s Circle Academy have had almost 300 drivers go through it. I’m always looking to talk to team owners and crew members about the type of experience they are looking for, that these drivers can have, so I can be a better mentor and coach.”
KERRY GRAHAM: “This is my first visit to NASCAR and to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and it is just fabulous. Friday we went out to the NASCAR truck race (AAA Insurance 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park) and we spent Saturday walking around in downtown Indianapolis and going up to the top of the monument so I can see what a beautiful city Indianapolis is. This (IMS) is the capital of all racing. I’m fascinated to compare what I know about the golf industry – how it’s organized, its rules-making bodies, its participants – to the racing industry and how women can break through in both sports, golf and racing. So I’m here to learn. Lyn has introduced me to so many incredible people that it has been a real treat.” (About Brickyard Crossing Golf Course): “Pete Dye, who designed the course, is a very dear friend. Lyn drove me around the course, and I’m wearing a Brickyard Crossing shirt. Everyone in Indianapolis should come out and play that golf course. It is a golf course next to a racetrack, and it is fabulous.” (Scouting for LPGA event here?): “No, but I’d like to see Paula Creamer and some of our girls get involved in a little bit of racing in the celebrity races. There is a need for speed among women athletes, and they love this fast stuff.”
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RACE SPECIFICS:
•Eight-time Brickyard 400 starter Brett Bodine drives the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Pace Car during the race. There will be three pace laps before the race starts.
•Pit-road speed limit is 55 mph.
•The Pace Car speed will be 70 mph during caution periods.
•The race distance is 160 laps/400 miles on the 2.5-mile oval.
•The flagmen for today’s race are Rick Monroe and Rodney Wise.
•There will be a competition caution at Lap 15.
•#20 Joey Logano and #64 Todd Bodine will move to the rear of the field on the pace laps due to engine changes.
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At 12:45 p.m., the ambient temperature was 81 degrees with a relative humidity of 79 percent and north winds at 7 mph. Skies were sunny. The track temperature was 115 degr