Hendrick Motorsports drivers in their Chevy rides were strong in both practices at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this afternoon, preparing for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at The Brickyard.
In the first practice, Jimmie Johnson was second quickest at a speed of 178.642 miles per hour. Directly behind him was Jeff Gordon at 177.799 miles per hour. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was in fifth place in this practice session at a speed of 176.734 miles per hour. Casey Mears was strong in eighth place with a speed of 176.294 miles per hour.
In the first practice Kyle Busch was the lone Toyota in the mix, coming in sixth place with a speed of 176.571 miles per hour. Brian Vickers was the other Toyota and finished 10th with a speed of 175.816 miles per hour.
Even better than the Hendrick crew in the first practice was Elliott Sadler in a Dodge at the top of the leader board with a speed of 179.190 miles per hour, almost a full second ahead of the pack. The other Dodge in the top-10 was Ryan Newman in ninth position.
Hendrick domination continued in the second practice and the speeds picked up as well. Jimmie Johnson finished in the top spot with a speed of just over 180 miles per hour. Jeff Gordon was hot on his tail, just .040 seconds behind.
Two Dodges moved up into third and fourth place, with Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne respectively in the picture. Elliott Sadler and Patrick Carpentier, two other Dodges, were in the top-10. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished in the 10th spot while Casey Mears fell to 15th in the second practice.
And where were Kyle Busch and Team Toyota in the second practice? He and many of the other Toyotas seemed to pedal backwards, with Kyle falling all the way back to the 30th position. The highest ranking Toyota in the second practice was Brian Vickers in the 17th spot.
If practices are any indicator of qualifying and race success, the Hendrick gang appears strong and well on their way to some brick kissing this weekend!
6 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Adam Amick 11 months ago
Go Jeff Gordon, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
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Mary Jo Buchanan 11 months ago
Right there with you Adam!!
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Erin Hudson 11 months ago
Let's go, Junebug!
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Adam Amick 11 months ago
Ah, HAH!
In seeing highlight replays on ESPN of Friday practice at Indy, I noticed something very interesting about the Hendrick cars that could be part of their speed.
Notice that three of the top-10 were Hendrick cars, and three more were Gillett-Evernham Racing. There is something I've seen several times this year about the GEM cars. They look like they're driving sideways...
The right rear of the car is skewed out like no others.
Until Friday, when it looked like both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon's cars skewed out the same way.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the speed. Guess we'll see Saturday with practice and qualifying.
Just a thought...
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Mary Jo Buchanan 11 months ago
Hmmmm......good point Adam. We'll have to watch closely and see if the Hendrick bunch finally has this crabbing down the track figured out.....
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Kelly Crandall 11 months ago
When ESPN showed the speeds for the best 5 lap averages during yesterday's practice sessions, Johnson, Gordon and Earnhardt were first, second and third. Hopefully this is a big weekend for them. Go Jr.!!!!
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