Brickyard 400
 |
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| Venue: | Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
| Main sponsor: | Allstate (2005-2009) |
| First race: | 1994 |
| Distance: | 400 miles (644 km) |
| Number of laps: | 160 |
| Former names: |
Brickyard 400 (1994-2004) Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (2005-2009) |
The Brickyard 400 is a car race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup . It will take place at the beginning of August or, since the 2007 season, the end of July at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway , Indiana . The race distance is 400 miles (644 km), which corresponds to 160 laps on the 2.5 mile long super speedway.
After the Daytona 500 , the Brickyard 400 is the second most important race in terms of the amount of prize money paid out and one of the most prestigious.
history
prehistory
The first concrete tests with NASCAR racing cars took place in September 1991, when AJ Foyt was on the speedway to shoot advertising for the tool manufacturer Craftsman . Foyt and Tony George , owners of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, agreed to do a few test laps in Foyt's Winston Cup racing cars. Although this test was not planned and had no direct impact, it still left room for speculation about the future.
On June 22nd and 23rd, 1992, nine top Winston Cup teams were invited to Indianapolis for a tire test run by the tire manufacturer Goodyear . Although there were no official statements on this, the test was still an unofficial compatibility test to determine whether the NASCAR racing cars would be competitive for a race on the speedway.
After the test, numerous renovations began at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The outer walls and safety fences were renewed in order to be able to absorb impacts from touring cars, which are much heavier than IndyCar racing cars. The pit lane was also widened and the covering of the individual pitches was replaced by concrete. A third major change was the removal of the apron , which was replaced by separate entrances and exits separated from the racetrack.
On April 14, 1993, Tony George and the then President of NASCAR, Bill France Jr. announced that the first Brickyard 400 would be held on August 6, 1994. This was followed by a large-scale test on August 16 and 17 of the same year, in which 35 NASCAR teams took part. Also present at this test was NASCAR legend Richard Petty , who drove a few laps himself and then donated his car to the Speedway Museum.
run
The inaugural race took place under the name Brickyard 400 as announced by Tony George and Bill France Jr. on August 6, 1994. With a prize money of US $ 613,000 , it was the race with the highest prize money ever paid out in a single race. The winner of the first edition was Jeff Gordon , who completed only his second season in the Winston Cup in 1994. A year later, rain delayed the start of the race that seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt won. With only one caution period for a total of four laps, it was the race with the shortest interruption.
In the 1996 season, the winner was Dale Jarrett , who after his victory kissed the historic strip at the start-finish line with the original bricks that made up the pavement. Since then, it has been a tradition for the victorious driver and team to kiss this strip of bricks.
After Ricky Rudd won the Brickyard 400 in 1997, it was Jeff Gordon who became the first multiple winner in 1998. In the 1999 season, Dale Jarrett followed suit and repeated his win in 1996. In the 2000 season the winner was Bobby Labonte and in 2001 it was again Jeff Gordon who stood on the podium and achieved his third success at the Brickyard 400. This was followed by the victory of Bill Elliott in the 2002 season and that of Kevin Harvick in the 2003 season, before Jeff Gordon won the race for the fourth time in the last competition as Brickyard 400 in the 2004 season.
From 2005 to 2009 the insurance company Allstate was the main sponsor of the race, which during this period was held under the name Allstate 400 at the Brickyard . The first winner was the “local hero” Tony Stewart , who, like Hélio “Spiderman” Castroneves, climbed the safety fence at the start-finish line after his victory . In the 2006 season, the winner was Jimmie Johnson , who later also won the championship. 2007 repeated Tony Stewart his victory of 2005 ahead of second place Juan Pablo Montoya 's, who became the first driver to significant in all three races at the Speedway begun: the Allstate 400, the Indianapolis 500 and the US Grand Prix of Formula 1 . It is also worth mentioning that for the 2007 season the race was postponed by a week and has since taken place at the end of July and not at the beginning of August.
The race of the 2008 season caused a tire debacle similar to that of Formula 1 in the 2005 season : Although the tires only lasted an average of five to six laps in tire tests by the manufacturer Goodyear in April 2008, the same tires were selected for the race because it was assumed that the increased rubber wear on the track over the course of the race weekend would improve the problem or even solve it by itself. This expectation did not materialize, however, so that after around ten laps the tires had largely dissolved down to the carcass. As a result, in addition to the five caution phases caused by incidents, NASCAR issued six so-called “competition cautions”, during which the drivers could change their tires for safety reasons. After the race distance of 160 laps, of which 52 were completed under yellow and the longest section without interruption was 13 laps, Jimmie Johnson took the second victory after 2006.
winner
| year | date | winner | Manufacturer | Prize money US dollars |
Distance ( miles ) |
Race cut ( mph ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brickyard 400 | ||||||
| 1994 | 6th of August |
 Jeff Gordon
|
Chevrolet | 613,000 | 400 | 131.932 |
| 1995 | 5th of August |
Dale Earnhardt
|
Chevrolet | 565,600 | 400 | 155.218 |
| 1996 | 3rd August |
Dale Jarrett
|
ford | 564.035 | 400 | 139.508 |
| 1997 | August 2nd |
Ricky Rudd
|
ford | 571,000 | 400 | 130.828 |
| 1998 | August 1st |
Jeff Gordon
|
Chevrolet | 637.625 | 400 | 126.770 |
| 1999 | August 7th |
Dale Jarrett
|
ford | 712.240 | 400 | 148.288 |
| 2000 | 5th of August |
Bobby Labonte
|
Pontiac | 831.225 | 400 | 155.918 |
| 2001 | 5th of August |
Jeff Gordon
|
Chevrolet | 428.452 | 400 | 130.790 |
| 2002 | 4th of August |
Bill Elliott
|
Dodge | 449.056 | 400 | 125.033 |
| 2003 | 3rd August |
Kevin Harvick
|
Chevrolet | 418.253 | 400 | 134.548 |
| 2004 | 8th August |
Jeff Gordon
|
Chevrolet | 518.053 | 402.5 * | 115.037 |
| Allstate 400 at the Brickyard | ||||||
| 2005 | August 7th |
Tony Stewart
|
Chevrolet | 554,661 | 400 | 118.782 |
| 2006 | 6th of August |
Jimmie Johnson
|
Chevrolet | 452.861 | 400 | 137.182 |
| 2007 | 29th of July |
Tony Stewart
|
Chevrolet | 488.111 | 400 | 113.379 |
| 2008 | July 27th |
Jimmie Johnson
|
Chevrolet | 509.236 | 400 | 115.117 |
| 2009 | July 26th |
Jimmie Johnson
|
Chevrolet | 448.001 | 400 | 145.882 |
| Brickyard 400 | ||||||
| 2010 | July 25th |
Jamie McMurray
|
Chevrolet | 438,877 | 400 | 136.054 |
| 2011 | July 31 |
Paul Menard
|
Chevrolet | 373,575 | 400 | 140.762 |
| 2012 | 29th of July |
Jimmie Johnson
|
Chevrolet | 400 | 137.680 | |
| 2013 | July 28th |
Ryan Newman
|
Chevrolet | 400 | 153.485 | |
| 2014 | July 27th |
Jeff Gordon
|
Chevrolet | 373,575 | 400 | 140.762 |
| 2015 | July 26th |
Kyle Busch
|
Toyota | 400 | 137.680 | |
| 2016 | 24th July |
Kyle Busch
|
Toyota | 400 | 153.485 | |
| 2017 | July 23 |
Kasey Kahne
|
Chevrolet | 373,575 | 400 | 140.762 |
| 2018 | September 10 |
Brad Keselowski
|
ford | 400 | 137.680 | |
| 2019 | September 8th |
Kevin Harvick
|
ford | 400 | 153.485 | |
* 2004: 402.5 miles / 161 laps due to Green-White-Checkered