
(Photo Credit: Getty Images for NASCAR)
UP TO SPEED
The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard becomes one of the most infamous races in motorsports history all with the explosion of a Goodyear tire; Scott Dixon, Scott Speed and Tony Schumacher continue their winning ways; and how's that horsepower affecting Toyota? This is Up to Speed.
The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard was, at best, a sad joke; one that couldn't even get a chuckle from the most amusable audience member. Tire wear issues, along with a grooved track and a heavier car, created problems and havoc from the second teams unloaded. Little did NASCAR know they'd have a full-blown crisis on racing's biggest stage.
2003 Brickyard 400 winner Kevin Harvick summed it up best when he called Sunday's running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard "the biggest joke in racing." Seems like everyone agrees.Before the start of Sunday's so-called "race," NASCAR decided they would wave a competition caution around lap 10 so teams could check the tires for wear. After Waltrip's spin and Kurt Busch's tango with Kevin Harvick, the first pit stop revealed shocking tire wear. 14 laps in to the Allstate 400 and the tires were past their melting point. So, NASCAR decided they would wave another one.
NASCAR had hoped they would get enough rubber built up in the grooves and that they would be able to run a normal race. Instead, time after time, the tires were down to their chords after every single competition caution. NASCAR kept the cautions coming until the 153rd lap of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. That would lead to a 7 lap shootout, and defending series Champion and 2006 Allstate 400 winner Jimmie Johnson scored the victory.
We'll be following up on this throughout the week here on RacingForTheWin.com so keep us bookmarked and check back often.
NATIONWIDE: How's that working out for you?
15 less horsepower didn't slow red-hot Kyle Busch down any, as he dominated the Kroger 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park. In fact, Wildthing led all but three laps of the showdown at the Park. Hey, he had to pit sometime.
In victory lane, Kyle said, "I really want to thank all my competitors out there for the complaining they did because they gave me good traction control tonight, so that was nice. But we'll see how it goes from here at the big tracks."
Can this man he stopped from winning anything? NBC Sports on msnbc.com has more.

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