Kissing the bricks after a victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway sometimes foreshadows bigger things.
For the past two years, the winner of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard has gone on to win the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship. In 2005, Indiana native Tony Stewart won his personal Holy Grail race, and went on to win the championship at season’s end.
The same occurred last season, as Jimmie Johnson pulled off the Indy-Cup double.
In fact, the winner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway race has won the championship in the same year six times in the 13 years the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series has raced at Indy:
2006: Jimmie Johnson
2005: Tony Stewart
2001: Jeff Gordon
2000: Bobby Labonte
1999: Dale Jarrett
1998: Jeff Gordon
Furthermore, the eventual NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion finished outside the top 10 at Indy only once – Stewart finished 12th in 2002.
The above statistic could equal good news for Matt Kenseth, who is looking to become the first driver from Roush Fenway Racing to win the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
Kenseth, the 2003 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion, has finished second twice at IMS – in 2003 and last season – and has a series-best Driver Rating of 114.0. He also leads all drivers in Average Running Position (5.8) over the past two years. Kenseth currently sits third in the series standings.
Selected Driver Highlights – Indianapolis Specific
Note: All driver stats are from Indianapolis. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005. That is why the Loop Data statistics in this release cover the last two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet)
• One top five, two top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 19.2
• Driver Rating of 96.9, ninth-best
• 29 Fastest Laps Run, tied for second-most
• 187 Laps in the Top 15, ninth-most
Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet)
• One top five
• Average Running Position of 10.0, seventh-best
• Driver Rating of 100.9, sixth-best
• 10th-fastest Green Flag Speed
• 94% of laps were in the Top 15 (150 total), third-best percentage
• 41 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), best per race average of any driver
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)
• Four wins, seven top fives, 10 top 10s; three poles
• Average finish of 9.3
• Second-best Closer – 17 positions improved in the last 10 percent of laps in each race
• 109 Green Flag Passes
Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet)
• One win, three top fives, four top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 7.8
• Average Running Position of 9.2, fifth-best
• Driver Rating of 105.3, fourth-best
• 14 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most
• 275 Laps in the Top 15, fourth-most
• 49 Quality Passes, tied for fifth-most
Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet)
• One win, two top 10s
• Average finish of 20.4
• Driver Rating of 91.6, 11th-best
• 20 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
• Series-high 120 Green Flag Passes
• 184 Laps in the Top 15, ninth-most
• 51 Quality Passes, tied for fourth-most
Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge)
• Two top fives
• Average finish of 14.0
• Average Running Position of 6.4, second-best
• Driver Rating of 107.1, third-best
• 29 Fastest Laps Run, tied for second-most
• Second-fastest Green Flag Speed
• 304 Laps in the Top 15, second-most
• 51 Quality Passes, tied for second-most
Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford)
• Four top fives
• Average finish of 13.7
• Series-best Average Running Position of 5.8
• Series-best Driver Rating of 114.0
• Third-fastest Green Flag Speed
• Series-high 316 Laps in the Top 15
• 44 Quality Passes, eighth-most
Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet)
• One win, three top fives, five top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 8.4
• Average Running Position of 11.0, eighth-most
• Driver Rating of 109.2, second-best
• Series-high 31 Fastest Laps Run
• 117 Green Flag Passes, second-most
• 246 Laps in the Top 15, tied for sixth-most
• Series-high 58 Quality Passes
Brian Vickers (No. 83 Red Bull Toyota)
• One top five
• Average finish of 16.3
• Average Running Position of 9.4, sixth-best
• Driver Rating of 99.7, seventh-best
• Sixth-fastest Green Flag Speed
• 260 Laps in the Top 15, fifth-most
At Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
• There have been 13 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since the first race there in 1994.
• Rick Mast won the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Bud Pole.
• Jeff Gordon won the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race.
• There have been 10 different Bud Pole winners – including nine straight. Only Jeff Gordon (three) and Ernie Irvan (two) have repeated as pole winners there. All five of their Bud Poles came between 1995 and 1999.
• Nine different drivers have won races at Indianapolis. Jeff Gordon (four) and Dale Jarrett (two) – are the only repeat winners.
• Opened in 1909, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the second-oldest, active track in the world (after The Milwaukee Mile).
• Eight drivers have competed in all 13 races at Indianapolis: Bill Elliott, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Sterling Marlin, Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek.
• Rick Hendrick has won five races at Indianapolis – more than any other car owner.
• Jeff Gordon has 10 top-10 finishes in 13 races at Indianapolis. Two of his remaining three finishes have been 33rd or worse.
• Kevin Harvick has posted a top-10 finish in four of his six races at Indianapolis and has never finished worse than 19th there.
• Tony Stewart has posted a top-10 finish in five of his eight Indianapolis races. His worst finish there has been 17th.
• Eight of 13 races at Indianapolis have been won from a top-10 starting position.
• The race winner has started third three times, the only starting position to produce more than one victory.
• Only one Indianapolis race has been won from the Bud Pole: 2003 (Kevin Harvick).
• The deepest in the field that an Indianapolis race winner has started was 27th by Jeff Gordon in 2001.
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