By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

“NASCAR-nage!”
That was a perfect description by a local television station of the mayhem Sunday in the 24th Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The rain-interrupted and crash-filled race took six hours, 18 minutes to complete, had three red flags, 14 cautions and 16 stock cars running at the finish – the result of 11 crashes with five multi-car accidents in the last 18 laps.

Kasey Kahne narrowly missed being taken out late in the race by a sliding Jimmie Johnson as they tried to go three-wide with Brad Keselowski in the third turn. Kahne out-dueled Keselowski on the last restart for his first NASCAR Cup Monster Energy win since August 2014 in Atlanta.

“I had a great restart, enginewise, gearingwise, and was able to clear Brad off Turn 1,” said Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet owned by Rick Hendrick. “It worked out perfect – we got the win.”

Kahne, 37, also survived severe cramps, dehydration and fatigue. After leaping atop his car, one of NASCAR’s more popular drivers later slumped near his car and needed an IV in the infield hospital before going to the winner’s press conference in the media center.

The Washington native has a grassroots USAC midget and sprint car background. He and his father had their shop in Gasoline Alley south of the track. He took his first ride around the Speedway in 1999 in one of the track’s tour buses. Kahne owns a World of Outlaws winged sprint car team, based in Mooresville, N.C.

By beating Keselowski, Kahne foiled team owner Roger Penske’s first Brickyard 400 win.

Hoosier Ryan Newman was third in a Richard Childress-owned Chevrolet. He was not that critical of the crash-fest.

“I think what we saw was some crazy strategy, some crazy restarts,” the 2013 Brickyard winner said. “I’ve seen worse racing here, by far, as far as not being able to pass … I didn’t think it was ideal, but it was definitely crazy.”

Going for a three-peat, Kyle Busch led all but 15 of the first 102 before crashing into front-runner Martin Truex on Lap 111.
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• The 250-mile Xfinity Lilly’s Diabetes race was held with experimental rules of a restrictor plate, higher rear spoiler and front air dams that led to a record number of passes and drivers being able to draft and slingshot down the straightaways. The rules could be adapted for next year’s Brickyard 400 but wouldn’t resolve the late-race crashes with a tightly-packed field.
• The silver anniversary Brickyard 400 will be Sept. 9, 2018, the final race to determine playoff spots. 
• Drew Skillman of Greenwood became the first NHRA Pro Stock competitor to win two consecutive events this season Sunday in Denver, Colo. Sponsored by Ray Skillman Auto Group, Skillman defeated Bo Butner in the final round with a 6.916-seconds run against Hoosier Bo Butner. Skillman won two weeks ago in Joliet, Ill. He has six career wins. 
• Southsider Mark Tunny recovered from a crossover collision and won the 37th annual Sonny Thompson Memorial 100-lap Figure-8 Saturday at the Indianapolis Speedrome. Tunny did a complete 360-degree after being clipped by eventual runner-up Jeff Harmon of Louisville. Whiteland’s Charlie Reed, a retired figure-8 veteran and inaugural General Tire National Figure-8 champion, was inducted into the Speedrome Hall of Fame during on-track ceremonies. 

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

South Bend’s Ryan Newman doesn’t have to worry about winning a Monster Energy Cup race this season to qualify for the playoffs.

Newman already has one win earlier this season at Phoenix in the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet for team owner Richard Childress. It was the Hoosier native’s first win since 2013 in the Brickyard 400 and his first win for Childress. He snapped a 127-race winless skid in Arizona.

Getting into NASCAR’s playoff on wins has always been Newman’s goal, although he made it three of seven times on points.

“I don’t remember the last time I had a win and didn’t have to worry about getting in on points,” Newman said. “It is nice to have that off your mind.”

Before the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, Newman explained, “We want to do everything to the best of our ability and try to get those stage bonus points and as many regular season points as we can and have whatever cushion we can have to start the playoffs. And then each round of the playoffs so we have a better opportunity of racing for a championship at Homestead.”

Newman, 39, quickly added, “It still revolves around winning.”

Through 18 races he was among 10 drivers who have won at least once. Seven races remain to decide the 16 drivers in the playoffs, which means a lot of different winners would have to emerge to spoil Newman’s chances. A second would lock him into the playoff.

He reached the final four in 2014 without winning a race but was in contention for the Cup championship. He made the playoffs with a dramatic last-lap pass of Kyle Larson. He finished second in points to champion Kevin Harvick.

The Hoosier native is in his 16th full season in Cup, having raced for Roger Penske, Carl Haas, Tony Stewart and Childress. He is the only driver to have earned Rookie of the Year Honors in USAC’s national Silver Crown, sprint and midget series. He won the 1999 Silver Crown championship.

Newman, who has a vehicle structural engineering degree from Purdue, spoke out against NASCAR’s myriad of rules changes and tweaking races.

“We (teams) need the ability to make an advantage or create an advantage over other teams,” he said. “If we want to have every race car built exactly the same, then we need to have NASCAR start building them for us and just put decals on the doors.”

Newman, wife Crissy, and their two young daughters are right at home in Mooresville, N.C., where they operate Rescue Ranch for forgotten farm animals, reptiles and birds to provide educational experiences for young students who learn about caring for animals.

Newman hasn’t forgotten his roots that began by helping his dad build his first midget car at age 15 years after racing three-quarter midgets for 10 years. He eventually advanced to Silver Crown and to ARCA which led to his NASCAR ride with Penske.

Brickyard 400 notes
• Sunday’s official race name is the Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400, with Gilbert performing for pre-race ceremonies. Gilbert is among Big Machine Label Group artists.
• Five-time Brickyard 400 winner Jeff Gordon will drive the Chevrolet Camaro ZL 1 pace car to start the 400.
• Festivities begin Friday evening with the traditional hauler parade from 4-8 p.m. on Main Street in Speedway, with musical entertainment, food and appearances by past Brickyard 400 winners Newman, Harvick, Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard plus Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth. The haulers are expected to arrive at 6 p.m.
• 400 Fest, a new two-night concert at IMS, hopefully will attract fans with Major Lazar, Mac Miller and Cheat Codes performing Friday and The Chainsmokers, Pretty Lights and DNCE Saturday. Performances begin at 7 p.m. each day.
• Cup practice at 9 and 11 a.m. Saturday, qualifying at 6:15 p.m. and the race at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has raced in the Brickyard 400 16 times. His team owner, Richard Hendrick, has drivers who have won the race nine times. And his father, Dale Earnhardt, won the race in 1995.

Junior announced earlier this year that it would be his final ride as a full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver.

So, Earnhardt, 42, should probably be emotional about the Brickyard 400 Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Well, not exactly.

You see, Earnhardt always thinks about winning or being in contention for the win or what his car is doing on every lap on the track during practice, qualifying and the race. It doesn’t really matter what track.

“It’s business as usual,” he said. “It feels just like any other race … you want the best out of your car, you want to win, you want an opportunity to win and that is all that really matters.”

In other words, his retirement tour is not messing with his mind, although he admits that it’s a bit different when he’s not at a racetrack.

“Things aren’t quite as tense or there is a little more ease of mind knowing there is a definite end (final race),” he explained. “I want to do as well at this track. But, yeah when practice ends, I kind of calm down and say, ‘Man, I’ve got to be cool and try to help my guys and Greg (Ives, crew chief).’ ”

He admits that being at the track and knowing it is his last ride is a tough balance.

Earnhardt sat out most of the 2016 season while recovering from the after effects of a series of concussions suffered in various crashes. He finished 13th in the 18th Cup race last year at Kentucky Speedway before sitting out the rest of the year to rehab.

Sitting out gave him time to evaluate his life and Cup career, which began 18 years ago and netted 26 wins.

Last year’s Brickyard 400 was one of the races he missed.

“It (returning) reminds you about how much we had to overcome and how much rehab went into trying to get healthy,” Earnhardt said. “I’m proud that we worked so hard to come back and worked so hard to get healthy. You start racing this year you kind of forget about last year, and I think we all do. We kind of forget about everything that happened, and little dates like this will bring those memories back and remind you to be thankful and fortunate.” 

Earnhardt is winless at the IMS, where his average finish is 18th. His best finish in the 400 was third in 2002 and ’09.

He has won in 19 races this season. Ranking 21st in points, he has only seven more races to break into this year’s 16-driver playoffs.

“A win is going to be great any week, but this is a hero one week and a zero the next sport,” Earnhardt said recently at Kentucky Speedway. “You are going to go one day and feel like you’ve got it figured out and then reality is going to slap you in the face the next Sunday. … We need a win to get in the playoffs. This sport is so competitive and for us as a team it’s been a real challenge this year to sort of find our footing.”
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After leaving the Cup series, Earnhardt will continue to be active as co-owner of JR Motorsports, which fields Chevrolets for four drivers in the Xfinity Series and two drivers in the Whelen All-American Series. He also left the door open to race in a few Cup and Xfinity races next year.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

Each season for New Castle’s Dakoda Armstrong has been a learning experience in the Xfinity Series.
This year is no exception for the fourth-year driver who finished third in the recent 300-mile race at Daytona in the No. 28 Winfield Toyota. 

“Something always changes,” Armstrong said in an exclusive interview earlier this month at Kentucky Speedway. “This year NASCAR took a lot of downforce (about 600 pounds on the front end) away from us, and that’s been big for our guys to make our cars go faster. So every track we’ve been to it’s been a new setup. It’s been a little bit of a new learning curve, but that’s NASCAR – they want to keep it fresh for everybody so that one team doesn’t dominate.”

Last year the Xfinity Series had a playoff system like the Monster Energy Cup Series, and this season the series has its races in three stages too. Armstrong, ninth in points, is a contender for an Xfinity top-12 playoff spot.

“Our cars have been better and we’ve improved as a team,” Armstrong said. “We’ve finished every race. We still need to find more speed on the mile and one-half tracks. Our short-track program has been great. We’re still improving every single week”

Armstrong is filled with confidence as he heads into the Lilly’s Diabetes 250 Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

The race will be a learning experience for Armstrong and the entire Xfinity field. NASCAR has deemed the IMS race as a restrictor-plate race with the same plate used only at Daytona and Talladega superspeedways. He started from the pole last year at Daytona.

As Armstrong says, very little is the same about the upcoming race at the Brickyard, which will award bonus points to the top 10 at 30, 60 and 100 laps.

The racer said he believes the race will be more competitive. Rules also call for a taller rear spoiler and a front splitter package that features aero ducts on the lower front bumper. 

Officials are hopeful that the rules will lead to improved competition on the relatively flat Speedway oval. 
“Our car is pretty good with the restrictor plate,” Armstrong said. “Indy is so flat so we want to bring an intermediate car. With traffic you’re going to need extra downforce. It cut us about 200 horsepower at Daytona and Talladega. If we are all stuck together, then I think there will be some big wrecks. If anything, it will be exciting for the fans and for all teams to see what happens.”

Armstrong will be able to spend extra time this week with family in New Castle. His father, Craig Armstrong, still fields race cars for USAC sprints for Dakoda’s cousin Caleb and a Super Series Late model for brother Dalton Armstrong.

Dakoda Armstrong and wife Carly, his high school sweetheart, returned to Hoosierland earlier this week. He likes the familiarity of being less than one hour from the Speedway, and he recognizes the importance of the race.

“You can tell this is a premier race for Xfinity. I may be biased because it’s my home track, but this is not just another weekend. It’s a cool track to go to. We always want to do well there.”

Practice is at 1 and 3 p.m. Friday with qualifying at 12:45 Saturday; the race follows at 3:50 p.m.
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Armstrong’s racing roots are in Indiana. He is a graduate and youngest champion (13 years old) of the Kenyon Midget Series, and he won an ARCA stock car race at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway. He was a developmental driver for Team Penske and previously drove for Richard Petty in the Xfinity Series.