1999 BRICKYARD 400

From My Couch...
BRICKYARD 400

Indianapolis, IN, August 7th, 1999

(By Les Smirle, for Mr NASCAR)

(MY COUCH - OSHAWA, ONT - aug 08, 1999)
The Brickyard has rapidly assumed a stature challenging only the Daytona 500 in the NASCAR firmament, and has left its po' boy cousin, the now-toothless Indy 500, completely in the dust, thanks to the ongoing openwheel civil wars between CART and the IRL.

300,000 NASCARnuts!!!
And no wonder - the money, the crowds, estimated at over 300,000 strong - that's more people than in the capital city of Canada! (Ottawa, for anyone who cares...) The prestige, tradition at this old track - did I mention the money?? 6.1 megadollar$$ up for grabs...
Gordon continued to show he likes this old place, grabbin' the pole, with Martin alongside. (is he walkin' ok now?? I've been away...) Third place belonged to David Green, in the Kodiak car, followed by Jarrett, Mike Waltrip, Skinner, Bobby Labonte, Elliott, Schrader, Andretti - sportin' Petty 50th anniversary colours, Stewart, and Ward Burton roundin' out the top dozen. Jeff Burton was 16th, Rusty 17th, and Earnhardt 18th. Good to see Stricklin and Craven in the field, altho it appears to have cost Brett Bodine and Bickle their spots... Although no specific mention of who were dnq's was made in the telecast, they would be the two regulars among the flock of DNQers who were missin' when the flag dropped.
A large number of other more-or-less regulars and hopefuls were unable to make the field, including Buckshot Jones, Trickle - in the #91 car, Stanton Barrett - in Junie's #90 car, and Morgan Shepherd, in his own #05 machine. According to JAYSKI'S Site, a number of other drivers - Boris Said (in Irvan's #14), Jeff Green and Steve Grissom ( codriving #01), Mike Wallace (#32), Bob Strait (???- #61), Lance Hooper and Jeff Davis (sharing #62), and Gary Bradberry (#80), also made unsuccessful attempts to get in the show. Money is kinda, like, magnetic, for unjustified optimism, ain't it?

Jeff 'n Mark lead 'em off!!
At the drop of the green, with a 40% chance of rain, Jeff Gordon had to fall in behind Martin in second after Corner One, with Jarrett and Green in hot pursuit. In Turn Three, Mark overcooked it a bit, slipped high, and Gordon assumed the lead. Within a couple laps, the leaders had fallen in in single file. Altho it's 2.5 miles around, no restrictor plates are called for at Indy. This is not a track that lends itself to restrictoracin', as you need to get on the brakes in the relatively flat, tight corners compared to Daytona or 'Dega... Not much freight-train racin' here....
By Lap 10, the usual gang of 1999 suspects had assumed the lead positions, and David Green was rowin' backwards, sittin' in eighth. Runnin' order was Gordon, Martin, Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Andretti, Skinner, Stewart, Green, Irwin, Ward Burton, Jeff Burton, and Bill Elliott as lead dozen.

Dale nearly ends his day early!!
And so we ran along, fairly calmly, with Jarrett pushin' hard to close on and pass Gordon for the lead, havin' got by Martin a few laps earlier (in commercials), and the rest of the leaders stringin' out behind them. Lap 19 saw DJ's day nearly end in disaster, as he brushed the wall tryin' to get the jump on JG out of the turn. He backed off a bit after that...
By Lap 29, both Jarrett and Martin had passed Gordon, who was strugglin' with a tight ("push") racecar. It was so bad that on Lap 30, with the INTERSTATE car of Bobby Labonte all over him, Gordon pulled offline, ceding 4th to the probably-astonished Bobby.

Jeffie gets new tires..
Routine green-flag pitstops began around Lap 36, none too soon for Gordon, who was one of the first among the leaders in, along with Irwin and Ward Burton, on Lap 37. A lap later, Jarrett, Stewart and Skinner were in, followed on Lap39 by Martin and Bobby Labonte. By Lap 41 all the leaders had cycled through, and running order of Top Ten was Jarrett, Martin, Labonte, Gordon, Jeff Burton, Irwin, Stewart, Ward Burton, Skinner and Andretti.

a "brain-dead manoevre" by
Bodine, according to Chad...
and he's in the wall...
We came back from a commercial break to Chad Little's John Deere Taurus all waddedt up in the middle of the track - looked like he took a real lick! The replay showed that Little and Geoffrey Bodine had tangled enterin' into a corner, with Bodine catching the Taurus in the left rear quarter, hoofin' it into a spin, and into the wall. It was hard from the angles to see if Little had cut down on Bodine, or if Bodine had made any effort to avoid the situation, but Chad left no doubt of where he felt the blame lay, referring to Geoffrey's involvement as a "brain-dead manoevre"... I won't venture an opinion, both drivers seem to be frequently caught up in this type of deal, so mebbe it was a "Dual Brain-dead Manoevre"...
Anyhoo, the green flag dropped again on Lap 48, with Jarrett still out front, and on Lap 50, there was only one change to the runnin' order above, in that Stewart had taken 6th from Irwin. Otherwise, Jarrett was still out front, and the top tenners were stringin' out behind him... Musgrave was sowin' a bit of havoc, as he was the lapped car on the inside, who managed to get a jump on Jarrett, to unlap himself, then sow confusion among the leaders as they tried to put him back down... By Lap 52, Jarrett, Martin and Labonte had lapped Musgrave, and he was no longer a factor...

DW's day ends...
The next several laps ran by quickly, with Irwin and Ward Burton puttin' on a great show in a battle for 7th place. Darrell Waltrip had the K-Mart Taurus expire, and his day was done. During the run, we learned that Ward had signed a THREE-YEAR DEAL with Caterpillar and Davis - he must be feelin' real secure - and that DW was gonna pack it in with a "final Tour" in 2000... Good Move, DW...

Dale 'n Jeremy rub at 195+!!..
We also got a good look at Dale Earnhardt's new hood logo, when he and Mayfield rubbed at full blat down the straight, nearly doin' each other in... Dunno, I think the new hood design is kinda booooriiiing.... (by the way, why'd DEsr shave off the mustache??)
Jeff Burton took 4th from Gordon, and Lap 63 saw Martin take the lead from Jarrett, and hold it for a grand total of three laps, as the Yates-engined #88 hauled by Mark once more on Lap 66.
So it held among the leaders for the next several laps. Lap 73 had Jarrett still out front, a second ahead of Martin. Labonte had the INTERSTATE Pontiac third, then Jeff Burton, Gordon, Irwin, Stewart, Andretti, Ward Burton, Rusty Wallace and Earnhardt rounded out the leading twelve.

Kyle takes on the Indy concrete...
The next lap, Lap 74, saw the second caution, as Kyle Petty had a front tire let go, as he entered Turn Three. 185-plus into the wall was enuff to shake Kyle up, and take the Hot Wheels Pontiac out of action. (But, as for Kyle, he said in the PII that the day wasn't a total loss - he'd gotten the lead singer of "SMASHMOUTH" to autograph his hat earlier... Kyle's one of a kind - gotta love 'im...)
For the rest of the field, this was an opportune caution, and all the lead cars hit pit road. Jarrett was first out, followed by Labonte and Martin. Mark had had to back off leavin' his stall, to avoid Jarrett, and Bobby took advantage of the split-second bobble... Gordon was out 4th, then Tony Stewart.
Jarrett led 'em off again on Lap 78, and had Labonte under him comin' back to the start-finish line next lap, and by in Turn one. Yates Horsepower to the Rescue again, as the QC Taurus gobbled up poor Bobby by the end of the back straight. Ned's boy looked "mighty stout" today...

John's "50th Anniversary
of Petty" colours...
Ten laps later, nuthin' much had changed, except Ward Burton had passed Stewart to be followed on Lap 89 by Earnhardt and Jeff Burton... Lap 93 saw Jeff Burton get by Earnhardt for sixth, and things kinda stabilized among the leaders. Running order of Top Fifteen on Lap 102 was Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Martin, Gordon, Ward Burton, Jeff Burton, Stewart, Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Irwin, Andretti, Skinner, Rudd, Mayfield and Park. The best racin' was the fifteenth thru twentieth place, where Park, Schrader, Dallenbach, Pressley, Marlin and Terry Labonte were swappin' places regularly. By Lap 106, Jarrett and Labonte had nearly four seconds on the rest of the field...
Due to the scarcity of Yellows, fuel began to rear its head as a potential factor. There was much concern among some of the leaders as to if one more stop would be sufficient, with Martin and Gordon in definite trouble, and Jarrett on the borderline...
Finally bowing to the reality of the situation, Martin was in on Lap 114, with no chance of going the distance... and a 21-plus second stop to add insult to injury...
Lap 115 saw Gordon in and out in 16.3 seconds, but likely one or two laps short... Jarrett and Labonte appeared on pit lane on lap 116, claiming they'd be just ok... Jeff Burton came in on Lap 117. By Lap 119 all the leaders were thru with greenflag stops, and Jarrett and Bobby Labonte were now seven seconds in front of third-place Martin, with Gordon, Ward Burton, Jeff Burton, Stewart, Wallace, Earnhardt, Geoffrey Bodine (out of sequence) stops), Skinner and Rudd makin' up the Top Twelve.

Bobby sets up to lap Ricky..
The next twenty laps unfolded with Martin closin' the gap on the front pair, and Jeff Burton gettin' by Gordon for fourth. Earnhardt took eighth from Rusty, and Terry Labonte showed up on the radar in eleventh place...dunno how he did it... Mr Stealth strikes again... Lap 136 saw Martin catch and pass Labonte for second.
Thus, running order on Lap 139 among top dozen was Jarrett, Martin, Labonte, Jeff Burton, Gordon, Ward Burton, Stewart, Earnhardt, Wallace, Skinner, Terry Labonte and Rudd. Twenty-one cars were on the lead lap. Bodine had fallen to 30th, and Andretti had gone off the pace. Fuel mileage was uppermost in everyone's mind....

Dave Marcis lunches an engine....
The RealTree Monte Carlo of Dave Marcis put all the fuel strategy out the window on Lap 140, when it blew its engine, bringin' out the third caution. Great Jubilation in the pits of Martin, and Gordon, and likely sighs of relief in the Jarrett and Labonte camps...

Confusion in the pits...
Burton leaves early...
DE's bent airdam...
Everyone in the lead group headed for the pits. Things got real chaotic, as Jarrett upset the applecart by takin' only TWO Tires, as did Labonte, and Ward Burton. Jeff Burton was caught out, and took off after two were changed, even though it appeared that the right front had been loosened. (I wondered why NASCAR hadn't called JB back in, but apparently, Frankie Staoddard, crewchief/Front Tire-changer, had actually loosened only two, then retightened them, almost, when Jeff yelled out "Two!!!", upon seeing DJ's strategy... Apparently, NASCAR did have a word with them after the race, but everything was cool...) Gordon and the others further back got caught flatfooted with a four-tire change... Earnhardt dinged one of Burton's tires, bendin' up thr left front dam and fender, carried on, but aero was messed up...
So, on Lap 147, 14 to go, the green flew, with Jarrett leadin' off Labonte (Bobby), Ward Burton (two tires, obviously), Martin, (two), Jeff Burton (2.3??), Earnhardt (2.0 - obvious again..), and Gordon (four...). Ward immediately took Bobby, and Tony Stewart got by Gordon (likely flustered by bein' outthought in the pits...).
With 12 to go, JG retook sixth from Stewart; Jarrett was a half-second out with ten to go...
Nine to go, and Jarrett had a full second on Ward Burton, who was bein' pestered by Bobby Labonte in third. Martin was fourth, then Jeff Burton. Well back, but gaining, was Gordon in fifth, then Stewart.
Seven laps remaining, and Jarrett had two full seconds on Labonte, who'd gotten by Ward Burton. With six to go, Jarrett was 2.5 seconds out front, and Gordon had caught and passed Jeff Burton, and was eyin' Martin... With four to go, Martin stepped it up, takin' third from Ward Burton, to be followed by Gordon...

DJ takes INDY...
With two laps remaining, Jarrett had a four-second lead. Gordon took third from Martin, but was a full second behind Bobby Labonte. Jeff Burton managed to pass brother Ward....
And so it ended... Jarrett won by nearly four seconds, goin' away, with Bobby Labonte second, Gordon third, then Martin, Jeff Burton, Ward Burton, Stewart, Wallace, Rudd, Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, and Mike Skinner rounding out the top twelve. Third-place starter Green finished a respectable twentieth, and fifth-place Mikey Waltrip ambled home in 27th, a lap down.
All in all this was a good race - Indy is still not my fave track, but it is AN EVENT!!

How can ya go wrong
with Ned on yer side??
(It was neat to see Ned servin' as DJ's spotter in this event. I kinda wonder if Ned sounds like he does in the NASCAR2@ video game I play at, where he is constantly hurling abuse at me for my ineptness...)
DJ's win, of course, padded his Points lead over second place Mark Martin to 274. Bobby Labonte is in third, 293 Points behind, followed by Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, Mike Skinner, and Rusty Wallace, who, in tenth, is 858 Points back of DJ.
We're now into a stretch of umpteen races sans offweekends... A grindin' stretch... The grind will continue next week in the rollin' pastures of Watkins Glen, in upstate New York, where the left-right guys will come out and play.. (Fellows, Said?)

See y'all there... From My Couch!!

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