Fast Forward ~ The Crown Royal Presents The Samuel Deeds 400 At Indianapolis Fantasy Race Picks And Preview
7/25/2013
Jim
Fitzgerald And Staff
“The future is like a corridor into which we
can see only by the light coming from behind.”
–Edward Weyer, Jr.
NASCAR
returns to the “Hallowed Ground” of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This is the 20th race of the season,
and the 20th anniversary of the first Sprint Cup Series Race at
Indianapolis.
The Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Location:
Speedway, Indiana
Length:
2.5 Mile Oval
Banking:
Turn 1-4, 9 degrees
Frontstretch,
0 degrees
Backstretch, 0 degrees
Pit
Road Speed: 55 MPH
The Race: Crown Royal Presents the Samuel
Deeds 400
160
Laps, 400 Miles
Defending
Champion: Jimmie Johnson, 137.680 MPH
Most
recent winner: Jimmie Johnson, 137.680 MPH
Track
Record: Bobby Labonte, August 2000, 155.912 MPH
Race
Record: Bobby Labonte, August 2000, 155.912 MPH
Qualifying
record: Casey Mears, August 2004, 186.293 MPH
2012
Purse: $9,169,812
TV: ESPN,
12:00PM EST 7/28/2013
Radio:
IMS Racing Network,
Sirius XM 90
The History:
1909-Indianapolis
Motor Speedway established
August
6, 1994- Jeff Gordon wins the first Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis. This win set Gordon as the youngest race
winner at the track.
August
3, 1997-Closest Margin Of Victory: Ricky Rudd over
Bobby Labonte by 0.183 seconds.
August
4th, 2002- Bill Elliott becomes the oldest winner at Indy, 46 years,
9 months, 27 days.
The Contenders:
Who
do I think will have a shot to win at The Brickyard?
Jeff Gordon: With
19 starts, Gordon has 15 top ten finishes, and four wins. He hasn’t won it since 2004, but you cannot
argue the numbers.
Jimmie Johnson: No
big surprise here. Johnson has 4 wins in
11 starts. He is hot or cold here, as
there is only one other top ten finish in those eleven starts. However, Johnson has extra incentive. If he wins, he because the all-time leader in
wins at Indy, passing his mentor, Jeff Gordon
Matt Kenseth: Five
top fives and seven top tens,
combined with a strong car will make Kenseth a favorite here for me.
Tony Stewart: Two
wins and ten top 10s , with 14 lead lap finishes in
fourteen races? Sure, I’ll take Smoke
with those numbers.
Juan Pablo Montoya: I
went all over the place with this pick, but it all boils down to one stat. Jimmie Johnson, easy pick here. Jeff Gordon, easy pick. Tony Stewart is an easy pick. They have all won races here. What do you have to do to win a race? You have to lead it, and Montoya leads laps
here. In fact, he is 4th
among active drivers, and has done that on half of the starts of those who outrank
him. Montoya just needs to lead that
last one.
DARK HORSE PICK-Mark Martin: Hard
to think of Martin as a dark horse, but running a limited schedule will do
that. However, Martin has 11 top ten
finishes in 19 races.
There
are my contenders for New Hampshire. How did I do with my picks from New
Hampshire?
Ryan Newman: 39th
for No. 39.
Tony Stewart: Had
a good finish in his sights, but it was fuel mileage that would be his
undoing…again. 26th.
Matt Kenseth: Led
33 laps and finished 9th.
Jimmie Johnson: Started
from the rear and finished 6th.
Denny Hamlin:
Finished 21st.
DARK HORSE PICK-Kurt Busch: Led
102 laps, but a questionable move left him 31st.
Banner
day at New Hampshire: a 6th,
a 9th, a 21st, a 26th, a 31st, and
a 39th. ROUGH.
Race Pro Picks!
How
did we all do last week?
PattyKay
squeaked out a point on Mr. Seven, but the rest of us lost ground…
Player |
Selection |
Race Pts |
Previous Pts |
Total Pts |
Wins |
DNFs |
Mr. Seven |
29 |
37 |
708 |
745 |
0 |
0 |
PattyKay |
48 |
38 |
674 |
712 |
0 |
1 |
Jim |
14 |
19 |
684 |
703 |
4 |
1 |
Alabama |
14 |
19 |
650 |
669 |
0 |
0 |
Brian |
24 |
34 |
628 |
662 |
1 |
2 |
Kevin |
78 |
15 |
543 |
558 |
0 |
5 |
Here
are our picks for the Crown Royal Presents the Samuel Deeds 400:
PattyKay (@MamaPKL): Is it just me, or does this pickin'
game get harder as the weeks roll by? I don't want to be that guy that picks JJ
from here to the end, but dang, it's hard not to. This week, we're at Indy, and
who's won THREE of the last five races here? Oh yeah! JJ! But I'm not goin' there... no, I'm not. Stats show when he doesn't win
here, he's somewhere out the back door. Can't have any more
of those, so I'm going with the guy that's got as many wins here as Jimmie,
just not as recently. Jeff Gordon is always hanging around the front of
the pack at the end of an Indy race, and it's time for him to kiss those bricks
another time. He won the first one, and he'll win the 20th one. Watch!
Brian: So today I read that
NBC is jumping back into the game, and ESPN and TNT are out, starting in
2015. I have to tell you, I don't like
the current format of the race season being bounced from TV carrier to
carrier. I like uniformity, so when I
watch, I know who says the right things, knows what's really going on, and who
has a job because his Daddy is famous.
It also helps to find the Pre-Race after the SPEED Channel has already
told me everything I would ever want to know, and then some. Good luck to NBC, and please, please, please,
hire the right guys to do the right job.
Week after week, it would be easy to
keep picking the same consistent driver(s), but what fun would that be? It's not like I'm next to last in points, and
I thought I was good at this stuff 6 months ago.....oh...really? Damn, I must ____!! It's ok, this week, I'm
making a come-back, by picking the driver who will dominate the entire race,
win by several car lengths, and ultimately be on top at the end of the
season.
Tony Stewart currently sits on the
bubble, at 13th in the Standings.
Someone try to tell me he's able to sleep at night knowing that, so I
can laugh at you. Tony is a winner, and
this season has been a bit of a struggle, but it's not over until I put on a
dress and sing!!! Tony has already shown
us that he can finish strong; as he destroyed the competition in 2011, winning
5 of the 10 Chase races to win his 3rd Cup Championship. As we continue the second half of this
season, it's time for Smoke to show us why he's a Champion. Tony in the Winner's Circle
at Indianapolis....again.
:)
Kevin
(@KEVDOGG329): This
week, NASCAR travels to the hallowed grounds of Indy. Some of the best drivers have won at this
track since NASCAR started racing here in 1994: Earnhardt, Gordon, Johnson,
Stewart, along with a a
couple surprise winners in McMurray, and Menard. This weekend I am going to pick a driver that
runs well at this track, and has an Indy 500 win at this track. I am picking Juan Pablo Montoya to win this
weekend, due to this track has been one of his best tracks, and if he had not
had a pit road mistake a few years ago, he would be already be a Brickyard 400
champion.
Mr.
Seven: I think I’m just going to take whoever finished in
seventh place. Deal with it.
(Editor’s Note: Mr. Seven will be given
credit for the points of the seventh place finishing driver each week.)
Alabama: Why does one continue to buck what seems
to be a sure thing? Stupidity? Stubbornness? How
long does one try to hold back a train before one either gets
on the train, gets out of the way, or gets run over? As long as they can and just before they get
run over, hopefully. Why does one continue to see the same names pop up all the
time, no matter the track? Because they are good. Johnson has won 3 of the last 5 and 4
of the last 7, etc, etc. Stewart has won twice, Gordon has won 4. I looked at Montoya...nah. How long before people start taking Bowyer
seriously, as he sits second in the points? After having said all of that, to
be short, I'm going with a guy who has run 12 times here, has a pole, a win and
6 other Top 10s, 3 of which have been Top 5s.
So, as he's been in the Top 10 for 7 of 12 races, I'm taking Mr.
Harvick.
Jim
(@Forewasabi): Long
straightaways. 90 degree turns. Golf Course in the infield. Three feet of bricks for a
finish line. Can’t you see, it’s all so clear! I
pick Jimmie Johnson for the win, and for history.
There
are our picks and my contenders…good luck to all and may we pick you a winner!
“My
mom grew up in Kansas, my dad in Indiana. They had boring childhoods..” –Hunter Parrish
Jim Fitzgerald @Forewasabi
PattyKay Lilley @MamaPKL
Kevin Abraham @KevDogg329
Marshall Gabell @Gabell_Racing
Who is YOUR pick to win this week?