Brickyard 400 media day unlike any other

In two weeks I’ll be on the road to the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and you know I couldn’t be happier about it. The Brickyard 400 is a big deal, a huge deal, for me and a lot of other NASCAR drivers.

Jeff Gordon has won it four times, Tony Stewart has done it twice, and Kevin Harvick became the first-ever driver to win from the pole in 2003. Jamie McMurray captured a win in the Brickyard 400 last year, months after winning the Daytona 500.

From left: Felix Sabates, McMurray and Chip Ganassi in the post-race press conference at IMS

“Getting to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 means more to me this year than making the Chase,” McMurray said after winning last year. “This year or in 10 years, the guy that won that race one time everybody will talk about. The guy that finished third in the points, nobody cares.”

Winning once at Indy immortalizes you amongst the greats, and not just the NASCAR greats. If you look at this list of winners at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway you’ll be reminded of history: Foyt, Unser, Andretti, Mears, Fittipaldi and Luyendyk. Names that made the world-famous 2.5-mile rectangle in Speedway, Ind., their home and they invited NASCAR into it.

A win at Indy is priceless.

But some of the best drivers in the sport have yet to visit victory lane, which is why, every year, the same question is asked: “What would it mean to win at Indy?”

Martin and Montoya prepare to start the 2009 Brickyard 400, a race that Montoya dominated, but was caught speeding on pit road, and Martin finished second to Jimmie Johnson

Mark Martin has never done it in NASCAR’s top division (he does have three IROC wins at IMS). Dale Earnhardt Jr. has also never won at IMS, and Juan Pablo Montoya has won the Indy 500 and the U.S Grand Prix, but has never won the Brickyard 400.

To each of these men close is not good enough. They’d love nothing more than to step into Victory Lane, and all three are fan favorites.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning at Indy would make a lot of fans very happy. His dad won in 1995.

But this season has been a season of firsts: Trevor Bayne’s exciting Daytona 500 win, Regan Smith capturing victory at the Southern 500 and David Ragan’s first career win at Daytona two weeks ago have all made headlines.

It seems we’re due for an unlikely winner at Indy.

In two weeks, when media day is upon us, maybe the question to every driver at Indy should be, “Who’s going to be the surprise winner this time?”

I’ll be there. And I can not wait. The countdown is on to the Brickyard 400.

Quaker State 400 countdown: Could a first-timer win at Kentucky?

Trevor Bayne did it in exciting fashion in the sport’s biggest race. Regan Smith did it in one of the sport’s most history filled events. And David Ragan did it on Saturday night.

Each of these drivers won their first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in 2011. Could a first-time winner grace the winner’s circle at Kentucky in the first-ever Sprint Cup race at the 1.5-mile oval in Sparta, Ky., in the inaugural Quaker State 400?

On May 11th, A.J. Allmendinger visited the speedway to promote Ford’s sponsorship of the track. Allmendinger has never won at NASCAR’s highest level. Could he be the guy to break into Victory Lane at Kentucky?

Allmendinger and Kentucky Speedway GM Mark Simendinger

“I’m excited to get here,” Allmendinger said. “Hopefully we’ll have a couple of wins before we get here but if not, we’ll make this one my first one.”

Allmendinger and his Richard Petty Motorsports teammate, Marcos Ambrose, ran one-two in the only practice for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. Allmendinger finished 10th and Ambrose 17th.

Ambrose was on the doorstep of his first victory last year in Sonoma when his car cut off heading up the hill (Ambrose shut his car off to save fuel) right past the start finish line and wouldn’t refire. Since he didn’t keep his spot in line during the yellow, Ambrose couldn’t restart first, and Jimmie Johnson went on to win the race.

Paul Menard could also break into victory lane at Kentucky to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. So could David Gilliland, who won the 2006 Nationwide Series race in Kentucky. Travis Kvapil, who was a part of the Goodyear tire test on June 1st at Kentucky, might find his way into Victory Lane for the first time too.

It’s highly unlikely that Michael McDowell will win, but he’s also searching for win No. 1 in the Sprint Cup Series.

And a win for Dale Earnhardt Jr. might feel like a first-time win for NASCAR’s most popular driver. He’s now riding a 110-race winless streak in NASCAR’s highest series. Bruton Smith, owner of Kentucky Speedway, and Chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., said he’d love to see Earnhardt Jr. in Victory Lane.

No matter what happens, the winner of the Quaker State 400 will put his name down as the first-time winner of the Sprint Cup Series at Kentucky. If this season is any indication, it could be the first time ever in Victory Lane for one NASCAR star.

“I guess if somebody’s got to win the first one,” said Allmendinger in May, “I guess it should be me. I don’t see why not.” It drew some light-hearted laughter. Now that the race is upon us, that laughter turns to determination.

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More Quaker State 400 coverage as the week continues. Tune in to FOX19 this evening to see a chat with Kentucky Speedway GM Mark Simendinger, who will be in the studio this evening. If you’ve got questions, comments, thoughts, ideas or anything else related to the Quaker State 400, Feed the Children 300 or UNOH 225, leave me a comment below. Thanks for reading.

17 Days ‘til Daytona: Roush Fenway Racing

With 17 days until the green drops at Daytona, it’s time to check out one of my favorite teams on the circuit, the boys at Roush Fenway Racing.

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 car, was picked by the Yahoo Sports panel of experts to finish the year 9th in points. His teammate Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Ford, was picked to finish 8th. So far I haven’t seen Carl Edwards, but I would assume he’ll be a top-five guy.

Biffle won at Pocono in August and the boys of RFR ended the season on a high note, winning three races in the Chase, including Carl Edwards taking the last two races of the season.

After this season though, Edwards will be a “free agent,” of sorts and so will the fourth RFR driver, David Ragan. Chances are high that Edwards will stay at Roush, although you never know in today’s big money world of NASCAR where he might end up.

Conspiracy theorists of the world are currently scheming up a plan to see Ragan depart RFR after his fifth season. In four seasons in the highest level of racing, Ragan has never won a race, and his average finish is 21.6.

Who else could possibly want to inherit the No. 6 car after this season?

If you said Mark Martin, well, you’d be on the right track. As much as I chastised some media members for hounding Mark at Indy last year, I can’t help but take this opportunity to say how interesting this plan is.

Just don’t ask Mark Martin about it until about October or so.

I’m interested to see if that theory pans out this year, and I’ll hold off on my thoughts about that situation until something actually happens. Maybe Ragan will have a banner year, win some races and fight for a Chase berth. Then Roush will re-sign the 25 year old from Unadilla, Georgia.

Until that happens we’ll sit back and wait.

And until Carl Edwards is ready to announce his 2012 plans, I feel we should also all sit back and wait.

I think RFR will be pretty darn good in 2012, but I’m not sure that any of the four drivers in Roush’s camp can challenge Jimmie Johnson or any of the Gibbs boys for the title. If Carl Edwards is up there though, I wouldn’t be horribly surprised.
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Tomorrow we’ll look back at another Daytona 500 from the past. I consider this one to be one of my personal favorites, and it might have been the first one I ever watched. Check back then, have a safe Thursday.