Saturday, August 05, 2000
Jarrett still driver to beat at Brickyard
Engine carries history of success
By Tom Groeschen
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDIANAPOLIS — Ricky Rudd and Darrell Waltrip will start a surprising 1-2 in today's Brickyard 400. They almost certainly won't finish there. Dale Jarrett, the defending Brickyard champion, is the man to beat.
Jarrett starts No.5 but annually has the fastest car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, thanks to superior horsepower in the
engines built by owner Robert Yates.
Jarrett dominated the '99 race. He was running away with the '98 race when his car ran out of fuel. Many thought he should have won in '97, but he finished third after getting stuck in traffic on a late restart. And he won in '96.
The key on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's relatively flat 2.5-mile course is to come off the corners quickest, then build higher top-end speeds down the long straightaways. Yates usually has found a way; Jarrett, Ernie Irvan, the late Kenny Irwin, and now Rudd all have run well for him at Indy.
“With Yates Racing,” Rudd said, “you know for sure you're second to none on the straightaways.”
The Rudd team, a new operation in 2000, doesn't have the experience of Jarrett's crew. Rudd has 20 victories and won the '97 Brickyard, but he has not won a race since 1998. Plus, he is driving his backup car after wrecking his primary ride a few weeks ago.
Jarrett returns with the same car that destroyed the field at the '99 Brickyard. He won by 3.351 seconds, with the biggest previous green-flag Brickyard victory being 0.53 seconds by Jeff Gordon in the '94 inaugural race.
“Robert's cars have always run well here,” Jarrett said. “I think (the horsepower) is definitely an advantage here.”
Indy has become the second most important NASCAR race behind the Daytona 500 because of its payout (nearly $1 million to the winner) and historic venue (Indianapolis Motor Speedway).
Yet, the track allows for little passing and lots of “follow the leader” racing. The track was built for sleeker open-wheel racers, with the bulky, 3,400-pound Winston stock cars unable to maneuver much on the narrow track.
Once the faster cars get out front, they are hard to catch.
Waltrip, the No.2 starter, probably will fade to the back. The 53-year-old veteran stunned everyone with his qualifying run Thursday, but he has not finished above 24th all year.
Among the notable contenders:
• Jarrett, the defending Winston Cup champion and No.2 in season points.
• Bobby Labonte (No.3 starter), the season points leader. He has finished in the top three at the Brickyard for three years running.
• Dale Earnhardt (No.8), No.3 in season points, he enjoys his best Brickyard starting spot in three years.
• Rusty Wallace (No.10) tested well here but starts further back than he expected.
Mark Martin (No.12) and Tony Stewart (18) could contend, with a few breaks. Jeff Gordon (29th) and Jeff Burton (33rd) will be long shots.
Jeremy Mayfield, who qualified No.4, will miss the race after crashing in practice Friday. Mayfield suffered a moderate concussion, and it took safety workers nearly 10 minutes to remove him from his shattered car.
Kyle Petty, who failed to qualify his own car, will replace Mayfield in a backup car today for the Penske-Kranefuss Racing team.
Jarrett has the same No.88 Ford Quality Care car as last year, which is grim news for the field.
“We know what this car does,” Jarrett said. “We know there's gonna be competition here, but we like our chances.”
Weather should not be a factor, with partly cloudy skies and a high of 82 degrees forecast. The customary sellout crowd of about 300,000 is expected at massive Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which has undergone a $40 million renovation since last year's Brickyard. Included are 36 new Formula One garages, as the F1 series visits Indy next month.
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