Terry Labonte filled in for Michael Waltrip in the No. 55 Toyota which originally made Bill Elliott, winner of the 2002 race, and his No. 21 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team ineligible for the past champion's provisional since Labonte's championship is more recent than Elliott's. However, with the closing of the Nos. 13 and 14 teams from Ginn, Elliott was assured of racing in this event.
Originally, there were 51 cars on the initial entry list, including the No. 13 team, which was left without a driver and sponsor. The No. 14 team was entered with Smith as the driver, but because of the merger between DEI and Ginn Racing, the final entry list only included 49 cars.
Qualifying
RANK
DRIVER
NBR
CAR
TIME
SPEED
1
Reed Sorenson
41
Dodge
48.858
184.207
2
Juan Pablo Montoya
42
Dodge
49.048
183.494
3
Ryan Newman
12
Dodge
49.053
183.475
4
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
8
Chevrolet
49.068
183.419
5
Kasey Kahne
9
Dodge
49.080
183.374
6
Kurt Busch
2
Dodge
49.159
183.079
7
Jeff Burton
31
Chevrolet
49.167
183.050
8
Greg Biffle
16
Ford
49.174
183.024
9
Casey Mears
25
Chevrolet
49.177
183.012
10
Denny Hamlin
11
Chevrolet
49.233
182.804
11
Tony Raines
96
Chevrolet
49.246
182.756
12
David Stremme
40
Dodge
49.259
182.708
13
Mark Martin
01
Chevrolet
49.273
182.656
14
Tony Stewart
20
Chevrolet
49.275
182.648
15
Jamie McMurray
26
Ford
49.287
182.604
16
Scott Riggs
10
Dodge
49.333
182.434
*
17
Elliott Sadler
19
Dodge
49.342
182.400
18
Kyle Busch
5
Chevrolet
49.396
182.201
19
Jimmie Johnson
48
Chevrolet
49.498
181.826
20
Kevin Harvick
29
Chevrolet
49.519
181.748
21
Jeff Gordon
24
Chevrolet
49.526
181.723
22
Scott Wimmer
33
Chevrolet
49.558
181.605
*
23
J.J. Yeley
18
Chevrolet
49.559
181.602
24
Jeff Green
66
Chevrolet
49.676
181.174
25
Brian Vickers
83
Toyota
49.689
181.127
*
26
Clint Bowyer
07
Chevrolet
49.692
181.116
27
Dave Blaney
22
Toyota
49.708
181.057
*
28
Paul Menard
15
Chevrolet
49.711
181.046
29
Bobby Labonte
43
Dodge
49.753
180.894
30
David Ragan
6
Ford
49.757
180.879
31
Matt Kenseth
17
Ford
49.764
180.854
32
Bill Elliott
21
Ford
49.783
180.785
33
Martin Truex, Jr.
1
Chevrolet
49.797
180.734
34
David Reutimann
00
Toyota
49.827
180.625
*
35
Carl Edwards
99
Ford
49.829
180.618
36
Ken Schrader
49
Dodge
49.862
180.498
*
37
Ricky Rudd
88
Ford
49.998
180.007
38
David Gilliland
38
Ford
50.033
179.881
39
Johnny Sauter
70
Chevrolet
50.080
179.712
40
Ward Burton
4
Chevrolet
50.096
179.655
*
41
Joe Nemechek
08
Dodge
50.184
179.340
*
42
Terry Labonte
55
Toyota
50.189
179.322
PC
43
Kyle Petty
45
Dodge
50.227
179.186
44
A.J. Allmendinger
84
Toyota
50.300
178.926
*
45
Kevin Lepage
37
Dodge
50.340
178.784
*
46
Dale Jarrett
44
Toyota
50.366
178.692
*
47
Jeremy Mayfield
36
Toyota
50.411
178.532
*
48
Kenny Wallace
78
Chevrolet
50.814
177.117
*
49
Robby Gordon
7
Ford
50.879
176.890
OP
OP: qualified via owners points
PC: qualified as past champion
PR: provisional
QR: via qualifying race
* - had to qualify on time
Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes: Joe Nemechek (#08), A.J. Allmendinger (#84), Kevin Lepage (#37), Dale Jarrett (#44), Jeremy Mayfield (#36), Kenny Wallace (#78), Regan Smith (#14-WD),? (#13-WD)
Race
Pole sitter Reed Sorenson lead the first lap of the race. The first caution flew on lap 15 when Jeff Green crashed in turn 3. Tony Stewart won the race off of pit road and lead the field to the restart on lap 20. Dale Earnhardt Jr. would take the lead from Stewart on the restart. The second caution would fly on the same lap when Ryan Newman crashed in turn 4. Dale Jr. lead the field on the restart on lap 25. On lap 39, the third caution flew when Tony Raines and Kasey Kahne crashed and turn 1. Robby Gordon also spun trying to avoid the wreck. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race off of pit road and lead the field to the restart on lap 44. On lap 46, a big wreck would occur in turn 1 that took out 8 cars. It started when Jamie McMurray got loose in turn 1 and slid up into Jimmie Johnson which caused a mini chain reaction crash that also collected Scott Riggs, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd, Carl Edwards, J. J. Yeley, and Kyle Petty. The race restarted on lap 53. On lap 54, Tony Stewart took the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr. On the same lap, a multi-car crash would occur in turn three. It started when Johnny Sauter came down and got turned by Casey Mears which sent the two spinning while collecting Elliott Sadler and Kyle Petty. The race restarted on lap 60 with Stewart as the leader. On lap 61, the 6th caution of the race would occur when Jimmie Johnson blew a left front tire and hit the wall in turn 3 which ended up causing his car to catch on fire. Juan Pablo Montoya won the race off of pit road but Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr, and Scott Riggs did not pit and Busch lead the field to the restart on lap 68. On lap 76, the 7th caution flew for debris. During pit stops, Kurt Busch's rear bumper fell off after Scott Wimmer made contact with him. Tony Stewart lead the field to the restart on lap 80. On lap 90, the 8th caution flew for debris. Greg Biffle won the race off of pit road and lead the field to the restart on lap 98.
Final Laps
On lap 103, Kevin Harvick took the lead. With 50 laps to go, Tony Stewart took the lead from Harvick. With 34 to go, Kyle Busch took the lead as green flag pit stops began. Stewart would get the lead back with 32 to go. With 25 to go, the 9th and final caution flew when Dale Earnhardt Jr's engine blew. Stewart lead the field to the restart with 20 to go. Kevin Harvick would pass Stewart in turns 1 and 2. Harvick had built a manageable lead but Stewart closed in on him. Stewart on his radio as he was closing on Harvick said "Here kitty kitty kitty! Come get you some of this!" Stewart made a few attempts to pass Harvick but never could. Finally, with 10 to go, Stewart passed Harvick and took the lead. Harvick started to fall back after he and Stewart touched down the backstretch. Stewart would eventually take home his 2nd and last Brickyard 400 win of his career while also taking his 2nd win on the season and the 2nd in a row. Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Reed Sorenson rounded out the top 5 while Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick (who dropped from first to 7th), Jeff Burton, Dave Blaney, and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top 10.[2]
For the first time in history, there was not a testing session before this race.
This race marked the second time an Indy NASCAR race was on cable television. Either ABC or NBC televised all 13 of the previous events except for 1995, when ESPN showed the race on one day's tape delay. This time, the 400 was originally scheduled to air on ESPN, while ABC would not takeover the broadcast until September. Additionally, this was the first NASCAR Cup race aired on ESPN since the 2000 season finale of what was then the Winston Cup Series.
Dale Jarrett's failure to qualify meant that only 4 drivers had started every Brickyard 400 since its inception in 1994: Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, and Bill Elliott.
Kevin Harvick, who led part of the race until Stewart overtook him on lap 149, missed the victory by a close finish to become the 3rd driver to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same year.
Post-race
For the second time since 2004, a winning driver uttered an obscenity in a live post-race interview when Stewart said "This one's for every one of those fans in the stands who pull for me every week and take all the bullshit from everybody else" to then ESPN pit reporter Dave Burns. At first, it was perceived to be in response to critics who have gone after his blunt and abrasive personality, but it has since been reported that Stewart was the subject of statements made by Pardon the Interruption co-hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon on the show that aired the day after Stewart's win at the USG Sheetrock 400. After Stewart joked about celebrating the victory by drinking a case of Schlitz beer, the co-hosts concluded that the driver was a bad role model for children. Whether the comments were a form of revenge against the network is open for interpretation.[4][5]
On the Tuesday after the race, Stewart was fined US$25,000 by NASCAR, and lost 25 points in the driver's championship due to the infraction. His team, Joe Gibbs Racing, also was penalized 25 points in the owners' championship. However, his classification of fifth in the championship standings remained the same despite the penalty.[6]Dale Earnhardt Jr., who said the word "shit" after winning the 2004 EA Sports 500 at Talladega Superspeedway had been given the same penalty that year.
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