The 2017 Brickyard 400 (branded as the
Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 for sponsorship reasons) is a
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on July 23, 2017 at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway in
Speedway, Indiana
Speedway is a town in Wayne Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 11,812 at the 2010 U.S. Census. Speedway, which is an enclave of Indianapolis, is the home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
History
Speedway was ...
. It the 24th running of the
Brickyard 400
The Brickyard 400 was an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Moto ...
, Contested over 167 laps extended from 160 laps due to an
overtime finish, on the speedway, it was the 20th race of the
2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
The 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was the 69th season of professional stock car racing in the United States, and the 46th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Advance Auto Parts ...
season. This was
Kasey Kahne
Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/ Procore Technolo ...
's final win in NASCAR.
This marked the first
Brickyard 400
The Brickyard 400 was an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Moto ...
without 5-time Brickyard 400 winner
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
on the starting grid, and also the first not to feature 2-time Brickyard 400 winner
Tony Stewart
Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is ...
since the
1998 edition.
Also this marks the final Brickyard 400 start for
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Report
Background
![Ims aerial](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Ims_aerial.jpg)
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in
Speedway, Indiana
Speedway is a town in Wayne Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 11,812 at the 2010 U.S. Census. Speedway, which is an enclave of Indianapolis, is the home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
History
Speedway was ...
, (an
enclave suburb of
Indianapolis) in the United States, is the home of the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
and the
Brickyard 400
The Brickyard 400 was an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Moto ...
. It is located on the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road, approximately west of
Downtown Indianapolis
Downtown Indianapolis is a neighborhood area and the central business district of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Downtown is bordered by Interstate 65, Interstate 70, and the White River, and is situated near the geographic center of Ma ...
.
Constructed in 1909, it is the original speedway, the first racing facility so named. It has a permanent
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
estimated at 235,000 with infield seating raising capacity to an approximate 400,000. It is the
highest-capacity sports venue in the world.
Considered relatively flat by American standards, the track is a , nearly rectangular oval with dimensions that have remained essentially unchanged since its inception: four turns, two straightaways between the fourth and first turns and the second and third turns, and two short straightaways – termed "short chutes" – between the first and second, and third and fourth turns.
Entry list
Practice
First practice
Denny Hamlin
James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and ope ...
was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 48.022 seconds and a speed of .
Final practice
Erik Jones
Erik Benjamin Jones (born May 30, 1996) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Petty GMS. His nicknames are EJ, his initials, and That J ...
was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 48.425 seconds and a speed of .
Qualifying
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...
scored the pole for the race with a time of 48.051 and a speed of .
Qualifying results
Race
First stage
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...
led the field to the green flag at 2:46 p.m. The first caution of the race flew when
Corey LaJoie
Corey Daniel LaJoie (born September 25, 1991) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports. LaJoie is the son of two-time NASCAR ...
spun out and hit the wall in Turn 3. Minutes later, the race was red-flagged due to lightning in the area, as well as a downpour, that lasted 1 hour, 47 minutes and three seconds.
The race restarted on lap 18, The second caution flew on lap 31 for a scheduled competition caution. During that 13-lap run,
Chase Elliott
William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. He won the 2014 NASCA ...
retired from the race with a failed engine.
The race restarted on lap 35, it went green the remainder of the first stage, ending on lap 51, which was won by Busch. The third caution of the race flew to conclude stage one.
Second stage
The race restarted on lap 56, Caution flew two laps later for a three-car wreck in Turn 1. It started when
J. J. Yeley spun exiting Turn 1.
David Ragan
David Lee Ragan (born December 24, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing, and is also an analyst for NASCAR on Fox on ...
spun exiting Turn 1, veered down the track and slammed the inside wall.
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Jeffrey Lynn Earnhardt (born June 22, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing. He is the son of Kerry Earnhardt, gran ...
was also collected.
The race restarted on lap 64, only for debris from Yeley's car to bring out the fifth caution of the race, on lap 72.
Erik Jones
Erik Benjamin Jones (born May 30, 1996) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Petty GMS. His nicknames are EJ, his initials, and That J ...
took the lead when Busch committed to pit road.
The race restarted on lap 76,
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for '' NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving ...
and
Trevor Bayne
Trevor Mitchell Bayne (born February 19, 1991) is an American professional stock car racing driver, dirt racing driver, team owner, and businessman. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 18 Toyota Supra for Joe ...
made contact, and Earnhardt's car suffered radiator damage that resulted in the sixth caution of the race one lap later.
The race restarted on lap 80,
Ryan Blaney
Ryan Michael Blaney (born December 31, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske. He is the son of former NASCAR driver Dave Blane ...
took the lead from Jones going into Turn 1. Busch retook the lead on Lap 87 and won the second stage. That would bring out the seventh caution to conclude the stage.
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Lee Truex Jr. (born June 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Serie ...
exited pit road with the race lead.
Final stage
![Kasey Kahne Indianapolis 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Kasey_Kahne_Indianapolis_2017.jpg)
The final stage began under green on lap 106.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...
made contact exiting Turn 2 two laps later, sending Stenhouse down the track and into the inside wall, therefore bringing out an eighth caution.
The race restarted under green on lap 111, Truex got loose going into Turn 1, got into the left-rear corner of Busch, sending him spinning into the wall, therefore bringing out the ninth caution of the race. Truex got swept around by side force and slammed the wall, and his car caught fire. Both cars were out of the race, denying Kyle Busch's shot at a third consecutive victory at the Brickyard 400. This incident handed the race lead to
Matt Kenseth
Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He drives the No. 8 car in the Superstar Racing Experience. (SRX)
Kenseth started racing on several short tracks in Wisconsin and won track cha ...
.
The race restarted under green with 40 laps to go. Drivers started hitting pit road to make their final stop of the race with 31 to go. Kenseth pitted from the lead with 28 to go and Jones pitted the next lap, handing the lead to
Brad Keselowski
Bradley Aaron Keselowski (; born February 12, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing, a team he also ...
.
In the closing laps, the first three cars, Keselowski, Johnson and
Kasey Kahne
Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/ Procore Technolo ...
, chose to gamble on fuel, but probably couldn't make it to the finish on fuel if there were no more cautions. Fourth place
Trevor Bayne
Trevor Mitchell Bayne (born February 19, 1991) is an American professional stock car racing driver, dirt racing driver, team owner, and businessman. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 18 Toyota Supra for Joe ...
was the highest placed car with enough fuel to make it to the end. This all went out the window with 11 to go when
Clint Bowyer
Clinton Edward Bowyer (born May 30, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and commentator for ''NASCAR on Fox''.
He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2020, driving for Richard Childress Racing for eight yea ...
got loose and spun down the track, with help from Jones, slammed the inside wall and ricocheted back onto the racing surface into the path of
Kurt Busch, who t-boned him, slammed the wall and came to a halt down the track, the tenth caution of the race flew for a multi-car wreck, Kahne pitted from third just as the wreck happened, which proved crucial for him as he inherited the lead. The race was red-flagged for the second time to ensue cleanup on the track, It was lifted after 20 minutes and 20 seconds.
Kahne held off Keselowski's charge into Turn 1 on the restart when the race went back to green with seven laps to go. When the field came back down the front stretch,
Kyle Larson
Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Larson is the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champi ...
slammed the outside wall, bringing out the 11th caution.
The race restarted with two laps to go, Kahne and Keselowski raced side-by-side from the start/finish line through Turn 3. Heading down the backstretch, Johnson, with smoke billowing from his left-rear tire, got to the inside of the two to battle for the lead going into Turn 3, setting up the 12th caution of the race; rounding the turn, Johnson spun out and hit the outside wall, sending the race into overtime.
Overtime
=First attempt
=
On the first attempt, the field didn't make it to the start/finish line before all the pushing and shoving caused a multi-car wreck, bringing out the 13th caution. Keselowski was ahead of Kahne when the caution flew and assumed the lead, The red flag was displayed for the third time to again ensue cleanup of the track, The red flag was lifted after 24 minutes and 16 seconds.
=Second attempt
=
At 8:53 PM, the second attempt at finishing the race began. Kahne got the advantage, jumped past Keselowski going into Turn 1 and set sail. Exiting Turn 2,
Denny Hamlin
James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and ope ...
suffered a left-rear tire failure and spun towards the outside wall, getting clipped by
Paul Menard
John Paul Christian Menard (born August 21, 1980) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 66 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing.
M ...
in the process. The caution was not called at the time. Despite this wreck happening well before Kahne, the race leader, reached the pre-determined mark on the backstretch that designated an official restart under NASCAR's
green-white-checker finish rule that allowed NASCAR to end the race under caution, officials waited until he passed the line, then threw the caution to end the race. This ended the race and secured victory for Kahne.
Controversy came as a result of this finish, primarily over darkness issues. Because of the rain delay early in the race, and numerous cautions in the final stage, including two red flags, it was 8:54 PM, with official sunset at 9:05 PM. The track does not have lights. Some drivers asked if safety vehicles could turn on their headlights before the final restart (which was denied). Furthermore, after the incident, NASCAR found oil as a result of the incident, and questions arose if the track could have been cleaned up in time or the race would have been stopped for darkness with less than ten minutes of daylight available; at the November 2015 Martinsville race, the checkered flag waved at 5:23 PM, less than a minute before sunset.
NASCAR subsequently made a rule change eliminating the overtime line, and reverting to the 2010-15 green-white-checker rule with one change, eliminating the maximum number of attempts.
Race results
Stage results
Stage 1
''Laps:'' 50
Stage 2
''Laps:'' 50
Final stage results
Stage 3
''Laps:'' 67
Race statistics
* Lead changes: 7 among different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 14 for 55
* Red flags: 3 for 2 hours, 31 minutes and 39 seconds
* Time of race: 3 hours, 39 minutes and 0 seconds
* Average speed:
Media
Television
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side.
Rick Allen,
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...
and
Steve Letarte
Steven Letarte (born May 14, 1979) is an American professional NASCAR crew chief and sportscaster who works for NBC Sports as a color commentator on NASCAR on NBC, their telecasts for NASCAR. He also works as a consultant for Spire Motorsports, ...
had the call in the booth for the race.
Dave Burns,
Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and
Kelli Stavast
Kelli L. Stavast is an American sportscaster who works for NBC Sports as a pit reporter for both their NASCAR (in both the Cup and Xfinity Series) and IndyCar Series coverage. She has reported for numerous other forms of motorsports throughout he ...
reported from pit lane during the race.
Radio
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network (known typically as the IMS Radio Network or the INDYCAR Radio Network), is an in-house radio syndication arrangement which broadcasts the Indianapolis 500, the NTT IndyCar Series, and Indy Lights to ...
and the
Performance Racing Network
The Performance Racing Network (PRN) is a radio syndication network controlled by Speedway Motorsports (SMI) founded in 1981. PRN airs NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series events held at Speedway Motorsports and Penske Corporation-owned and mana ...
jointly co-produced the radio broadcast for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, and aired on IMS or PRN stations, depending on contractual obligations. The lead announcers and two pit reporters were PRN staff, while the turns and two pit reporters were from IMS.
Standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
;Manufacturers' Championship standings
*
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
*
. – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brickyard 400
2017 Brickyard 400
2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
2017 in sports in Indiana
July 2017 sports events in the United States