Brickyard 400 Free Picks
After a week off, NASCAR gets back to business when they visit historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400, which has been considered one of the most prestigious races on the schedule.
Last year’s race was black eye for both NASCAR and Goodyear, since almost a third of the race was run under caution and the event turned into a 10-lap sprint since that’s all they could seem to run without blowing a tire. Goodyear has said they have solved the problem and the drivers also stated the new tire held up during testing.
When handicapping Indianapolis, it’s important to remember that the only track similar to it is Pocono, so look for drivers who did well there a few weeks back. A few other keys will be handling and fuel mileage, so look for those crew chiefs that can adapt and aren’t afraid to gamble a little.
Jeff Gordon 7/1
In 15 races at Indy, Jeff Gordon leads all drivers with an 8.6 average finish and has only finished outside of the top-10 just three times. While Gordon has struggled this year do to a bad back, we think the extra week off and wanting to become the first five-time winner here should make him forget about his aching back.
Carl Edwards 8/1
This has been a strange year for Carl Edwards, who has had some solid runs but doesn’t have much to show for it so far. We think this could be the week for him to break out of his current slump, however. If you look back at the Pocono race, Edwards had the best car that day and also led the most laps and with Pocono being very similar to Indy it should help him at the Brickyard. Edwards has shown a real fondness for Indy and has been very good on tracks similar to it.
Live Longshot
Matt Kenseth 20/1
Like all the other Rousch drivers this year, Matt Kenseth has had an up and down run. But we think this is the weekend for him and his team to finally come together and start to get back on track. Indy has been a track that either Kenseth seems to love or hate and his average finish of 16.0 shows that.
2009 NASCAR Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Information
Race Date: Sunday, July 26
Location: Indianapolis, Ind.
Pre-Race: 1:30PM ET
Green Flag: Approx. 2:19 p.m.
TV Coverage: ESPN
Radio Coverage: MRN
Track Type: Oval (160 laps)
Posted: 7/22/09 6:30PM ET
