Persistent afternoon showers washed out the first day of Allstate 400 at the Brickyard activity July 27 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, forcing IMS and NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series officials to adjust the schedule for Saturday’s qualifying day.
NEXTEL Cup Series drivers will practice from 8:30-11 a. m. (ET) Saturday, and qualifications for the 14th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard will start at 4:05 p. m.
The Gretchen Wilson Miller Lite Rock N Racing concert is tentatively scheduled to start at 2:30 p. m. on the Miller Lite Stage in the IMS infield behind the Hall of Fame Museum.
Tickets from Friday will be honored on Saturday.
The lack of practice Friday afternoon will leave teams scrambling to find the right qualifying and race setup. Unlike previous years, NASCAR did not conduct an open test at the 2.5-mile IMS oval this year.
“It’s the same for everybody, and I think the biggest thing is the way we ran at Chicago, the package is pretty good, ” 2005 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winner Tony Stewart, who won July 15 at Chicagoland. “It’s not the same setup, obviously, but the approach is the same, so I feel confident that the shorter amount of practice time that we have, the better opportunity that we have to be of being competitive out of the gate. ”
Despite the lack of on-track activity, fans were treated to a morning full of Chevy Day at the Brickyard activities, including Chevrolet driver autograph sessions, question-and-answer sessions and a concert by country music artist Tracy Lawrence.
The 14th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is scheduled to start at 2 p. m. Sunday.
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