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Thursday, Aug. 3
Darrell Waltrip was the sentimental choice to win the pole on Thursday. But the fan favorite this weekend is Tony
Stewart.
The true son of Indiana tried four times to fulfill his dream of winning the Indy 500 for John Menard, but
mechanical failure sealed his fate time and time again. A win Saturday in the Brickyard 400 wouldn't be the same for the USAC and IRL champ, but it certainly would be close.
Stewart has only one Winston Cup start at Indy, finishing seventh last year as a rookie. But the "Rushville Rocket" has probably logged more total race and testing miles at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway than anyone in the Brickyard 400 field. He has dreamed about crossing the Indy bricks as a winner for years.
His teammate, Bobby Labonte, has finished second twice, and third, in the past three Brickyard 400s. Ford and Chevy have been stingy in the six previous races, keeping that Pontiac out of Victory Lane. Who knows? Maybe 2000 will be the break through year for Pontiac and its top two drivers.
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INDIANAPOLIS -- For 30 exciting minutes, Darrell Waltrip was
again the focal point of NASCAR Winston Cup racing.
"Ol' DW," as he likes to call himself, ripped off a track record qualifying run of 180.923 mph at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday and a big pole day crowd went wild, standing and cheering as the three-time series champion drove his Ford Taurus slowly down pit lane.
When the 53-year-old driver emerged from the car, an immense grin splitting his face, Waltrip was hugged and then carried around by younger brother Michael, also a Winston Cup driver. He then did a little dance step that brought another roar from the crowd.
Moments later, Ricky Rudd, himself a racing graybeard, took a little of the edge off of Waltrip's moment, snatching the pole away with a lap of 181.068. The difference in the time of the two fast laps was 0.040 seconds.
"I'm not too disappointed," Waltrip said. "You try to temper it all with some reality, and the reality of it was, 'Yes, I've got a fast race car.'
"I was just about ready to say that I left something on the table when they told me what I'd run," Waltrip said, smiling again. "Then I knew I'd got everything out of it I could."
Waltrip's previous best start this season was seventh in May at California Speedway. His last pole came in November 1995 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Rudd, 43, has found new life this season with Robert Yates Racing after selling his own team in 1999 and going back to concentrating solely on driving. On Thursday, he was one of 14 drivers who surpassed the track qualifying record of 179.612 set last year by Jeff Gordon.
This was Rudd's second pole of the season -- his first was March 3
in Las Vegas -- and the 26th of his career. Rudd enters
Saturday's Brickyard 400 10th in the season points.
He did it after the crew of his No. 28 Ford made a quick engine
change after the morning practice.
"They saw some oil in the spark plugs and thought maybe the motor was missing a little bit, so Doug Yates and all the guys on the team decided to put a motor in it," Rudd said. "The new motor was awfully good."
It was just good enough to spoil Waltrip's story.
|  | | Ricky Rudd, the 1997 Brickyard 400 winner, signs a few autographs after winning the pole Thursday. |
"I kind of hated to do that to Darrell," Rudd said. "It's really great he was able to put up a run like that. Maybe he's retiring a little bit too early."
Rudd was referring to the fact that Waltrip is in the midst of what he is calling "Victory Tour 2000," one last season as a driver before retiring to the TV booth next year.
"I'm not surprised the crowd went crazy," Rudd said of the reaction to Waltrip's fast lap. "Typically, when you come to Indianapolis, you look at people's success recently, and Darrell hasn't had a lot of success coming into this race."
Ironically, Waltrip's Carter-Haas Motorsports team gets its engines from the Yates team.
"Robert and the guys at Yates have done a good job of giving me something here to work with," Waltrip said. "My team and (crew chief) Larry Carter and everybody has done a great job of preparing my car. It's a great place to do this.
"I love Daytona," he added. "I've been going there since 1965. But it don't get no better than this. I believe, like all good athletes, they rise to the occasion, and, buddy, if you're going to do anything, this is the place to do it. This is the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the greatest speedway in the world."
Waltrip has struggled this season, drawing mostly derisive laughs and shaking heads when he speaks of winning a race, something he has done 84 times -- but not since Sept. 6, 1992, in the Southern 500.
He has failed to qualify for three races, has had to use a provisional start to make it into nine other events. His best finish in the 16 races he has started is 22nd two weeks ago at Pocono International Raceway.
Still, Waltrip is confident of making it back to Victory Lane sometime in his 28th year of Winston Cup racing.
"I can win this race, so we come in here with a lot of optimism," Waltrip said. "I'm ready to go racing."
Bobby Labonte, who leads Rudd's teammate Dale Jarrett by 53 points at the top of the season standings, was third Thursday at 180.857, followed by Jeremy Mayfield at 180.825 and Jarrett, the defending race winner, at 180.697.
Dale Earnhardt, another Indy favorite and a former winner here, was eighth at 180.393, while Gordon, joining Jarrett as the only two-time Indy winners, was far off the pace in 27th at 178.745.
Only the top 25 qualifiers locked in starting positions for Saturday's 400-mile race, with the rest of the 49 drivers who made attempts on Thursday having the option of standing on their first-day lap or trying again on Friday, when the rest of the
43-car field will be filled. | |
ALSO SEE
Brickyard 400 lineup
One Labonte aiming at victory; other one sitting out Brickyard 400
Waltrip gives Indy fans a few special minutes
Notebook: Elliott begins record-breaking qualifying session
Yocum: Best bets at Brickyard have been there before
Weber: Teams looking for passing grade at Brickyard
Jarrett aims for repeat with potent Brickyard setup
Brickyard 400 Breakdown
Furr: Brickyard bridges NASCAR's two worlds
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Ricky Rudd edges out Darrell Waltrip to take the pole at Indy.
avi: 1237 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
An excited Darrell Waltrip electrified the crowd at Indianapolis.
avi: 1470 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
ESPN's Matt Yocum talks with the Brickyard 400 pole-winner, Ricky Rudd.
RealVideo: 28.8
Ricky Rudd thanks Yates racing for preparing a back-up car.
avi: 1879 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Despite a new car, and an engine change, Ricky Rudd is the pole-sitter.
wav: 265 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Darrell Waltrip had a fine run and believes there is more left for Saturday.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Bobby Labonte comments on hitting the corners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
wav: 100 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Dale Jarrett is pleased with his starting spot for Saturday's Brickyard 400 race.
wav: 72 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Dale Junior was looking for a little bit of luck during qualifying.
wav: 128 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Bill Elliott felt the change in track conditions throughout the day made it a tough qualifier.
wav: 226 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Change in track conditions had an effect on Dale Earnhardt and the other drivers.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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