Brickyard 400 Saturday notebook
During the first knockout qualifying session, Harvick posted a lap of 188.889 mph in his No. 4 Jimmy John's Chevrolet, which bettered the previous standard of 187.531 mph set last year by Ryan Newman, who won from the pole at the 2013 Crown Royal Presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com.
Harvick secured the pole position in the third knockout qualifying session with his lap of 188.470 mph. Harvick also won the pole at IMS in 2003 prior to winning the race the next day.
Four-time Brickyard 400 winner Jeff Gordon was the second-fastest qualifier in his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet. Gordon's lap of 187.770 mph places him on the front-row for the fourth time, tying Mark Martin for the most front-row starts in the Brickyard 400.
Brad Keselowski qualified third with a lap of 186.893 mph in his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, and Newman drove his No. 31 Quicken Loans Chevrolet to a lap of 186.765 mph and will start fourth in his eighth start inside the top 5, most in Brickyard 400 history.
Other notables include two-time Brickyard 400 winner and Indiana native Tony Stewart, who qualified sixth in 186.193 mph in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet; Kurt Busch, who qualified seventh in 185.943 mph in the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet and 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya, who qualified eighth in 185.924 mph in his No. 12 Penske Truck Rental Ford.
Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and four-time Brickyard 400 winner Jimmie Johnson qualified 11th in his No. 48 Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet in185.468 mph, and Danica Patrick qualified 14th in 185.391 mph in her No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet.
The 160-lap Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com starts Sunday at 1 p.m.
Dillon wins Lilly Diabetes 250: Ty Dillon captured his first victory in the NASCAR Nationwide Series by winning the third annual Lilly Diabetes 250 Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
"Our Bass Pro Chevy had speed all weekend," Dillon said. "I'm so happy. That was all I had out there. You've got the best guy in the business behind you (Kyle Busch), it's tough. I've battled against Kyle a lot, the confidence it gives me is awesome."
With his win in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, the 22-year-old Dillon not only joined an impressive list of legends as race winners at the "Racing Capital of the World," he also won the third round of the Nationwide Series 'Dash 4 Cash' and a $100,000 bonus. Dillon's team owner is his grandfather, Richard Childress.
(On closing laps) "A lot of praying," Childress said. "It was really cool to see him (win)," "To come up here and win at Indy and race with the guys he was racing with, it was a great day for RCR."
Dillon, whose previous best Nationwide Series finish came when he placed third at Indianapolis in 2012, led 24 laps en route to his victory, and held off pole-sitter and defending Lilly Diabetes 250 winner Kyle Busch, who finished as the runner-up in his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota after leading 11 laps.
"Just not enough," Busch said. "It's unfortunate that we weren't as good as we were last year. I thought we were — but we weren't. Maybe it was the cloud cover today or whatever. And there at the end I had a restart and couldn't get through Turn 1. Just slipped — I don't know what happened. He [Ty Dillon] got right by me. Just drove right underneath me. That was it. That was the race."
Rounding out the top five were Matt Kenseth in third place in his No. 20 Resers Toyota, fourth-place finisher Kevin Harvick in the No. 5 Morton Buildings Chevrolet and Joey Logano was fifth in his No. 22 Discount Tire Ford.
"We were in good shape until that caution came out when we were leading the race," Logano said. "Some of those guys pitted before and then re-cycled themselves up; we had to save fuel to make it. The car was good enough to win. We were better than the No. 3 car when we were out front. Up front was better; that's why strategy and restarts are so important because you are always trying to make up as much time as you can. It was so hard to pass. We also had an alternator go bad. The car got really tight at the end. I have to wait a whole year to try again."
Race winner to receive special award : The winner of the 21st Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com at IMS on Sunday, July 27, will not only receive the requisite fame and glory associated with winning one of the world's most prestigious auto races, he or she will also be the recipient of a special award.
A Big Machine Records trophy guitar featuring artwork from Sam Bass, the officially licensed artist of NASCAR, will be presented to the winner of this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at IMS. The guitar features the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway Yard of Bricks, the official logo of the Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com, two Big Machine Records logos and gold hardware. The guitar comes with a silver case featuring a checkered flag shroud covering the guitar.
The trophy guitar is a hand-selected Gibson Les Paul Standard featuring custom silver hi-gloss paint and several coats of silver, gold and purple metal flake over original Sam Bass artwork.
"I am extremely honored to have been asked by Big Machine Records to bring back my hand painted Gibson guitar trophies," Bass said. "To have them be a part of the Crown Royal 400 at the Brickyard trophy presentation just means the world to me. I am extremely excited about the trophy artwork, and think the race winner will be proud to have it in their trophy case for sure."
Similar guitars will also be presented to Big Machine Records country music superstars Justin Moore, The Band Perry and Brantley Gilbert, who will perform along with additional Big Machine Records artists during the Kroger Super Weekend at the Brickyard in the IMS infield on the Brickfest Music Festival Stage. The Brickfest Music Festival for Sunday is as follows:
Sunday, July 27
8:30 a.m. Lauren Jenkins
9:00 a.m. Scotty Emerick
9:30 a.m. A Thousand Horses
10:20 a.m. Drake White
11:15 a.m. Brantley Gilbert
This musical lineup continues the relationship between Big Machine Label Group and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that began with superstar group Rascal Flatts performing on the main straightaway and legendary entertainer Reba singing "America The Beautiful" before the start of the 2011 Brickyard 400.
Big Machine Label Group, led by President and CEO Scott Borchetta, includes Big Machine Records, The Valory Music Co., Republic Nashville and Big Machine Music.
Unique Race Day Experiences Available on IMS Brickyard Mobile App: Kroger Super Weekend at the Brickyard fans looking to upgrade their race day experience can do so by downloading the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Brickyard Mobile app and purchasing exclusive, limited-quantity upgrades to their already-existing tickets.
Fans with the IMS Brickyard Mobile app will have the chance to purchase unique items such as a Sunday pit pass for the Crown Royal Presents the John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com, seat upgrades, a post-race chance to "Kiss the Bricks," VIP access to the Brickfest Music Festival concert and the opportunity get their picture taken with the race winner in Victory Circle. All experiences have limited quantities.
The free IMS Brickyard Mobile app is available for Apple devices through iTunes and for Android devices through the Android Market and Google Play.
Many features are included on the app, such as ticket purchasing, event schedules, photos, news feeds, race results, track maps with key points of interest, Know Your Zone parking information and much more.
Fans using the IMS Brickyard Mobile app automatically receive updated information on their mobile device, such as schedules, track action reports and more.