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.

Allmendinger talks about Regan Smith's win

When I asked A.J. Allmendinger about Regan Smith’s surprising win in the Southern 500 on Saturday night, he laughed a little and said, “I’m not really excited for Regan actually, to be honest with you.”

He was kidding, of course.

While Allmendinger has never visited Victory Lane in NASCAR, he has come close. Allmendinger’s three career top-5 finishes include a career best 3rd in the 2009 Daytona 500.

Just don’t remind him of it.

“It hurts when a guy gets his first win and it makes me think about wanting mine that bad but Regan is a great racecar driver,” he said. “More importantly I think it’s for the sport to get a new race team, a single car race team, when it comes to that, relative to the rest of the race teams, to go out there and win the race and get exposure.”
Allmendinger went through some tribulations as a member of Richard Petty Motorsports at the tail end of last year. RPM almost didn’t make the final two events of the season. After the November race at Texas, the haulers sat outside Texas Motor Speedway and didn’t move until Wednesday, when they hauled out for Phoenix.

“It was tough but I think with everything we went through, to fight hard and to show just not myself, but the whole race team, it was more credit to my crew chief Mike Shiplett and all the guys who were working hard,” Allmendinger said. “They had to jump through a lot of hoops to make sure the cars just got to the racetrack.”

And now that RPM is on firm financial ground, the car that bears The King’s iconic No. 43 sits 11th in Sprint Cup points.
The guy nicknamed “The Dinger,” already has two top tens this season and had a stout run at Martinsville, where, although he led six laps, he finished one lap down in 14th.

“Each race, for me, is a new opportunity for us to get better as a race team. There’s certain areas we’ve got to work in to make us better and there’s certain areas that I think we’re already strong in,” Allmedinger said.

So strong that it wouldn’t surprise many who follow NASCAR to see the former open-wheel star in stock car’s Victory Lane before this season is out.

Although Allmendinger doesn’t have a win to his name, like Regan Smith now does, he appreciated what Smith’s victory meant for NASCAR.

“It’s really cool, not just for Regan but for a race team like Furniture Row who struggled a lot over the past few years,” he said. “To have a single-car team to go out there and take down the big race teams is pretty cool to see.”
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Much, much more A.J. Allmendinger coverage (so much more that you’ll think I’ve switched allegiances from Mark Martin to A.J. Allmendinger!) from Kentucky Speedway’s press conference Wednesday will be here on the blog all week and into the weekend. AJ gave us enough info to write a novel with, so I’ll be writing and sharing the stories he shared with us today.

Also, photos of Kentucky Speedway and the ongoing facelift that the 1.5-mile track in Sparta is undergoing. Thanks for joining me here, and I hope to see you back as the weeks roll closer to the “Quaker State 400” at Kentucky.

Allmendinger talks aout Regan Smith's win

When I asked A.J. Allmendinger about Regan Smith’s surprising win in the Southern 500 on Saturday night, he laughed a little and said, “I’m not really excited for Regan actually, to be honest with you.”

He was kidding, of course.

While Allmendinger has never visited Victory Lane in NASCAR, he has come close. Allmendinger’s three career top-5 finishes include a career best 3rd in the 2009 Daytona 500.

Just don’t remind him of it.

“It hurts when a guy gets his first win and it makes me think about wanting mine that bad but Regan is a great racecar driver,” he said. “More importantly I think it’s for the sport to get a new race team, a single car race team, when it comes to that, relative to the rest of the race teams, to go out there and win the race and get exposure.”

Allmendinger chats with some media members at Kentucky Speedway on Wednesday

Allmendinger went through some tribulations as a member of Richard Petty Motorsports at the tail end of last year. RPM almost didn’t make the final two events of the season. After the November race at Texas, the haulers sat outside Texas Motor Speedway and didn’t move until Wednesday, when they hauled out for Phoenix.

“It was tough but I think with everything we went through, to fight hard and to show just not myself, but the whole race team, it was more credit to my crew chief Mike Shiplett and all the guys who were working hard,” Allmendinger said. “They had to jump through a lot of hoops to make sure the cars just got to the racetrack.”

And now that RPM is on firm financial ground, the car that bears The King’s iconic No. 43 sits 11th in Sprint Cup points.

While the No. 43 no longer carries the distinctive "Petty blue" or STP colors, Best Buy's blue and yellow have helped Allmendinger rocket to 11th in the Sprint Cup standings this season

The guy nicknamed “The Dinger,” already has two top tens this season and had a stout run at Martinsville, where, although he led six laps, he finished one lap down in 14th.

“Each race, for me, is a new opportunity for us to get better as a race team. There’s certain areas we’ve got to work in to make us better and there’s certain areas that I think we’re already strong in,” Allmedinger said.

So strong that it wouldn’t surprise many who follow NASCAR to see the former open-wheel star in stock car’s Victory Lane before this season is out.

Although Allmendinger doesn’t have a win to his name, like Regan Smith now does, he appreciated what Smith’s victory meant for NASCAR.

“It’s really cool, not just for Regan but for a race team like Furniture Row who struggled a lot over the past few years,” he said. “To have a single-car team to go out there and take down the big race teams is pretty cool to see.”
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Much, much more A.J. Allmendinger coverage (so much more that you’ll think I’ve switched allegiances from Mark Martin to A.J. Allmendinger!) from Kentucky Speedway’s press conference Wednesday will be here on the blog all week and into the weekend. AJ gave us enough info to write a novel with, so I’ll be writing and sharing the stories he shared with us today.

Also, photos of Kentucky Speedway and the ongoing facelift that the 1.5-mile track in Sparta is undergoing. Thanks for joining me here, and I hope to see you back as the weeks roll closer to the “Quaker State 400” at Kentucky.