NASCAR Arrives at Indy: Notes From Friday's Practice Sessions

INDIANAPOLIS -- So far, so good.

Two hour-long practice sessions Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway eased the minds of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams concerned with tire wear for Sunday's AllState 400 at the Brickyard.

"It is done, they have created a great tire,'' said four-time Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon, who, following a June tire test, promised fans that Goodyear had fixed the problems that wreaked havoc on last year's race when tire wear forced drivers to pit every 10-15 laps.

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Drivers, reporters and race officials have blamed the backlash from last year's tire debacle for lagging ticket sales for Sunday's race.

"They have backed it up with testing and they have now proven it here,'' Gordon said. "What I think is most crucial is the practice that we had, and I think I could have probably run all day long on one set of tires if I wanted to.''

Throughout the garage, crew chiefs and drivers echoed Gordon's sentiment.

Kyle Busch ran 26 laps in the first session, one of eight cars that turned at least 20 laps. And no one had any issues with tires.

The drivers who participated in Goodyear's final test in June were confident that Goodyear had solved its problem. Gordon even suggested that it wasn't purely a tire-compound issue, but a bad combination of the new car, the track and the tire. Friday's practice erased any remaining doubt with qualifying set for Saturday.

"All of that historical stuff is gone, it was basically an isolated incident,'' said Greg Biffle, who was fastest in the opening practice session. "A big deal was made about it, and it's gone now. We're good.''


Close Call: Defending race winner Jimmie Johnson had a rough return to the track. Johnson's No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet scraped the wall only minutes into the first practice session.

There was no major damage, however and Johnson posted the eighth-quickest speed in the session.

Mending Fences: Johnson said he reached out to Kurt Busch during the off-week to discuss their on-track run-in at Chicago two weeks ago. But Johnson said Busch did not respond to his text message.

The two made contact late in the race, and Busch -- still upset after getting wrecked by Johnson at Sears Point, Calif. in the previous race -- retaliated by hitting Johnson's Chevy. Johnson apologized about the Sears Point accident but insisted last week's contact was purely a racing incident and that his car just got loose.

In a television interview immediately after the Chicago race, Busch questioned Johnson's judgment and ability. But they both said Friday they are ready to move on.

"I'll find him in the garage,'' Busch said. "I felt like Chicago was definitely a heat of the moment type situation where it wasn't that big of a deal. Then to see everybody bombard us after we finished 17th, then I guess it was an issue.

"So we'll work on it, shake hands and laugh about it. I don't think that it's that big of a deal.''

Double Trouble: While the double-file restarts have certainly added a new element of excitement to Sprint Cup racing this summer, not all drivers are big fans of the format, even if they choose not to admit it.

Veteran Jeff Burton criticized the restarts after wrecking in one at Chicago two weeks ago and like many people, expects the tight-quarters at Indianapolis to make double-file restarts even more difficult to pull off.

"I really like the double-file restarts from the fan's perspective,'' Burton said. "Even from a competitor's perspective I"m good with it. It's just that I've been on the wrong end of it for four weeks in a row and we've been in wrecks that other people have caused four weeks in a row right after the double-file restarts.

"I'd love to think there is some magic fix but there's not. Double-file restarts do make the racing better, there's no question about it but they do put us in a little more jeopardy of being in a wreck.''