Kyle Busch Repeats as Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 Pole Winner
INDIANAPOLIS, Saturday, July 22, 2017 – Teenager William Byron held off veterans Paul Menard and Joey Logano over tense final laps to become the youngest winner of a major race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, capturing a victory in a thrilling Lilly Diabetes 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race on Saturday.
Byron, 19 years, 7 months, from Charlotte, North Carolina, edged Menard by .108 of a second in his No. 9 Liberty University Chevrolet fielded by JR Motorsports, owned by NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Matheus Leist was the previous youngest winner of a premier or major support series race on the oval at IMS when he won the Freedom 100 Indy Lights event at age 19 years, 8 months in May 2017. Marco Andretti won an Indy Lights race in 2005 and Marc Marquez won a Moto2 motorcycle race in 2011 at IMS both at age 18, but those events were on the road course.
“This the first time I’ve come here, a couple of days ago,” Byron said. “It’s such a special place, just walking into the place. I’ve watched a lot of races here on TV, and seeing the history and to make laps around here is just really special. To see the front stretch, how narrow it is with grandstands on both sides when you come down the front straight, it’s a really special place. It’s neat to get a win and does a lot for us this year and hopefully propels us to a championship.”
A new NASCAR rules package for the cars in this race, which included restrictor plates for the engines and aero ducts on the bodywork, was designed to create more passing and closing racing.
Mission accomplished. Three event records were set in the sixth edition of this race:
– Lead changes: 16. The previous record was nine.
– Leaders: Eight. The previous record was six.
– Margin of victory: .108 of a second. The previous record was .411 of a second.
“I think a great race is the objective,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Vice President of Competition, after the race. “I think what fans saw today was that. Certainly I think it passed the eye test.”
Byron started third and won the first stage. He and Logano marched in lockstep around the famed 2.5-mile oval as the top two cars late in the final stage after leader Kyle Busch and second place Erik Jones pitted on Lap 82 of the 100-lap race.
Busch and Jones figured the other leading cars would pit later for fresh tires. They were wrong.
“We could make it on fuel, but we were worried about tires,” Jones said. “We were cording tires every run after 15 laps, so we made the conservative call, came in and put tires on. Unfortunately, it was the wrong call.”
Logano stalked Byron over the closing laps in his No. 22 Discount Tire Ford, never falling more than half of a second behind the leader from Lap 85 to Lap 97. But Menard powered his No. 2 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet past Logano on Lap 98 and set sail for Byron.
“Yeah, I was nervous,” Byron said about the closing laps. “”I definitely thought he (Menard) and the 22 (Logano) were really strong. Looks like Joey faded at the end. Over the last 15 or 20 laps, I thought the tire was going to go. But it hung on.”
2011 Brickyard 400 winner Menard pulled to within .119 of a second of Byron after Lap 98 and .112 of a second as the white flag flew to signal the final lap. But Byron drove an inch-perfect final trip around the 2.5-mile oval to earn his third win in just 18 starts in his rookie season, marking him as one of the brightest future stars of the sport.
“Man, it sucks being that close but the kid is really good,” Menard said. “I was better in (Turn) 2, 3 and 4. Turn 1’s the slowest corner, so I actually had to come quite a bit out of the throttle, and he was able to carry a little bit more speed through there.”
Logano ended up third. Pole sitter Elliott Sadler, who won the second stage, finished fourth overall in the No. 1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet. Cole Custer placed fifth in the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford.
Busch, looking to win this race for the third straight year, ended up 12th in the No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Rowdy Toyota after his tire-change gamble failed.
But Busch earned a bit of redemption two hours after that disappointment. He drove to a dominant second consecutive pole for the Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 after a top lap of 187.301 mph in the No. 18 Skittles Toyota during the third round of qualifying. Busch is trying to become the first driver to win this event three consecutive years.
2003 Brickyard 400 winner Kevin Harvick will start alongside Busch on the front row after a top lap of 186.332 in the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford.
Former Brickyard winners Jamie McMurray and Jimmie Johnson occupy the second row. 2010 winner McMurray qualified third at 186.274 in the No. 1 Cessna/McDonald’s Chevrolet, while four-time winner Johnson was fourth at 185.851 in the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet.
Earnhardt, making his final Brickyard start, qualified 13th in the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet.
The Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 starts at 2:30 p.m. (ET) Sunday. Visit IMS.com to purchase tickets for all 2017 IMS events, including the Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400, and for more information on all events.
