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>> announcer: let's hear it for cassidy pope. >> rick: out of retirement, it's time to goback to work. this place is where names are made. some of the biggest have been able to kissthe bricks at indianapolis motor speedway. 11 brickyard wins between johnson, gordonand stewart. let's go to pit road and mike masaro. >> mike: it's been 245 days exactly sincejeff gordon has been in a competitive race. to prepare for today, he's been in the simulator,he's watched incar video from chase elliott and jimmie johnson, his teammates, but hesays nothing can simulate the real act of

being in the race. we'll find out just how good he is in a moment. kelli? >> kelli: of everything team penske has accomplishedin 50 years of racing, one win is noticeably absent, a win at the brickyard 400. brad keselowski hopes to change that today,starting fifth, dave. >> dave: can tony stewart win for a thirdtime at his home track, the brickyard? marty? >> marty: kyle busch has a chance at victorytoday.

no driver has won both poles in a race weekendand both races. he said he knows about the record and hasbeen wanting to break it for years. it's time to get the brickyard 400 under way. time for the command to start the engines. >> announcer: and now, for the most famouswords in motorsports, please welcome the chairman of the board of the indianapolis motor speedway,tony george. >> drivers, start your engines! brrks radio transmissions ]>> rick: there they are, a tradition at indianapolis motor speedway, the release affidavit balloons,27,000 of them, becoming airborne.

tony stewart has won this race two times before. in his final brickyard start, could he getthe third? we'll talk to him on the pace lap when wecome back. and by sprint, proud sponsor of the nascarsprint cup series. >>> race day at indianapolis. those words bring anticipation and conjureup vivid memories, like that day 22 years ago when a kid whose racing roots were sewnjust up the road from here took that first brickyard. >> jeff gordon is about to write his namein the racing history books, winner of the

inaugural brickyard 400! >> from that milestone win, he took the sportto new heights. >> this guy's a champion, and today he joinsthe ranks of the legend. >> he said good-bye last fall, but fate hadother plans. fellow champion tony stewart grew up in columbus,indiana. he, too, dreamed of winning at indy, and itcame true. >> tony stewart, a native hoosier, his dreamcomes true. >> you are the man! whoo!

>> now he's ready for his final ride and aplace he holds so dear. for more than two decades, these two championshave fueled the legend of their home track. today they both get one more chance for anencore in the brickyard 400. >> rick: welcome back to indianapolis motorspeedway as we get ready for sprint cup series racing from the brickyard. a ceremonial first pace lap for the sprintcup cars, and it's being led by tony stewart, the rushville, indiana, native, making hisfinal brickyard 400 start. let's chat with him on this ceremonial lap. >> jeff: hey, tony, jeff burton, nbcsn booth.

are you with us? >> yeah, bud. >> jeff: what a great honor, you leading thefield before the race starts. tell us, as you enter your last brickyard400, what are your emotions right now? >> well, i wish i could say it was reminiscentin thinking about all the past, but to be honest, i'm honestly really focused on tryingto win this race here. i think we got a great mobil 1 chevy performancechevrolet here, and i want to go out and do the best we can today. i think we've got a shot at this thing.

>> jeff: you've been fast in every practice,qualified well. what's the biggest challenge to winning today? >> just finding out what this thing's reallygoing to do truly on long runs. i mean, nobody really ran more than aboutten laps at a time. so, we've got to go 30 laps today. so just got to stay up with the balance. i mean, we're at the hottest part of the dayright now. it's going to get cooler and the track's goingto get more grip as the day goes on, so we've just got to stay up with it, try to stay balanced.

>> jeff: well, tony, thank you for lettingus ride around in this special moment. we'll all be watching. good luck. >> thanks, bud. i appreciate it. glad you guys are with me. >> rick: and you can see the temperature inthe car. we've talked about how the heat will becomea factor in today's race, over 113 degrees inside the car, and that's just tooling aroundright now at pace car speed.

today's starting grid is brought to you bygolden corral. up front, kyle busch won the pole once again. las vegas native, defending brickyard 400winner, starting next to carl edwards. >> steve: in row two, tony stewart, startingnext to this year's daytona 500 winner, denny hamlin. >> jeff: and in row two, team penske's bradkeselowski starting next to south bend, indiana's own ryan newman. >> rick: back at row four, it's kevin harvick,the 2003 brickyard 400 winner. >> steve: row five, jamie mcmurray, 2010 brickyard400 winner, starting next to kyle larson.

>> jeff: in row six, kurt busch, actuallythe 2014 indy 500 rookie of the race. >> rick: back in row seven, it's joey loganoand jimmie johnson. johnson has won four times here in the brickyard. >> steve: chase elliott, whose dad, bill,won in 2002, next to ricky stenhouse jr. in row eight. >> jeff: we have ryan blaney starting nextto matt kenseth in row nine. kenseth is a two-time runner-up in the brickyard400. >> rick: back in row ten, it's vancouver,washington's greg biffle next to trevor bayne out of knoxville, tennessee.

>> steve: row 11, five-time brickyard 400winner jeff gordon starting next to chris buescher. >> jeff: row 12 has the 2011 brickyard 400winner paul menard, starting next to the first woman to ever lead the indianapolis 500, danicapatrick. >> rick: in row 13, aj al allmendinger andkasey kahne. >> steve: we have michael mcdowell and davidragan. >> jeff: aric almirola and dibenedetto, who'sdoing double duty this week. >> and then bowyer and scott out of boise,idaho. >> steve: cassill and mears, whose uncle wonthe indy 500.

>> jeff: and cole whitt and ryan ellis withhis first ever start here at the brickyard. >> rick: back in row 19, it's regan smithand michael annett, making his second brickyard start today. >> steve: row 20, we have reed sorenson, hisfifth brickyard 400, next to patrick. >> rick: we're riding with casey mears withthe geico onboard camera. we'll start in row 17. the chevy in-car camera will be carried aroundby the 88 of jeff gordon. he starts 21st. brian blaney in the 21 has the ford onboardcamera, starting 17th today.

martin truex jr. with the sprint onboard camera will startin row four. and right next to him will be the 4 of kevinharvick, also carrying one of our cameras. tony stewart up in row number two will startthird today with the coca-cola onboard camera. and kyle busch has the best view of anyoneat the brickyard. he has the toyota onboard camera, startingon full. for some of the story lines that we'll befollowing from pit road, let's go to dave burns. >> dave: rick, race cars do not like extraweight, so when i talked to rodney childers

today and he told me about three pounds hadbeen added to the 4 car, i ququestioned it. then he told me it was for an extra fan behindharvick's right foot to pull air back, to help the system down below. remember, he burned his heels at sonoma. he's hoping that will help today. >> marty: dave, there's one race time excitedto get under way, it's martin truex jr. and his team. why? because of the disappointment last week atnew hampshire.

remember, they had a shifter problem. it broke late in the race after they led somany laps at new hampshire last week. kyle told me it shouldn't be a problem movingforward. in terms of the team, he said listen, we'regetting tough skin out arou. we're used to leading and not having success,but we're looking to turn that around. >> kelli: jimmie johnson looking to reversetheir trends. they've finished outside of the top ten thelast six races. indy could be just the place to do it. a win today would tie the six-time championwith jeff gordon for the most ever brickyard

400 wins. that number is five. jimmie johnson today starts from the luckynumber 13. mike? >> mike: kelli, his teammate, kasey kahne,is also looking to rebound a bit. but talking to him after qualifying, we gota sense of disappointment. he felt like he had a much better car thanwhere they ended up, rolling off 26th today. because of that, his crew chief told me theonly way they'll get to the front is by using strategy, and that's something you'll seefrom a lot of drivers starting midpack today.

it could get awfully interesting down here,guys. >> rick: i'm sure you guys will be all overit. thanks a lot, mike. aerial coverage provided by our partners atsmithfield foods. great vantage point of this huge facility,this historic venue, racing for over a century. let's take a closer look at indianapolis motorspeedway with today's "track facts" brought to you by ge. a 400-mile race. that is 160 laps.

pit road speed, they will whoa it down to55 miles per hour. and steve, the fuel window, 36 to 39 laps. but as mike just mentioned, strategy couldcome into play early in this race. >> steve: strategy i believe will come intoplay early, rick, and often. it will be very confusing to try to followbecause there are a lot of different ways to run this race. as we see how narrow the track can be if you'renot in the first or second row, the crew chief has to get creative to give their team anddriver the best opportunity at the end of 160 laps.

>> rick: starting back at 21st is the 88 ofjeff gordon, driving for dale earnhardt jr. just moments ago this is what they had tosay on the radio. >> you know, dale, i'm thinking of you. i'm glad to hear you're making some progressthis week. i appreciate your patience and, you know,hope for a speedy recovery, but on your time frame. >> jeff, thanks for filling in for the nexttwo weeks. i appreciate all you've done friday and saturday,and you know, i'm looking forward to what we can do today.

>> rick: and all of you now know, obviously,that dale earnhardt jr. can listen in to the radio. he can listen in to the communication, justlike all the fans can. they can listen in to the communication betweendriver, spot your and crew chief. and of course, everyone knows that dale jr. is focused on this race as he is continuingto recover. the field two by two as they come up to theyard of bricks at indianapolis motor speedway led by kyle busch, who won this race one yearago. carl edwards, his teammate, starts on theoutside of row number one.

tony stewart making his final brickyard 400start on the inside of row two. green flag's in the air and away! >> rick: great start for kyle busch. denny hamlin now fighting with his teammate,trying to take the second spot away. hamlin and edwards side by side. here comes stewart! almost to the grass as he tries to make thepass for second! he takes it away as they go into 3. >> clear.

>> rick: what a run tony stewart had comingout of 2, takes the second spot away as they went into 3 and 4. >> steve: you don't think tony stewart wantsto win this race. three wide on lap one. i can promise you what this race means tohim. >> rick: kevin harvick's moving out of line,trying to hold off the 3 of austin dillon. jimmie johnson on the inside of two wide,kyle larson outside of him in the 42. >> jeff: that's what makes this facility sounique. the 22 of logano going by larson and chaseelliott's going to try to fill that hole as

well. these four, while they've looked the same,90-degree corners, do not drive the same. how you get off of turns 2 and 4 to go downthe long back and front straightaways, you'll see a lot of late maneuvers trying to getout of line and dive to the inside in lanes two and three. >> steve: so important to get off of 2 and4 well because they lead to the long straightaways, steve. if they lose the momentum, they will go byyou. on the restarts, we aw early in the race,carl edwards, who's had a fast car on that

first lap when he got three wide, he lostmomentum and has gone back to sixth place. so you have to find a way to keep your momentumup, three wide again. >> rick: and that's greg biffle making thepass on matt kenseth. kenseth way up the racetrack. kenseth having to catch that number 20 asit shot up the racetrack. kasey kahne able to get by in the 5 and herecomes gordon in the 88. >> jeff: jeff gordon got right behind kenseth,made the back of the car, the 20 car move around a lot. jeff gordon takes the spot.

>> rick: so critical. and it's all set up normally at the oppositeend of the racetrack, when you enter either turn 1 or turn 3, you can make the run oneither the front stretch or the backstretch to make those passes. >> jeff: such a fast racetrack. you see them coming on to the front stretchnose to tail. this straightaway is long and narrow, andin person, it just amazes me how fast they go coming into turn 1. >> rick: upwards of 205 miles an hour.

we've seen some cars getting into 1 and 3. >> steve: look at matt kenseth in behind gregbiffle and the air is taken off his car, the 17 behind him. we've got a caution right now. >> rick: caution on the racetrack early. and it wasn't for that 20 moving. it was, it looks as though, for matt dibenedettoin the 83 with damage to the right side of that car. >> jeff: definitely smoke coming out of theback of the 83.

i don't know if it's fluid or oil -->> blew up. >> jeff: you heard oil protect active. that's basically a program that the engineproducers create, so if you lose oil pressure, it can't keep running, can't damage the engineanymore. that's the issue. you heard him say "we blew up." you can see the straightaway and the smokepours out of the back of the car. looks like oil smoke to me, jeff. definitely an engine issue or at least anoil leak.

>> jeff: no question. and only lap four, setting up some decisionsteams will have to make in regard to pit strategy. you would certainly think the cars in theback of the pack would certainly pit with nothing to lose, but it's going to be interestingto see what this caution causes the front cars to do if they're going to pit or not. >> steve: well, this is really a big advantagefor teams running maybe 6 to 15th. the goal is to run this like a road course,start pitting early, maybe lap 10 or 12, but to do that, you have to be in touch with theleader. to not lose a lap, you have to be about tenseconds within the leader.

if you're behind that, you lose a lap andit's hard to call your driver to pit road. bunching up the field early changes the opportunityfor these teams. >> jeff: and don't forget, this is the firsttime that these cars have pitted with more speed in session. we've had problems with cars going down pitroad using the timing lines to their advantage. we saw it with martin truex weeks ago, sonascar in response has put more speed loops in, so it's going to be way easier to getcaught speeding. the teams will not be able to manipulate thoselines and speed into their pit boxes. so this is the first time we've seen that.

these drivers will have to be careful, becauseany time you have short sections, it's much easier to get caught speeding. >> rick: with the caution coming out, let'slook at "ram's guts and glory." >> steve: the most aggressive pit strategyis racing this like a road course, meaning you can race about 38 laps. when you go from lap 200 back, that meansthe first stop comes at lap 8, second at 46, 84 and 122. that is very aggressive. an ill-timed caution, a bad restart, speedingon pit road, any of that would completely

kill the strategy. but if you're a car mired back in the packand you think you could do something to try and win this race, that would be the aggressivestrategy to take. >> rick: just a reminder, it's 160 laps isthis race. only 400 miles. so, that's the number that they were shootingfrom backwards, 160 and went back to 122 and on back from there. and it looks as though maybe a couple at thevery back of the field are going to take advantage of this caution to come to pit road.

we'll be back for the green flag after this.agafter this >> rick: nascar on nbcsn is brought to youby credit one bank, the official credit card of nascar. and by stp. get ultra performance with stp ultra 5-in-1fuel system cleaner. most wins at indianapolis suppressented bysprint. jeff gordon holds that honor with five brickyard400 wins. >> mike: rick, keep in mind, for jeff gordon,this is the first time he's ever driven a sprint cup series car that's not numbered24, so the team made sure that he was aware

of where to stop on pit road. >> yeah, that big bright "88." >> once i get into the rhythm of that, weshould be good, but first couple times, definitely remind me that it is. >> i will. >> mike: adding to the degree of difficulty,jeff will have to go by the 24 pit stall. it's actually two stalls before the 88 pitstall, so he'll see that sign first. >> rick: nobody would ever miss their pitstall, would they, jeff? >> jeff: well, you know, i will tell you thatwhen i drove the 99 car forever, and the first

time i drove the 31 car, i pulled into the31 pit. so, it is -- and i do, i think the point aboutthe 24 is it being two boxes away -- i'm sorry, the 24 box being two boxes away, he's goingto see that. he's going to see see that number and hisfirst instinct will be to go to that box. the good thing is we've talked about it. the spotter knows it he knows it, now thereshould be tremendous communication to prevent that from happening. >> steve: rick, it amazes me, talking aboutstrategy and how to be aggressive, we showed the graphic earlier about pitting early atlap eight or nine, but as i watched some of

the competitors riding around on the yellow,listening to them shutting the car off, saving fuel, it would be a long shot, but if youcould get say 39 laps on a tank, save a few laps under this caution, a few laps underanother caution, perhaps you could eliminate a whole pit stop to this race and really onlystop three times. that would be a huge gamble, but it's thebrickyard 400, and if you're ever going to gamble to win a race, the daytona 500 andthe brickyard 400 have to be at the top of the list. >> rick: some may have to do that to try toget by kyle busch. a few clouds in the area but 93 degrees.

the humidity high. it feels like 107 degrees. and i know a lot of people hoping that somecloud cover does pass over. it gives them a little bit more grip on theracetrack. the track temperature extremely hot as well. the 14 was just talking on the radio momentsago. let's listen in. >> do you still have your fans on or did youshut them off under caution? >> i have everything on here.

it's hot, i'm just trying to keep everythingcool. >> rick: good thing is moving a little bithas brought the temperature down in the cockpit of the car. now it's 110 degrees in there. >> jeff: down to 110 degrees. >> rick: it was 113 earlier. >> jeff: this is an exceptionally hot race. this race is always hot, but this is the thirdhottest 400 ever. when you come here, you know it will be hotand it's a challenge.

this race, i think, is always for the driverone of the hottest races of the year. >> steve: there are long straightaways, alot of wide-open throttle time and the car runs so field to the pavement, there's littleair moving. even if it's not really hot outside, it'salready hot inside the car, on a day like today, it's even worse. >> rick: two by two they come once again onto the front straight. kyle busch and now tony stewart making uprow one. denny hamlin, harvick, keselowski, edwards,mcmurray and newman as they get ready to enter the restart zone.

kyle busch setting the pace. once again at the brickyard. >> rick: and kyle busch rockets ahead of thefield. tony stewart holds on to second. denny hamlin, kevin harvick, carl edwardsand brad keselowski chasing after that 18 of kyle busch. and look at the crowd behind them, three andfour wide as they get ready to enter turn 3. >> jeff: these cars, they're side by side.

when you're going into turn 4 right here,these cars side by side need to get it cleared out before they get there. if not when you run through there side byside, you lose so much momentum. so, watch these cars here, they're going tobe three wide now because of that lost momentum off of turn 4. >> steve: you mentioned, jeff, the 24 wasstuck on the outside. he's going to lose at least two, maybe threespots getting into turn 1. >> jeff: a big block by the 3 of austin dillon,to prevent it from being three wide. as you said, chase elliott just lost all thatmomentum by being side by side.

again, here we see it again. you've got to find a way to get singled up. >> steve: now gordon will think i'm goingto get chase elliott and ricky stenhouse jr. in the sunnyd machine. >> rick: imagine the feeling right now. jeff gordon just went by the 24 car. i'm not sure he can say he's done that toomany times in his career. >> jeff: you can see how tight the battleis and how intense it is. all these spots on restarts, you have to fighthard.

it's very hard to pass on this racetrack andyou have just got to push. >> steve: and you can see the intensity early. remember, we're only 10 laps into a 160-laprace. normally when we see this, as we see anotherthree wide. a.j. allmendinger goes down to the front stretchtrying to clear both cars and danica patrick thinks about it backs out and lets the 24in line. >> rick: that still leaves ricky stenhousejr. in the 17 hung out.

>> steve: but see what happens. danica patrick lost some aggression therefor just a moment, thought better of it, and 95 turned underneath her, her progression. >> rick: slowed her down just a bit, as nowshe has momentum once again, trying to get bay that 95 of michael mcdowell. just behind her, the 34 of chris buescherof texas, staying on the back bumper of patrick. >> steve: buescher pulled the 15 of bowyerthrough with him as well. >> rick: danica one of the crowd favoriteswhen she comes back to indianapolis every year.

tony stewart trying to hang on to second,at second, third and fourth all together as kevin harvick has closed the gap now. jimmie johnson, number 4, running in the fourthspot as denny hamlin looks to the inside of tony stewart. >> jeff: see denny hamlin make that earlyturn to get up inside of stewart. he wasn't doing it thinking he was going itpass him. he was doing it trying to get air on his car,trying to get more down force to make his car drive better. that's why it's so hard to pass here.

you need that air in your car, but when youturn early like that, it makes the car way too tight. it won't turn. or it makes it looser. you need to stay against the wall in the turnslike they're doing now, but when you do that, you lose all the air in your car. so, that's why it's so challenging here atindy, and that's why you see them on restarts have to be so aggressive. >> steve: there's such a balance between offenseand defense, rick.

have the 11 of hamlin looking to pass tonystewart. on the left-hand side of your screen is kevinharvick. where is he riding? right behind the 11, just waiting to jumpat the opportunity. if the 11 makes a move and it doesn't work,it can slow down the 11 and the 14. we'll see kevin harvick try to pass them both. >> rick: kyle busch already has the 3.2-secondlead after this restart. he looked to be saving a little bit of fuelunder the first caution, but now, obviously, he's not worried about fuel at all.

he's going out there trying to get everythinghe can. is that because he doesn't want guys to shortpit on him right now? >> steve: yeah, we mentioned that greasivestaj. you have to be within a certain distance ofthe leader, around ten seconds. so, kyle busch's only defense to that is toset the fastest pace he can to lead this race. and with a four-second lead early, it looksto be pretty clear that that's kyle busch's plan. >> rick: as you mentioned, if they're withinabout ten seconds, right now that would be the 13 of ryan newman, who's ten seconds behindkyle busch.

>> marty: and rick, i talked to adam stevensabout what you guys were talking about this morning, and he argued that for kyle busch,maybe the first run of the day might be the most important run of the day. that time you're talking about, steve, iswhat crew chiefs call the delta. you know all about that. it's about 11 seconds. the more cars they can put more than 11 secondsdown on this first run, the more cars they eliminate that can play the strategy gameagainst the 18. so, adam stevens told kyle busch, go as hardas you can from the drop of the green flag

this entire first run, because they will takeas many cars as they can out of the game. right, steve? >> steve: absolutely. this is going to be a chess match all daylong between the different crew chiefs, but how about the pace kyle busch is setting fromlap 10 to lap 13, he's extended his lead to over four seconds. that is the best thing he can do. and you can see, i won't say he's not drivinghard, but he looks pretty comfortable. not a lot of movement in the wheel, jeff.

looks to be handling reasonably well. look at that lead. >> jeff: remember how harvick's wheel lookedlike, how much wheel input he needed when we were riding along with him. busch is in clear air as opposed to harvick,who is right behind people and his car will not drive as well as kyle busch's. so, yes, it did look much easier. it's hard to drive, i can promise you, buthe wasn't having as hard of a time as kevin harvick was.

>> rick: for an update on the man runningsecond. >> and tony stewart's car is not good rightnow. it started off good, the entry and exit arefine, but he radioed his crew and said "bud, this car is really, really, really, reallytight." that means it won't turn the center of thecorner. that's why they're stacking up behind him. >> marty: under the last caution, denny hamlintold mike wheeler, i think we can get the 14 in two, but they cannot pass tony stewart. maybe concern about the engine.

listen in on the radio. >> i have a little bit of a burp or hiccupin my engine right as i try to get back to max gas quick off the corner. >> is it an early part throttle or wide open? >> it's kind of right as i'm slamming thegas. it's just kind of -- it makes a big pop andthen it goes. >> steve: you see hamlin and harvick makethe pass for second and third, so not a lot of concern in the 11 camp, but he definitelywanted mike wheeler to know about that pop in the engine.

>> kelli: brad keselowski has four wins thisseason. one of those gave team penske its 100th win,but his crew chief, paul wolfe, told me the win would be way bigger than that. he got a phone call from roger penske whoreminded him, this is one of the races we have yet to win together. right now, brad says the car is a little freeon entry and definitely free on exit. >> mike: kelli, as jeff gordon has acclimatedhimself with the 88 race team, he's been inseparable from crew chief greg. he sat with him after practice was complete.

ives wanted go over data and he told him,i just want the car to be perfect. not exactly perfect right now, loose in turn1, tight everywhere else. rick? >> rick: the blistering pace that kyle buschis setting now has only 11 cars within 11 seconds of what he has run. kyle busch dominating at indy. >> rick: get your nascar coverage on the gowith nascar mobile, the official app of nascar puts race coverage and live in-car camerasright at your fingertips. you can also listen to drivers and teams discussrace strategy.

download it for free at nascar.com/mobile. welcome back to the crown royal presents thecombat wounded coalition 400 at the brickyard. kyle busch, a dominant performance early hasa five-second lead over second place denny hamlin, but now only six drivers are within10 seconds of kyle busch. that means that tony stewart running sixthis the closest as far as under that delta number that we talked about. if he were to come to pit road, he could potentiallystill stay out in front of kyle without going a lap down. >> steve: we keep using the word delta.

what it basically means is this. the lap times around indianapolis takes 52to 53 seconds as kyle larson tries to make a move on stoney stewart. take the 78, cole earn person likes to beaggressive with his pit strategy. truex is 10 1/2 seconds behind the leader,so if martin truex hits pit road right now, they have an efficient pit stop, get off andon pit road pretty good, usually takes around 52 seconds. add that to his 10-second deficit, he'll comeout right around the leader, kyle busch. the goal is to stay in front of the leader.

because remember, if the caution comes outthen, the whole field pits, the 78 would be the leader. if he comes out behind kyle busch and thecaution comes out, marty, well that kills the whole strategy because then you're a lapdown. >> marty: cole earn and i were talking aboutthat this morning. you see larson trying to get the next spot. he said he would be willing to do somethingbecause that might be the only way to keep up with the 18 this afternoon. it's been a struggle for the 78 team thisweekend and that surprised him.

in the indy test two weeks ago, they wereprobably the best car, but as cole pearn told me, the track completely changed between thetest and now. all the setup notes they had in the test,they pretty much went in the garbage this weekend. they had to borrow setup from denny hamlinand carl edwards as well. the car too tight right now for martin truexjr., kelli. >> kelli: jimmie johnson in the 48 team knowwhat a big race the brickyard 400 is, so they brought a brand-new race car to the track. jimmie started 13th and is inside the top10, but he told crew chief chad knaus he's

getting hot in traffic so he turned off thefan to see if that helps, help me see if they can make a difference. >> steve: basically, the cars have differentfans, some to cool the front tires and some just to move air underneath the front of thecar. so, chad knaus and jimmie johnson must believethat turning the fans off either, a, shifts the aerodynamic balance to be tighter, orb, stop cooling the front tire, actually asking for the air pressure to build up in the fronttires, making the car a little bit tighter. what you have to be careful of, though, jeff,if that helps, you've now pushed the car into a tight direction.

it might not come back. >> jeff: try and get the right-front heatedup. a lot of air pressure built into it. it's hard to get the right-front to work. we're close to pit stop, so we're not thatfar away. i think now you've just got to make the cardrive as best you can and not worry about the long-run consequences. >> rick: after the last restart, stewart hadrestarted up front and now has fallen back to eighth.

dave, what's going on? >> dave: rick, he's used all the words thatdrivers use to describe how tight the race car is, plowing, won't turn the center. and he was asked if he could lift early goinginto the corners. jeff, i know that's one technique you canuse to sometimes help it, but he said i've tried that and it's been no help. >> rick: now we see martin truex jr. trying to come to pit road before anyone else. and when he did come to pit road right aroundthat 10-second mark.

>> steve: so now it's all about the pit stop. truex needs to be very good on the pit roadspeed here, but these very long pit boxes, he has to hit his mark, hit his sign, givethe pit crew the best opportunity to perform a good pit stop. >> rick: marty? >> marty: and that's the most critical part. cole earn, we were talking about this thismorning, steve. he said the guy has to be crystal clear andclean on pit road. he said last weekend in new hampshire wasmaybe the best weekend they had all year long.

truex said the car was tight and air pressureadjustment to loosen him up. now the key is where he cycles out in termsof where kyle busch is. >> steve: that's the important question. the answer is not where he wanted, becausekyle busch streaked by the 78 in turn 1, so the 78 is a lap down. we talked about the delta, around 10 or 11seconds. this proves to me that that right now is notenough time. he was 11.4 seconds behind the leader. the pit stop looked decent.

other crew chiefs will pay attention to thatas we see more cars on pit road. >> rick: carl edwards is down here, kyle larsonalso has made his way to pit road as well as matt kenseth. so quite a few are staying out. dave? >> dave: this has been a car that's been alittle tight from the center off. they'll make an air pressure adjustment thistime, a four goodyear tire change and a phillips sonoco fuel, marty. >> marty: that was the hope that cole pearnhoped for, that everybody else would come

to pit road. hamlin is leading with an air pressure adjustmentto tighten up the car. he said it was a little free. and carl edwards also leaving with a wedgeadjustment, said it was extremely tight at the beginning but got better the longer theyran. >> rick: kevin harvick also rolling down onpit road. all the lead lap cars now making their wayon to pit road. again, it's under green flag conditions. >> kelli: now you see jimmie johnson in thatlowe's 48 car coming.

as you said, he was good when he was in clearair, but he said he was just getting way too free in traffic and four tires, fuel and anair pressure adjustment for the 48. >> dave: for kevin harvick, going the rightway this afternoon, the car pretty balanced but just a little tight across the centerof the corner. a four tire and fuel change. >> mike: greg ives is coaching jeff gordon,telling him to look for the 88 sign. he hit the box perfectly, a tire change, wedgeadjustment and fuel for jeff gordon as they complete the stop, and he is away. >> steve: rick, as all the pit stops happen,though, kyle busch stays on the racetrack

and continues to make great laps. and now he's decided to come to pit road. that will help the cars that have committedto pit road not be a lap down. >> rick: marty. >> marty: and guys, kyle busch coming in asyou talked about. that was the hope for martin truex jr. and everybody else that started to get looserthe longer he ran. you'll see a small wedge adjustment for kylebusch, trying to tighten up just a bit. four fresh goodyear tires as well for theleader, mike.

>> mike: chase elliott on pit road as well. he's been chasing the nose of the car, havingto wait on that. he'll make a wedge adjustment, air pressure,four tires and sonoco race fuel. >> rick: chase elliott, 24, also on pit roadthe race leader, brad keselowski in the 2, has yet to come to pit road, as well as joeylogano. paul menard and brian scott. those four cars running one, two, three, four,need to still come to pit road. but again, the pit window 33 to 36 laps. they can stay out for at least eight morelaps.

>> steve: and we had a long caution. we talked about the aggressive strategy topit early, and now i'm thinking it's only to pit three times as menard hits pit road. >> kelli: the car is loose off and they'llput air into the right-rear tire. four goodyear tires and sonoco fuel for paulmenard. >> steve: as i was saying, as we see paulmenard leave pit road, they love to play the fuel strategy game. he's pointing the 5 by. he knows he's slower on older tires.

make this a three-stop race. to do that, they'll have to get to lap 38,39 with pace laps, so that's ten laps away from right now. he has to be trying that. if not, they wouldn't stay on the racetracklosing this time. see how much time he's given up to new tires? the only reason why paul wolfe would stayon the racetrack is because he's trying to eliminate a pit stop from the race. >> rick: so, we thought it might be shortpitting that would come into play.

maybe it's pitting less, is what brad keselowski'strying. brad keselowski's trying you? >> rick: welcome back to indy. and looks as though kevin harvick back onpit road. why, dave? >> dave: rick, he believes he has a flat tirein the 4 car. we'll see how they come off here, but he justpitted a little while ago. we reported it. then he felt something funny in the car.

right-rear looks like it has lots of air. coming around to the right-front, that lookslike it's aired up, too, but they replaced the right side. >> rick: he felt like he had a tire goingdown. and so, to be cautious, they came to pit road. they were just on pit road less than fivelaps earlier. >> steve: rick, we talked about trying toeliminate a pit stop and i was talking about brad keselowski, who's leading the race. he caught my attention.

but it's not just brad keselowski. this is team penske's all in the boat in this,because 11 seconds behind the 2 of brad keselowski is his team penske teammate, the 22 of joeylogano. both yet to make a pit stop 32 laps into thisrun. we mentioned roger penske, 16 indianapolis500s, never won a brickyard 400. i think that is playing into this. i think they are doing everything possibleto try to win a race, marty. >> marty: and see, the other thing playinginto it is the penske cars haven't had a whole lot of speed this weekend, either, so theyknew they would have to play strategy of some

sort, right? so, that's what todd gordon is doing herealong with his teammate up front, trying to stretch this as far as they can, saving somefuel here because they have enough time on the racetrack to save fuel. we see that gap between him and kyle busch,a massive gap, so they can save fuel right here and gain themselves to a point wherethey can almost get it done in three stops. that's the goal. i just talked to todd gordon. he affirmed that is what they're trying todo, so they set it up here early in the race

so they will be a pace off at lap 160. >> steve: but what will kill this strategyis a caution right now, because they need this to go green to their pit stop. if there's a caution right now, they're definitelygoing to come to pit road, and i would question the cars with eight or nine laps on theirtires would not come to pit road. so, those are the risks. those are the risks of this strategy. it's easy to say you're going to do it butit's very hard to do it. and the 4 of kevin harvick right here, a lapdown, he has to push extremely hard to try

to unlap himself. >> jeff: the other thing i find interestingis that if you want to try to get a team penske win, why not split the strategy? have two completely different strategies. why go all in with the strategy with two differentcars? that's interesting to me. but there's the 4 car. he needs to unlap himself, if he can. but if this goes green and they pit, he willstill be in the lead lap.

he was only five seconds behind the 18 ofkyle busch. so, when all this cycles out, if we don'tget a caution right now, then he will be back in the lead lap. he obviously lost a lot of positions, buthe would not have lost a lap to the 18 car. >> steve: and jeff, he has fresher right-sidetires, but not because he wanted them. when greg zipadelli, team manager, and thecrew looked over the right-side tires that came off, they found nothing strange. again it was a funny feeling that kevin felt,and you can't take chances at these speeds. >> jeff: and listen, that is an awful feeling.

when you pit your race car, you pit becauseyou know you have a problem. there's something wrong. and when they say, hey, there's nothing wrong,we didn't see anything, then what do you do the next time you feel something? so, that puts the driver in a very difficultposition. he didn't pit because he thought everythingwas great. he thought he had a problem. hey, no tire problem. now what do you do?

>> rick: car didn't feel right for the 4 ofkevin harve yirks but problems for the 2 car that's out front, brad keselowski. they're having communication issues rightnow with the radio. >> did you say anything? >> yeah, talking to me. you hear me? >> i didn't hear a word you said on eitherchannel, which doesn't mean anything. he may have heard you. if he heard you, then it's good.

>> i did not hear you either, paul. >> need to know where the track bar affectsthe car the most in the corner here. need to know. >> the most -- paul was actually talking you,but his radio broke. >> steve: there's nothing more frustratingthan communication issues, especially when you're trying to work pit strategy. you cannot run an extra lap, it's 2 1/2 miles. if paul wolfe needs keselowski to pit at 38,39's not an option. he'll run out of gas on the become stretch.

you have to be in pit road. i've been in this situation at watkins glenand had to have my driver black flagged because i had to ask them, hey, black flag us. i need him to come in before we run out ofgas. >> jeff: and because the track is so good,you need two spotters. so normally, the communication in that situationnow returns to brad the driver and the spotter because that's the only two people who canhear each other. well, who does it now? who is the spotter?

because if you're on the front straightaway,the radio may not work on the back straightaway, so it's more confusing for it to happen hereor on a road course. >> steve: and the fans at home looking atthe lap count, 37 laps, 38 laps, doing the map, it's very important to remember, threepace laps. the 2 car of brad keselowski has had to runthree laps at a caution pace to start the race. you see the 24, chase elliott, trying to getby the 2 on the fresher tires. but brad keselowski and paul wolfe, 21 sprintcup wins. five of those were on a fuel mileage strategy.

so, this is not outside of the box of wherethey are normally at. they're always aggressive. i love the call. this is what the playoffs drives. brad keselowski, he's in the playoffs. joey logano, he's in the playoffs. let's try to win the brickyard 400. >> jeff: this team has forced other teamsto change their strategies throughout the last couple years.

they have been very aggressive, kind of rewrotethe book, pitted when others wouldn't even consider pitting, and they have found waysto make it work. so, they are very innovative when it comesto strategies. >> rick: we've talked about how big the brickyard400 is. i mean, it's what legends are striving for. and penske has had so much success at allforms of racing, especially here. and in this 50th anniversary season, bothbrad keselowski and joey logano have mentioned numerous times when i would love to give rogerpenske is a brickyard 400 win, since no one has ever been able to do that.

>> jeff: yeah, if you ever want to be a heroin racing, being a hero within the team penske organization, that would be pretty good. and delivering roger penske that brick ofa trophy they give you for winning the brickyard 400, that would be special to the entire organization,whatever team delivered it would definitely be -- i mean, it would be huge for the wholecompany. >> jeff: and you have to remember what hesaid in "countdown to green," the largest checked box on the team penske side, the lackof a win at the brickyard. believe me, he tells everybody he wants towin at indianapolis. these guys are going to pit in two to threelaps, both logano and brad keselowski.

so, team penske trying to do it on fuel strategy. and you guys mentioned it, roush race engineshave been the best in the garage this year at saving fuel. they're going to try to do it again. >> steve: rick, if they go two or three laps,it's a no-brainer. they've run over 40 laps. that's the magic number. if they can do that with the pace lap, evenwith the four caution laps built in, i feel really good about their strategy as far asbeing able to stretch the fuel.

the real question comes in, where are thecautions? remember, we've made a big deal about thisstrategy. we are at the one-quarter point of this race. 40 laps into 160-lap race. there are so many ways this strategy can gowrong. this is very, very aggressive. >> jeff: another thing we cannot remember,it's been since 1999 that ford has won this and this is a very prestigious race. not only are they trying to get roger penskea win and willing to gamble to it doo it,

they're also trying to get ford a win, whichit's been a long time since they've won this >> rick: kyle busch has closed the gap. he was about 24 seconds behind brad keselowski. keselowski obviously out in front, probablysaving a little bit of fuel, but kyle busch now only 17 seconds back from what keselowskihas run. so, he gained about seven to eight secondsin this run. >> jeff: you wonder how fast kyle busch is? he's come down pit road, changed tires, goneback on the racetrack and is only three seconds behind catching joey logano, who is yet topit.

he pitted in extra time and still run hisway up almost to the second position. >> jeff: he will probably pass him beforelogano pits. he will probably pass him. >> rick: we're looking at brad keselowski. again, they're trying a fuel mileage strategy. he and teammate joey logano have not beento pit road yet. they're the only two cars that are on thisstrategy. everyone else came right around lap 24, 25,and even 27. kyle busch was on pit road at lap 27.

there's the gap now. when the two cars pit, that will put kylebusch back out in front. and again, kyle busch on pit road at lap 27. that was about 14 laps ago. >> steve: and you just heard the call, pittingthis time. so, right now, joey logano's got to be thinkingabout what he needs to do on pit road. remember we talked about it earlier, thereare more lines on pit road right now, so you have to be careful. you have to over the side of caution a littlebit.

the more lines that are on pit road, the easierto get caught speeding. >> rick: pit road speed 55 miles per hour. they give them a grace of five miles per hour,so you don't want to go over 60. and brad keselowski, race leader now on pitroad for his first stop of the race. >> kelli: and brad keselowski has now ledlaps in five of the last six starts here. he's saying his car was getting loose on exit,especially off of turn number 2. he was saving as much fuel as he could backin the exit. he said they're going to make an air pressureadjustment, four tires and sonoco fuel for brad keselowski.

>> rick: great stop. 50 years of racing on board with the 22 ofjoey logano as he comes in for his stop now. logano, right in front of marty snider. >> marty: he said making a decent adjustmenthere. he said i'm really bad and maxed out the trackbar. tire changes, coming around the rear end. he had a little problem getting around theback of the car, but they're not worried about that. they're worried about all of the sonoco fuelthe car can stand and also a wedge adjustment

to make it looser for joey logano. packed full of fuel, of course. >> rick: two penske cars have been to pitroad, meaning the entire field has come on to pit road and back out in front is kylebusch leading by about four seconds over denny aggressive pit strategy has put brad keselowskiin a little bit of a winning position maybe for penske today. we'll see if the strategy works. >> rick: nascar on nbcsn is brought to youby -- trivante financial. visit to learn more.

michael mcdowell, driver of the number 95chevy recently toured the indianapolis motor speedway museum, where he reminisced and discussedmemorable races and drivers who have impacted his career. michael's open wheel history has always madethe brickyard a special place to him. to view the full tour visit, visit privateracing.comand follow them on facebook, twitter and instagram. great walk down memory lane for michael mcdowell. watch every sprint cup series race with thenbc sports app. get a closer look at additional camera angles,driver stats and more information. download the app and find out more at nbcsports.com/live.

here's michael mcdowell out on the track. and he's currently 28th. he's a lap down. and a few others about to go a lap down askyle busch continues to set just a blistering pace here. kyle has about a four-second lead over teammatesdenny hamlin, carl edwards, martin truex jr., four toyotas running up front. but we have to keep our eye on brad keselowskiand joey logano, because those two are on a totally different strategy, where they'retrying to stretch the fuel mileage and see

if they can get to the checkered flag withone less pit stop than everyone else. >> steve: i think the key to the strategyis they've talked so much about the speed of the 18 car, the 11 car, the 19. they don't think that they can run as quickas they can, so they're trying to find a way. so, the problem is the cars don't drive aswell. so, to have your car drive here so you canmake lap time is vitally important. >> rick: one driver who tried to make someadjustments on pit road recently was the 48 of jimmie johnson. as we look at our "nascar heat evolution."

they made some changes to the front end, steve. >> steve: we talk about wedge and track barand these adjustments. right here the splitter is up in the air,the dirty air underneath the splitter. the goal is you want the splitter as closeto the track as possible to make down force. as we lower the splitter on the wind tunnel,you'll see the stream of air underneath the splitter, much more precise making front downforce. they made the adjustment on a pit stop. >> jeff: absolutely, trying to make more laptime and get the air underneath the car smooth and clean, more front down force, make thecar faster.

they came down pit road. look at the right-front tire changer. he pulls the tire off and reaches in and grabsit on the right-front to allow the door travel more. the left front, does the same thing. so, what they've done now is lowered the entirefront of the car trying to make that front down force. >> steve: and rick, a packer sounds complicated,it's very simple. it's just a shim.

the more shim, the higher the car. you pull the shim, the car rides lower. planning ahead. chad knaus and the 48 of jimmie johnson, thoseare not things easily removed unless you plan ahead before you put your car into the race. they have to have either a handle on them,the way they're installed. so, you see teams start races with a lot ofplans to fix their car. see the 48 hopefully getting to turn a littlebit better. >> rick: with more on the four-time winnerof this race, kelli.

>> kelli: at the brickyard for jimmie johnson,every pit box, every pit stall has the driver's name written on it for the fans to see. well, jimmie, j-i-m-m-i-e johnson's pit boxwas spelled j-i-m-m-y and they quickly rectified the issue, jimmie laughing it off the wholetime. when i rode along with him today, he toldme a better misspelling story. first time he ever had a die-cast car madeof his own car, he was so excited to see it. he said we had made all the approvals, couldn'twait to get it, opened up the box, and there it was, j-i-m-m-y johnson written on his firstever diecast car. he said it was embarrassing at the time.

now, though, they've become quite collectibleand highly sought after. >> rick: absolutely. nobody wants their name spelled wrong, especiallya, well, a six-time champion like jimmie johnson. jimmie johnson currently running in the fifthposition, top five performance early in this run. still only 51 laps complete of the 160 scheduled. >> steve: behind him, the 20 car of matt kenseth,did not qualify well, started 18th and worked up to 12 before the pit cycle started andnow is up at sixth. another joe gibbs racing car we've talkedabout having speed.

we talk about it being very difficult to passon this racetrack, but matt kenseth's an example, if you have a fast car, you can find yourway toward the front. >> rick: and we mentioned joe gibbs racingand their successes. and the 78 team have an alliance with joegibbs racing. and right now, the top six positions are heldby all five of those drivers. four joe gibbs racing drivers and martin truexjr. very strong right now at indianapolis. brian blaney, the 21, just in front of ryannewman in the 31. those two fighting for the 11th spot on theracetrack.

>> jeff: newman and his team aren't very pleasedright now, looking at lap times yesterday. i thought they had a top five, cast, but theyhaven't been able to find their way. they've started 6th and have worked back to13th. expect major changes coming for this teamof the 31. >> rick: how does the pit strategy have towork for keselowski and logano to have success? no cautions? >> steve: well, just -- they've got to belucky. ill-timed cautions. basically, the risk, the danger time for thosetwo team penske fords is when the 18 of kyle

busch pits, between that and when the penskecars pit, there can't be a yellow. that will ruin the strategy. >> rick: 37 laps out front, and it looks asthough a caution will come out as greg biffle slams the right side of his car into the wall. >> steve: heavy impact right there. >> rick: a lot of damage to the right sideof that car. it happens quickly here at indianapolis. you're carrying so much speed through these90-degree turns. kelli.

>> kelli: what a shame for greg biffle, whohas had three straight top ten finishes coming into this. he initially asked his team to tighten himup a little bit, but after that pit stop, he said he had zero turn in the car. and now he's obviously made heavy contactwith the wall. >> rick: danica patrick will get the freepass as we see greg biffle still trying to roll toward pit road. >> access road? >> rick: take a look.

up against the wall already. the 16 of greg biffle bringing out just thesecond caution of the day in indianapolis motor speedway. >> rick: great nascar footage. in theaters august 19th. >> marty: spit stops coming fast and furiousfor martin truex jr. he said it's a little tight but much betteron that run. he's going to take four goodyear tires. here you see him top left of your screen.

for carl edwards, a long debate on the radio. he said if it's a short run, we're not goingwin this race, and they debated on putting a packer in that car. they're not going to do that. denny hamlin, his teammate, kyle bright saidthis car is very good in clean air, but in traffic, the track bar has to be so high,he cannot run like he wants to. brad keselowski leaves pit road. kyle busch with an air pressure change andtires for him. brad keselowski wins that race off pit road.

>> rick: two tires. again, they were only on the track about 11laps since they had been on pit road. joey logano stays out to try the strategywith fuel mileage. try the strategy with fuel mileage >> rick: nascar on nbcsn is brought to youby -- ford. we go further so you can. and not the sparks show that greg biffle wantedtoday, racing for his father, jack biffle, who passed away earlier this week. nascar race view gives you access to featuresthat let you follow your favorite driver as

if you're at the track. get live stats, leaderboards, driver and teamcommunications and more, all on your devices. it's available now for an all-new low pricewhen you visit nascar.com/raceview. marty. >> marty: rick, todd gordon made the callto leave joey logano out on the racetrack. is this just a matter of sticking to yourstrategy? and any question of whether or not you aregoing to stick to it, todd? >> well, there's always questions, but wefelt like we could do this on three stops today with the cautions falling right.

so far, we've gotten where we needed to. got to find a little bit more speed, but we'lldo that on the next two stops. >> marty: does that mean you've kind of madethis bet and you're sticking with it the entire day, then, with the three top strategies? >> yeah, i mean -- it's hard to hear you there,but the way pit road is here in the cycle, you can do, the penalty's not as big. and i think as hard as it is to pass, limitingyour time on pit road can put you in the best position. >> marty: that's the plan for the 22, threestops today and that's it, kelli.

>> kelli: and paul wolfe for team penske,you have two tires, what do you need for your strategy to work? >> well, the first part of the race it didn'tseem like we had the speed the toyotas had. and yates did such a good job with the fuelmileage, it let us try a different strategy to gain the track position. we knew we could at least get two and stillstay in front of them. we made some adjustments. hopefully, we can get the speed we need andcontinue to stay up front. >> steve: so, rick, remember in this evaluationof what they're doing with the 22 car.

>> jeff: if he stays out here and he getsfar enough back from the leader, like we talked about, ten seconds or so, and he pits andgets a lap down under green, always remember, the caution comes out at that point, he stillcan stay out when the caution comes out and take the free pass. >> rick: right. >> jeff: and get back on the lead lap. so, the danger here really isn't that high. now, whether it works to win the race or not,that's a whole other question, but he probably will never be in a position where he willget a lap down, unless we get that wrong caution

at just the wrong time where the leaders don'tpit and he can't get the free pass. >> steve: and two tires was the right callfor paul wolfe. the only position he basically lost was the22 of joey logano. so, the 2 had a great strategy. two tire was good and here's what they saidon the radio. >> to take the top, i would guess, i wouldhave made it turn 1. not 4. >> rick: a little strategy there as they'regetting ready to come to the restart zone. he takes the top.

we definitely let him in. brad keselowski and joey logano on the radio. they can't communicate with each other, asthe green flag comes back out. joey logano, a great start. let's see if brad keselowski gets as goodof a start. he does not. and kyle busch will go by for second. brad keselowski not even close to as gooda start as he was hoping for, as another car goes by.

that's carl edwards in the 19 that gets byhim. >> steve: we can talk strategy, but this comesdown to getting good restarts. you have to get good restarts. brad keselowski has not and now he's threewide down the backstretch. >> rick: three wide and losing positions. an aggressive move down at the bottom of thetrack by the 42 of kyle larson. >> jeff: that's what we talked about. if you enter turn 2 or 2ur7b 4, just likenow, side by side, you lose so much momentum. watch martin truex behind these two cars.

he's going to see an opportunity here, tryto make it three wide or even two wide as they single out. >> rick: fan out once again as they come downthe front stretch. martin truex jr.>> steve: we heard from rick at the front stretch, you saw a group of cars off the backhit pit road. that was the wave of cars we had, includingthe 34, the 15, a group of cars. simple math at indianapolis, you wave by,get a lap back, you pit the first lap and stay in front of the leader. good work by all of those crew chiefs.

>> rick: the pack still working around indianapolismotor speedway. joey logano still in front of kyle busch butonly 0.3 seconds separates the top two. carl edwards, kyle larson, matt kenseth thetop five. >> steve: joey logano doing a wonderful jobon those 11-lap older tires, though rick, really battling hard to stay in front of kylebusch. he's aware of the risk that todd gordon tookleaving him on the racetrack. he knows he has to give it his all on allof the restarts. jeff gordon under attack by the 95 of michaelmcdowell. >> jeff: this is the thing that is so difficult.

you know, coming back after being out of therace car for a long time, finding a way to get the restarts right. restarts have so difficult. if you're in the car every week, they're difficult,but being out of the car and then getting back into the rhythm, to be aggressive rightoff the bet, we've seen jeff gordon lose on the restart. it's the hardest part of racing, in my opinion,especially adding on the fact of not being in that race car. very, very difficult.

>> rick: jeff gordon was about to go a lapdown before the caution came out. the caution came out and the 10 of danicapatrick got the free pass. that's why the two are running nose to tailright now. there were seven wave-around, as you mentioned. took advantage of the caution to get backon to the lead lap. so, currently, we have 28 cars on the leadlap, running 28th is chris buescher. joey logano staying in front of kyle busch,but the gap continues to get smaller, as we see austin dillon working to the inside ofjeff gordon driving the 88 for dale earnhardt jr.

battle for the lead heating up now as kylebusch looked to the inside of logano for just a moment. >> steve: one thing's for sure, we heard thecrew chief on the 2 talk about the fuel mileage of those penske fords. you see the 22 get loose and the 18 take advantageinto turn 4. but i was going to say, they may be gettinggood fuel mileage, but it doesn't seem to be hurting down the straightaway, jeff. they still have great straight-line speed. >> rick: with the pass by kyle busch, howdoes that hurt joey logano, who's on a completely

different strategy? >> jeff: one thing has important for joeylogano right now is to try to stay within say ten seconds of the leader. but like i said earlier, i am not really surehow much that matters at this point. you're stuck so much into this strategy ofstopping, you know, three times. so, obviously, the closer he can stay to theleader, the better his opportunity is. but they're on this strategy to see it outno matter what. >> rick: joey logano needs to make it to atleast lap 80, so, the halfway point. joey logano would be coming to pit road inabout 18 laps.

>> steve: yeah, and i think that's a non issuefor joey logano. just run as fast as you can. sometimes it's complicated, sometimes youhave to worry about all the details. joey logano, do the best you can, run as fastas you can, try to stay as close to the lead as you can. but really, his strategy, he's the only guyon it. i look behind him and see edwards with thespeed, larson has driven to the fourth position. you mentioned matt kenseth, jeff, back infifth. tony stewart in sixth.

there are a lot of players in this race. >> jeff: it's going to continue to change. and the teams that can keep up with the changesfind a way to make their car better throughout the race. i wouldn't have thought in a million yearsthat joey logano, you could put that car and put it in this position, him stay up therethis long. he showed no speed whatsoever, but in thatcleaner air with better track position, now the car is a little bit quicker. and remember, they have way better tires thanhe does, and he can still run pretty well.

so, track position means so much. good pit stops, good strategy, all those thingscan put a car right now that is not leading, put them in the right place at the right timeand have a chance to win. >> steve: you talk about track position, the22's teammate, brad keselowski came and got two fresh tires. i thought it was a right call, but the oneposition on the restart, not controlling the restart killed the 2 car. he lost momentum on the first lap. now he's all the way back in 11th in thatdirty air and behind on tires.

so, i thought paul wolfe was doing the rightthing. i was wrong. it looks to be that staying out and gettingthe clean air, even only one position, could matter to the 2. >> jeff: we've talked about a lot of teamsbehind the 2, keselowski and the 47 of a.j. allmendinger, a team that's struggled lately,had a lot of problems. they're having a good, solid run today. >> rick: out in front, kyle busch has led43 laps of the brickyard. carl edwards has moved up to second.

>> rick: welcome back to nascar sprint cupseries racing from the brickyard. telecast presented by golden corral. today's aerial coverage provided by our partnersat smithfield foods. again, the cloud cover has not come over thetrack as much as i'm sure most of the teams were hoping for, so it stays sunny and brightall the way around this 2 1/2-mile track, as kyle busch continues to lead two secondsover carl edwards now. kyle larson, joey logano, matt kenseth thetop five. martin truex jr., denny hamlin, jimmie johnson,tony stewart and kurt busch in the top ten. let's go through the field brought to youby hardy's, starting with marty.

>> marty: kyle busch out front, as you'vementioned, rick, and last year winning the brickyard 400, his first career crown jewelwin, if you will. he told me the problem with that, when youwin a crown jewel, you want to win more crown jewels. kyle going for the win again today. he actually said, i've gotten the balanceon the 18 car better on this run. i think that's what the rest of the fielddid not want to hear. back in the second position, his teammate,carl edwards. and he said earlier on the radio, if it comesdown to a short run at the end of a race,

we're not going to win. we need to make an adjustment. here's the adjustment they talked about making. >> what do you think, want to bite the bullet,put more pressure on the right-front at the restart? >> i think it's going to be a big deal. with that short run, we're sure going to win. >> the green flag is going to cost us onespot, so we'll do it under green, okay? >> ten-four.

>> marty: they waved off that change becausethey thought it would cost them too much time, but they feel they need to make the 19 betterto win the race. >> dave: kyle larson in the xfinity race finishedfourth and has two top tens in sprint car action, so he feels confident about this. right now the car's difficult to nurn thecorners sand backing up the entry to try to make it work better. as far as matt kenseth, he's been mostly tightall day long. they made a wedge adjustment on the last stop,trying free it up. >> marty: a lot of talk about joey logano'spaint scheme this weekend.

it was from the all-star race back in may,and in pictures, all of the big moments in the moments of team penske. after the race, todd gordon said why don'twe run that at indianapolis? that's where it makes the most sense. so they brought it this weekend. very happy with it. there losing a couple spots to martin truexjr. and denny hamlin. truex said the car is better on this run.

and martin cole earn told me finishing withconsistency is key. he said we've been fast and haven't finished. denny hamlin is very good in clean air andthey're trying to get up to the corporate teammate in the 78 car, martin truex jr. kelli? >> kelli: jimmie johnson has been on a careerstride. he has finished outside the top ten the lastsix races, but he says team morale is still high, said we have a good foundation to buildfrom. we don't want a decent finish, we want todominate and we're highly inspired to get back on that mount we feel like we shouldbe on, dave.

>> dave: tony stewart's big race today wason the mind of mike bugarewicz, so much so that they didn't bring the car they were goingto. they rushed this car through the buildingprocess because they had some ideas. he said this one blew the other out of thewater and it's running well, kelli. >> kelli: the 47 of aj allmendinger had beenrunning 11th, and this is going to be devastating. they've lost all water pressure, now sayingthey have just blown up. and they were really hoping to turn thingsaround. he's been in the wall several of the lastraces. they had a poor qualifying effort after somereally good practice speeds.

they thought they had made the right adjustment,but that's all for naught now, as you can see the 47 sitting on the pit road with ablown engine. >> dave: kelli, a lot of crew chiefs thisweekend told me how edgy the setups were on these race cars. if you went a little too far one way, youcould really hurt the handling. well, that's happened for kurt busch. his car wouldn't turn well, so they made anadjustment on the last pit stop and crew chief tony gibson said, i guess we overshot, becausekurt was talking about the car being very loose on the exit of the corner, kelli.

>> kelli: brad keselowski's been running adifferent strategy, had the long fuel run begin with and two tires on the last stop. he dropped a couple on the restarts, but coletold me the restarts have been a weakness and they're trying new things, adjusting thetrack bar and brakes to try to see a net gain on the first two laps after a restart, butit didn't pan out this time on a two-tire stop. >> dave: kevin harvick on the lead lap andmoving forward. that car is fast and the adjustments theyhave made have been very good. in fact, rodney childers trying to put thecar back where it was at the beginning of

the race setupwise, and that's working forkevin. for jamie mcmurray in the 1 car, he had aflat tire. they're keeping an eye on it. the tires are just fading, according to thedriver right now. he's half down on the track bar back to zerobut trying to work forward in the 1 car. >> kelli: paul menard loved coming here towatch the indy 100 as a kid and has his own cup win in the brickyard 400 back in 2011. how special is this place to him? well, he says he'll be building a house ina few years and he wants to put a yard of

bricks in the driveway. so, this weekend he went out and walked onthe track, took a picture of the yard of bricks here to make sure he gets all those dimensionsright. right now, paul saying they are just too tightthrough the center and they need to take more wedge down on the next stop, marty. >> marty: when i talked to ryan blaney, hesaid coming back to finish 11th last week was the best example of the team stickingtogether and after that, rallied us. it was a good finish for us on the weekend. so, they're very happy with last weekend atnew hampshire, even though they finished outside

of the top ten. right now blaney in the 15th position. guys? >> rick: thank you, guys. straight through the field there as therewere some positions changing through the field. kyle busch, no positions changing up there,as he has been dominant. of the 75 that have been run, he has led 54laps already. carl edwards, kyle larson, matt kenseth andmartin truex jr. the top five.and martin truex jr.

>> rick: as we look at the most laps led today,presented by sprint, kyle brush at the top of the list. 57 laps led already of the 78 that have beenrun. sprint's network reliability's now within1% of verizon. switch today and save 50% on most verizon,at&t or t-mobile rates. visit a sprint store or sprint.com/networktoday. take a look at the toyota driver update. up front, the toyota camry driven by kylebusch. teammate carl edwards second.

matt kenseth four, martin truex jr. fifth and denny hamlin sixth. once again, all five of the toyota driverswith the alliance with joe gibbs racing running in the top six. chevy had won 12 straight here before buschwon last year in a toyota, and now busch trying to become only the second driver to ever goback to back with wins. jimmie johnson did it in 2008 and 2009, andkyle busch won last year, trying to get that second win. >> jeff: kyle busch is kind of beating everybodypretty badly right now.

this is a pretty good race. third, fourth and fifth, a tight battle. >> rick: kyle larson has third. kyle larson was able to win earlier this weekin the camping world truck series on dirt at el dora. was hoping that that momentum might come intoplay this weekend, as they come to the big track, the brickyard. and kyle larson running in the second spot. excuse me, third.

>> steve: think how big of a win it wouldbe for the 42 of kyle larson. so close at dover this year, so much expectationon this young man. he come out of the box so strong. i think it was just a foregone conclusionhe was going win and win often. has yet to reach victory lane at the sprintcup level. to do it for your first ever time and herein indianapolis would be an unbelievable accomplishment. >> rick: paul menard was able to do it a coupleyears back, winning his first sprint cup race here at the brickyard. and of course, you have to remember that kylelarson drives for chip ganassi, who's had

incredible amounts of success at indianapolis. chip ganassi won the brickyard 400 with jamiemcmurray a few years back when jamie won the daytona 500 and then came back in the sameyear and won the brickyard 400. >> steve: jeff, you've been talking aboutthe 20 car and look at ganassi's history in indianapolis. it's absolutely impressive, as the 20 goesby the 42. and you mentioned the 20 car, jeff. that car looks good. he's driven all the way from the 18th positionwhere he started.

>> jeff: and matt kenseth, this is his kindof race, the long green flag runs, he's so competitive and so consistent. he lays down the same lap time lap after lapafter lap. he can run his car on the edge for long periodsof time. this is the kind of race that matt kensethseems to do really well on. we saw it last week, he didn't go out andlead a bunch of laps, none of that stuff. just getting himself in position, gettinghis car better, and ultimately, he was able to win the race. >> steve: and this track's hard to pass on.

we saw just a little while ago, as they enteredturn 1, martin truex was behind the 20 car, and he could not get the pass on. he's right on the 20. watch what happens. look how far away. he's right on his bumper. he slides, loses the racetrack. now look at the gap, huge gap. so, the reason that is -- watch right here.

listen to the throttle. [ inaudible radio transmissions ]>> jeff: you hear him on and off the throttle. that's because he lost all the down forcebehind matt kenseth. he could not keep his car on the racetrack. he's right there, i can pass him. as soon as he's on the throttle, he losesthe grip. that's why indy's so hard. >> mike: just an update on the 88 and jeffgordon. on pit road now, the car has been extremelytight, just cannot get back to the throttle

right now. he's been working the track car, hasn't mademuch of a difference. an air pressure adjustment, chassis adjustmentand four tires, hoping to give gordon more to work with this afternoon. >> rick: they've passed the halfway point,lap 84 of 160, as jeff gordon has come to pit road. kyle busch out front has about a three-secondlead over carl edwards. matt kenseth has moved up to third. is fourth.

kyle larson's dropped back to fifth. denny hamlin is sixth. now kyle busch continuing to put cars eithera lap down or multiple laps down, which is the case with cole whitt in the 98, who nowis two laps down. >> steve: it's been not confusing but busywith all of the different pit strategies, teams running in the front, staying on theracetrack, some pitting early. we talked about kevin harvick after the firstgreen flag pit stop, thought he had an issue with a tire, came to pit road, lost a lap. well, he is on a heck of a drive back up throughthe field.

we talk about indianapolis and track position,how hard it is to pass. but all those story lines you want out there,but the simple fact is harvick in the 4 car has pitted one extra time than everyone else,under green, lost a lap, got a lap back and has driven back to ninth position. jeff, if you have a car, you can drive backup through the field. >> rick: kelli? >> kelli: jimmie johnson looking for his fifthbrickyard 400 win, said he t was tough rolling through turn 1 and free everywhere else. they'll make adjustments to help him out thereand four goodyear tires and sonoco fuel for

jimmie johnson. >> steve: denny hamlin also coming in andother teams playing this strategy. denny hamlin up front was in the third position,says the car was a little free, but with an air pressure adjustment, trying to tightenit up. >> dave: wedge adjustment on the right leftrear of the 14 car. four tires for him. he said, "oh, man, we are still tight," sothey made a large adjustment for him. >> steve: carl edwards also coming down pitroad, he, too, saying his car was better on this run but too tight in the center.

you'll see him hit his pit stall. a lot of people playing the strategy thatthe 22 was playing earlier, pitting here a little bit earlier in the window than mostpeople expected. it's going to be an air pressure adjustmentfor edwards. they're still worried about that short-runspeed, and it's going to be four tires as a slower stop, too, kelli. >> kelli: brad keselowski said we're justnot good on restarts. i don't know what to tell you except it getsbetter as we go, except he's been loose off turn 2.

this time it's four goodyear tires for bradkeselowski and sonoco fuel. >> dave: joey logano's coming in. he said he maxed out the track bar once again,that the car just had no front turn. it's a pretty big wedge adjustment on theleft side, trying to get the car to loosen up for joey logano. >> rick: 48, jimmie johnson on pit road, butthey had a pit road speeding penalty. >> steve: they did, rick. and we mentioned this, nascar has added pitroad time lines. there used to be tevin speed sections, nowthere's twelve speed sections.

>> marty: martin truex jr. coming to a slide and a stop as we right alongboard with him. he said it's genertight at the start but getsbetter the longer they run. four goodyear tires for martin truex jr. and an air pressure adjustment trying to helpthe tight condition early in the run. >> dave: jamie mcmurray slides to a stop inhis pit stall. the pit stalls are very narrow but very long,so it gives a false sense of security sometimes. good job by jamie jumping on the brakes. he'll get four tires and fuel here.

>> rick: race leader kyle busch on pit roadnow as well. >> steve: drag racing his way to a pit stall. he's got to sequence in here somehow and getto the pit stall. telling them, let him go and hold on to yourstall. kyle said the car got a little too snug atthe end of that run, but not bad at all. it's going to be an air pressure adjustmentand a wedge adjustment trying to free it up, especially towards the end of the run andfour goodyear tires for kyle busch, the leader. all these leaders pitting much earlier inthe window than they planned originally. >> steve: they have, rick.

all the leaders are pitting early. they understand with only 73 laps to go, they'retrying to get on pit road, but you can't make mistakes. we saw the 11 and 48 with speeding penalties,rick. a big change here, more speed timelines onpit road. there used to be only 7, now there's 12. caught a couple drivers out. >> rick: the 11 and 48 caught for speeding. you're watching

nascar sprint cup series racing from the brickyard. >> rick: nascar on nbcsn is brought to youby toyota. let's go places. and by golden corral's premium weekends. prime rib, new coconut shrimp and more, just$13.99. nascar drive is nascar.com's live race daycompanion. select your in-car video or camera angle,access integrated driver stats, lap-by-lap commentary and social conversations in realtime. you won't miss a lap when you visit nascar.com/driveon your personal computer now.

you're getting a look at casey mears fromthat geico onboard camera. and kyle busch continuing to dominate. kyle busch now has led 69 of the 90 laps. carl edwards running second but almost sevenseconds back. and that gap was quite a bit closer, but becauseof the green flag pit stops, the 18 of kyle busch had a very good one, and carl edwardsnot as good. so, the gap now has separated about five secondsfrom what they were running. carl edwards was quite a bit closer to kylebusch before the stops. >> steve: yeah, and the big winner in allthe stops, you're riding along with him right

now, jeff gordon. he was back in tl in 20th, 22nd, 18th in thatrange. and through the stops, coming on pit roadearly, getting fresher tires before those guys, he's worked up to 12th right now. >> steve: and he feels the best about thecar he's felt all day, jeff. feels tight in the corners, can't get backto the throttle the way he'd like. made an air pressure adjustment and it seemsto have helped the balance of the race car a bit. one thing i wanted to point out that may havebeen overshadowed this weekend, jeff gordon,

while he's been asked several times aboutwhat this means for his legacy coming out of retirement, he's downplayed that dramatically,saying look, it's not about that. it's very much about dale earnhardt jr. we're thinking about him. and in fact, you can see that on the racecar, on the windshield over the driver's seat, where it says dale earnhardt jr.'s name. even in the garage area in practice, originallyit had jeff gordon's name there. the team asked to have that taken down anddale jr.'s name put back up. >> marty: well, mike, we just talked aboutcarl edwards having a slower stop than his

teammate, kyle busch. in fact, it was three seconds slower, butthere was a republican. remember that radio we played earlier wherethey were talking about whether or not to add that packer to the right to help the 19car on the short run? well, they did it on this last stop. carl, remember, toll the team, we cannot winthis race if it comes down to a short run unless we do that. so, they bit the bullet to add that packerto the right front. he's also worried there might be a vibrationin the car, that maybe they didn't get all

the lug nuts tight and dave rogers just reaffirmed,we did get all the lug nuts tight, just drive through it, if you can. steve, at some point, you have to bite thebullet as a crew chief, don't you? it may be the difference in winning or losing. >> steve: yeah, it might seem odd, but todo it under a green flag pit stoop is usually the best time, because while others are ontrack running very fast, if you have a two are three-second longer pit stop, you mightonly lose one position because the cars are spread out. a three-second longer pit stop under yellowflag conditions when everyone's on pit road

together could be, you know, five, six, eight,ten, twelve spots, rick. so, wise move to make the adjustments undergreen. >> rick: difference in stops for kyle busch,stops under 13 seconds, and carl edwards over 15 seconds. >> jeff: big gain here with jeff gordon. when you pit has a lot to do with when otherspit. and if you can clear people -- the advantagewith jeff gordon is look in front of him. there's one car. if you think of where he's been all day long,in 18th, 19th, 20th in a dogfight with a bunch

of other cars. that pit stop was able to clear those cars,get in front of those cars. now he has a clean racetrack. first time he's had it all day. so, now his car drives so much better. so, the adjustments, steve, you know may havehelped the car, but what really helped was getting it into clean air. >> rick: incredible the speeds that they carryinto turn 1 and turn 3, these long straightaways at indianapolis.

200 miles an hour going into 1 and 3. >> steve: and rick, we knew there would bean effect of dale earnhardt jr. not being the driver behind the wheel of the88, and you see had t here in the chase bubble. with dale jr. not getting any points for last week or thisweek or the upcoming pocono race, expecting jeff gordon to be back again, he's 11 belowthe cut line. while i know the most concerning thing isto get their driver back in the car, but that completely changes the complexion for the42 of kyle larson. he's having a great run, just above the cutline.

the 21 is just below the cut line. so, while this is a negative for the 88, itdefinitely changes the outcome for everyone else trying to make it to the playoffs. >> rick: last time kyle larson was in thechase contention or the playoffs contention was after race number two. so, it's been quite some time since kyle larsonhas been in this position. but kyle larson running very strong once againhere. kyle larson currently fifth on the racetrack. kyle larson, a 23-year-old out of elk grove,california.

still has yet to get his first win in thesprint cup series. his best finish here, seventh. that took place back in 2014. but he has never finished outside of the topten in his two starts here. riding along with kevin harvick. >> jeff: we. >> rick: basically almost completely recovered,jeff. he was running fifth before the extra timefor the tire, fought his way back up to the sixth position.

>> rick: kyle busch has a seven-second leadover second-placed carl edwards at the brickyard. second-placed carl edwards at the brickyard. why pause to take a pill? or stop to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use is approved to treatboth erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently,day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditionsand medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex do not take cialis if you takenitrates for chest pain, or adempas for pulmonary hypertension, as it may cause an unsafe dropin blood pressure.

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nascar makes you have that. you can see kevin harvick right here undercaution. it's so hot in his race car, he's dumpingwater, pouring it down his neck, getting it anywhere he can, pouring it on his face. these race cars are so hot and so uncomfortable,any kind of relief you can get is a great thing. >> steve: well, kevin harvick is dumping thatwater on him under caution. what the drivers also have on them for opportunity,as we go on board with the 78, you'll see the drink system out of his helmet.

so, under green flag conditions, martin truexcan continue to hydrate himself. he doesn't have to wait for a caution. it's probably not easy, but in the long greenflag runs, as we complete 43 laps, on this green flag run, you can see him put his handout the window, how much air that blows in, blowing the helmet skirt up, it makes a difference,but he is able to get the fluids into his system as he races. >> jeff: it makes a huge difference. it's almost 112 degrees inside tony stewart'scar. by the way, that's in the coolest part ofthe car, because down by his feet, the transmission,

the shifter, all that metal is so hot. you literally cannot touch it. if you touch it, it will burn you. as a matter of fact, after these races, youtake your gloves off and hold the steering wheel, the steering wheel will be so hot,you can hardly hold it. so, 111 degrees up high. down by his feet, it's much hotter. >> rick: and actually making light of thesituation earlier, tony stewart said this on the radio about the heat.

>> a little chilly out here, so i'll try toget warmed up here on this caution so we're good to go here. i'd turn off the air conditioner for a littlebit. >> i'll take one this time, friend. >> i thought you said you were cold out there. >> yeah, but i'm still thirsty. >> jeff: yeah, i'll bet he's chilly. here's the other thing that the drivers haveright on top of their helmets. you can see this hose.

that hose is hooked to either a fan or actuallyan air a lot of drivers have gone to only using afan because of the weight. but on a day like today, there's a unit thatbrings air in from outside of the race car, cools it and dumps cool air into the helmet. that air is also filtered where carbon monoxideis cleaned from it. so, that air, although it's not, like, 50degrees or anything, it's probably, i'm going to guess on a day like this maybe 85 degreesgoing into your helmet, maybe 80, 75. it feels like unbelievable pleasure. and you think it's broken sometimes.

it's so hot in there, you think it's blowingthat you flip your shield up, turn the air conditioner off, you realize it's not brokenit was working really well. so, that's the relief the drivers have. >> rick: and jeff, we see tony's sponsorson the inside of his race car there, but the helmet is somewhat subdued. that's because every week tony's running atribute helmet. this week, why not? the tribute is to a.j. foyt, his childhood hero and the man who headedmuch of his racing life after.

it's a.j. on the helmet this week, coyote enterprisesacross the back there. really cool. a very warm race day at indianapolis. not the warmest that we have seen for thebrickyard 400, but ranking right up there. it's currently 93 degrees. so, in the past few years, it's definitelyone of the hottest days. and again, as they shield the cars off onthe track, that creates even more heat, and that's what we're seeing here at indianapolisnow as these cars completely sealing off that

front of the car as well as the side skirts. >> jeff: we saw brad keselowski. he missed the corner altogether. he completely missed turn 1 -- i'm sorry,turn 3. he went way up the racetrack. now austin dillon got by. but you're right, this racetrack for drivers,when you know it's going to be hot and you come here, you dread it, because this racetrackwith the cars sealed off, this is a very smooth racetrack.

the front of the cars barely come up, sideskirts barely come off the ground. it will cook you. this is a hot racetrack. >> rick: the hottest guy on the track hasbeen kyle busch, out in front. we're watching the crown royal presents thecombat wounded coalition 400 at the brickyard. four five six >> rick: welcome back to nascar's sprint cupseries race from the brickyard. following race coverage, stay tuned for thenascar america post race show presented by advance auto parts.

and following the post race show, be sureto catch "victory lap," a full recap and analysis of today's race, all right here on nbcsn. it will be dominated by kyle busch, who hasdominated this race, as he closes in on the back bumper of the 17 of ricky stenhouse jr.,currently running 20th. only 20 cars still on the lead lap. that is a testament to how aggressive kylebusch has been since the initial drop of the green flag, as we've completed 108 of the160 scheduled laps. 52 to go from the brickyard. only two cautions.

the record for fewest cautions in a brickyardrace is one. but last year, there were nine cautions. so, quite a bit different from a year ago,at least the pace of this race. for some updates from pit road, let's go tomarty snider. >> marty: right now ryan newman in the 13thposition. he said indianapolis can be a fun and miserableplace all at the same time. the f the car is handling well, it's a funracetrack to run, but if it's not, it's miserable, because it seems like you're working twiceas hard. right now, newman certainly working twiceas hard, but the car's getting better.

he said this long run is really exhaustinghim and the driver's really struggling out there. he said the car's just so sensitive, a littlebit too loose right now for ryan newman. >> dave: when i talked to matt mccall, jamiemcmurray's crew chief this morning, he said one of jamie's best skills is he knows youhave way more to lose if you miss a pass than if you wait for the right time. that's the veteran skills he possesses. the problem right now, that last adjustmenthurt the front end of the car, and that's where you really need to guide the car tomaking those passes, mike.

>> mike: kasey kahne, dave, not having thebest day, either. started off 26th, and while he's picked upten positions, he has been struggling with the race car. extremely tight throughout the afternoon,especially in turn 3. they've made several air pressure adjustments,but kahne has been a little frustrated with that, saying the air pressure is just notworking. >> kelli: we talked about the struggles asof late for the 48 team. well, when jimmie johnson was asked earlierthis week if they were pressing too much, he said yeah, that's the problem, we've justbeen making too many mistakes.

the whole team is doing that. if we have a fifth-place car, let's at leastfinish there. he says it starts with me. i slid through the pit box and i can't dothat. i've been at 110%, and that's when you makemistakes. well, it happened to him again after spendingmuch of the early stages of the race. jimmie johnson hit with that speeding penaltyon pit road, and now he's mired back in 19th >> rick: and about to go a lap down. jeff gordon currently running 12th, had thisto say on the radio.

>> he's fighting a little bit loose, gettinglooser as he runs, has to get the track bar down. >> steve: that's great information. talk about veteran drivers, he says not onlywhat he's struggling with, but jeff gordon wants to know what the 41 as struggling withso he can pass him. if he knows he's loose off or in or tight,that will affect how gordon approaches the 41. >> jeff: you have to know your enemy's weaknesses,right? >> rick: and that's what jeff gordon is tryingto do, as we go "nascar nonstop" here on nbcsn.

>> rick: welcome back, as we look at the topspeed presented by sprint. ryan blaney has posted the fastest speed onthe racetrack. that was entering the turn. 206.58 miles per hour. sprint's network reliability is now within1% of verizon's. switch today and save 50% on most verizon,at&t or t. mobile rates. next sunday, nascar is back on nbcsn. sprint cup series will visit the tricky triangle,pocono. race coverage beginning at 1:00 p.m.

eastern. jeff gordon, he's won six times, the mostof any drivers. matt kenseth won the race last year. >> jeff: we talked about kyle busch dominatingthis race. guess what? now you have to lap six-time champion jimmiejohnson. jimmie johnson's not going to make this easy. >> rick: and you just made a statement therethat i think we really have to amplify. kyle busch has been so good.

he's about to lap jimmie johnson. and jimmie johnson has won at this place fourtimes. >> steve: yeah, and you heard kelli stavastsay he was trying reduce his mistakes. well, today he was caught speeding, puttinghim in this position. he was running seventh when he was caughtfor speeding. now he's running 17th position, trying tohold off kyle busch, aggressively. >> marty: guys, it's so impressive what kylebusch has done today, on board with him as he gets around jimmie johnson, finally, toput him a lap down. i asked adam to evaluate the team and wherethey are, and he said i really feel we've

been on our game the last several weeks, butwe want a more consistent rhythm of top five. that's going to get us in the right part forthe chase. he said we've been out of that experimentalphase of the season for quite a while now. and he called this part of the season "kickbutt mode" that it's time to go into that. steve, he brings up a great point, though. at some point in the season, and a lot oftimes use the brickyard as that demarcation point -- you've got to turn your attentionto consistency, top five, getting ready for the chase, because that's the mode you needto be in from september onwards. >> steve: well, marty, i don't think it'sa secret why teams have won the brick yearned

gone on to win the championship. this is a marquee event circled on the calendar. teams build new cars, go to the wind tunneland test it, if they have the opportunity. so, if you can come here and outperform yourcompetition, that is a huge shot in the arm. that gives you the confidence that you'reon the right path when the playoffs come later in the year. >> rick: here's some momentum as he goes byryan blaney. kyle busch on pace to break jeff gordon'srecord of most laps led in the 400. gordon led 124 laps back in 2004.

and kyle busch definitely on pace to breakthat number, as he's already led 97 of the 118 that have been run. let's talk about strategy, as we are under43 to go, brought you by smithfield foods. steve? >> steve: we've talked all weekend long aboutthe extreme heat here in indiana. well, driver fatigue, we haven't seen a lotyet, but as we're 60 laps green flag run, as get in the closing laps of this race, littlemistakes are going to make a big difference. that can happen with driver fatigue. and how about when you have tired driversmaking late-race restarts?

we saw it last week in new hampshire and yesterdayin the xfinity race. if cautions come toward the end of the race,they're going to determine the winner when drivers are perhaps at their most tired pointof the race. >> jeff: you mentioned last week on the late-racerestarts, well, though this track is nothing like new hampshire, it's still aggressiveon restarts. you have everybody fighting for the bottomgrooves. they will get very aggressive when we getready for the restarts. >> kelli: after going a lap down, jimmie johnsonbrings the 48 to pit road. obviously, you can sense some frustrationover the radio, but he has said that the car

was better after the last adjustment. it was more snug all the way around, so witha four-tire stop there for the 48. >> rick: and a smart move for the 48. he just got lapped. so, come to pit road and gamble. try to get a win here by stealing a win ifyou come to pit road early. >> steve: and it's not just jimmie johnson,the car that was just lapped -- >> rick: into the wall is the 23, david ragan. that will bring the caution out.

see the left rear tire is down. third caution of the day comes out. >> that's pretty good there. i'm not sure -->> rick: see parts of the tire coming out. >> going to the garage here. >> rick: could be some spring rubbers thathave come out of that car. take a look at what happened. >> jeff: his hand's out the window. he knew he had a problem.

came off turn 1, had a problem. looks like left-rear tire. >> rick: left-rear tire is down. >> jeff: sure. >> rick: into the wall goes david ragan, bringingout the third caution. that will reset the field. you guys mentioned restarts. they'll be coming up next. >> steve: at the brickyard, the leaders areon pit road.

matt kenseth was running in third position,said his car started out tight, then it went neutral, then back to tight and hard-to-turnside. so, they'll make an air pressure adjustment,fill it up with fuel and four tires. for the second stop will n a row with no changeson the car. he said it's pretty good. all we need is track position, four new tires. carl edwards said he did was tight in centerand that's it, but he was catching his teammate, kyle busch, and they'll make more of the samechanges as last time for busch with a wedge adjustment and air pressure.

the 18 easily holds serve off of pit roadwith four new tires. >> rick: kyle busch and carl edwards holingtheir positions. tony stewart speeding on pit road, a verybig penalty for tony stewart. with our best offers of the year! again, next sunday, nascar back on nbcsn. we will head to pocono. that race coverage beginning at 1:00 eastern. jeff gordon once again will be subbing fordale earnhardt jr. nascar's added a lap of caution.

we will slip back away to commercial so wecan get more green flag laps here at the brickyard. >> rick: st. elmo's shrimp cocktail. it is nearly as world-famous as the indianapolismotor speedway. one of the local cuisines that everyone likesto take part in when they come to the brickyard in the summer months. on pit road, the 14 of tony stewart got caughtfor speeding, but they had to say on the radio. >> guys were waving around. it's really not that big a penalty, is it? >> no, not really.

>> it's still a penalty, and i apologize forthat. sorry. >> rick: now, they aren't aware of the factthat they can't do the wave-around because of the penalty that they received. >> steve: they're going to be disappointedmomentarily that when they learn that just because he's in front of the lead lap cars,he's not able to gain that lap back. that is the penalty of speeding, you're uneligiblefor the wave-around positions. >> dave: mike bugarewicz says they'll haveto go to the back, trying to consult about is that.

>> rick: the rule is simple, the wave-aroundis an advantage. but the caveat is you can't be under penaltyfor something else. when the 14 sped on pit road, that eliminatedhis opportunity to be a wave-around car. >> rick: under this caution, because thisis the one where he received the penalty. >> jeff: now we're getting ready, with 35to go, we're getting ready to deal with late race restarts and you can see how aggressivethey are. you have to make moves and be aggressive. you see tony stewart making this three wide. you see the 20 and the 2 get bottled up, the42 make the move.

now look what that bottles up, it makes youfour wide. so, something happening in front of you, twocars side by side will create the opportunity for three and four wide. so you're going to see these drivers havingto take advantage. we saw it last week. we saw all the reps that happened late inthe race last week because of the opportunity from the restart. i wouldn't be surprised to see some actionright now. >> rick: tony stewart had gone a lap done.

you see the lights back on the pace car, meaningthey'll go another time around before we get the green flag. but again, tony stewart thought that becausethey were taking advantage of pitting when they did, the caution came out. but then when he sped coming off of pit road,he was hoping to take advantage of the wave-around, but because of that penalty under the caution,he's not eligible for the wave-around. >> jeff: that's correct. he pitted under green, and the leaders didnot pit. they passed him because of his pit stop.

he was too far away from the leaders, gotlapped. he sped on pit road. so, when you speed, you're not eligible anylonger, or you have any sort of penalty, you're not eligible to take the pass-around. that's what the rule is and that's why they'restill a lap down. >> rick: the other fledged the field today,jeff gordon. >> mike: rick, one of the biggest obstaclesgordon has faced today has been the temperatures inside that race car. we've seen them exceed 110 degrees.

after being outside the car for 245 days,well, he may be feeling the effects. he took a bottle of water on that last pitstop, but instead of drinking it, he doused himself, poured it under his helmet, downhis fire suit, just trying to cool himself off for the remainder of this race. >> marty: mike, it will be fun with two joegibbs racing teammates starting on the front row for the restart, carl edwards and kylebusch as well. dave rogers trying to get his driver, carledwards, fired up for the restart. >> how are you doing in there, bud? >> i'm green.

i'm doing great. how are you doing? >> i'm not doing as good as you look. you look really good out there. pretty fast hotrod like last time, last run. >> marty: getting the driver excited becausethey were catching the 18 on the last run and he reminded him, we put that in the rightfront to help you on the restart. so, they're confident they might be able tobeat their teammate. it will be fun to watch.

>> steve: rick, the joe gibbs toyotas havebeen fast all day, but we have a pair of them in row one. we have one on row two are their corporatecar, truex jr., but i look to row three, kevin harvick. speeding penalty early, went all the way tothe back, has driven all the way back up inside the top five. i think we'll hear some noise out of the 4car before the race is over. >> rick: we mentioned the restarts, how hecticthey can be, as they get into turn 1. coming up to speed.

kyle busch and carl edwards making up rownumber one. they're in the restart zone. green flag back in the air! a lot better restart that time for carl edwards. kyle clears him, carl edwards second, martintruex jr. third. here comes kevin harvick back up to fourthnow is harvick. got a little bit loose as he was trying toget by matt kenseth, but able to hold on to that spot.

here comes denny hamlin. hamlin in the 11. joey logano in the 22, austin dillon in the3. those three fighting for position. falling back, the 88 of jeff gordon. >> jeff: jeff got way out of the groove inturn 3. to counter the movement coming from behindhim, he just turned left and blocked the inside move to keep him in coming by. >> rick: so many cars that took the wave-around,on pit road now so they can fill up with fuel

to make it to the end of this race. 32 laps to go. out in front, kyle busch. has led 107 laps of the 128 complete. down the backstretch already, has almost asecond advantage over carl edwards. is third. harvick and kenseth top five. here's chase elliott. young rookie.

the 24 car, taking over for the retired jeffgordon, who unretired to sub for dale earnhardt for this race. >> jeff: and rick, kyle busch is impressingme more than you can imagine on the restart. we've seen him lead a lot of laps, but hewasn't contested most of the day. as you see jeff gordon get by the 21 of ryanblaney. but on the restart, they were right on hisrear bumper, contesting the position and he's driven over the rest of the field by overa second. i don't want to take anything away from this18 car. this is jeff gordon, a five-time brickyard400 champion working very hard to run in the

top 15. we have so many competitors in this field. this is a very deep field of competition. and the 18 of kyle busch, this performanceis extremely impressive. >> rick: and it can't just be in this race. it has to be over the entire weekend, becausehe came in and won the pole for the xfinity race and then won the race in dominating fashion,led 62 of the laps in the overtime of a 60-lap race, then has come out, won the pole forthe cup series and has led already 109 of the 130 laps.

and the caution has come out one more time. the 7, regan smith, the new york native -->> we're going to lose that lap and i'm going to make it. >> rick: -- has brought the caution out. fourth caution now of the day. but getting back to what kyle busch has beenable to accomplish up to this point, no one has ever done what he is closing in on beingable to do, win the pole and the races for both races at the brickyard. >> steve: i think we are watching this raceand we want to see a lot of passing in the

front. we're not seeing it. but that's because what kyle busch and histeam have done has been extraordinary. it is -- you know, when i watch how fast theyare and the way they execute on races, it's unbelievable. and i watch it with amazement because manytimes they make it look easy. this team and the organization right now,the way toyota has worked with joe gibbs racing and also furniture row racing, the way they'vepulled it together, this formula's working, plain and simple working.

and these guys are the team to beat, no doubtabout it. >> dave: you talk about how impressive kylebusch has been today. talking to adam stevens this morning, he saidwhat impressed him was yesterday in the xfinity series race. all the cars behind him had on brand-new tires. kyle busch was on old tires and held themoff. adam told me he's just able to find that extra1% or 2% that drivers have to find, and that's what makes a championship driver. today we're seeing that.

his teammate thought he might catch him onthe restart. kyle busch immediately pulled away. and as you mentioned, rick, trying to go fornascar history, sweeping the poles and the races in a race weekend. it would be an incredible feat if kyle buschcan do it. paul menard will receive the free pass withthe caution coming out. the pits are open. it's a quick yellow. paul menard was one of the drivers that didthe wave-around and came on to pit road right

after the start of the race. they're able to get back on pit road and addfuel. the wave-around cars aren't allowed to dothat under caution. once they do the wave-around, they have towait for the green flag to come out before they can come back on to pit road to add fuel. paul menard took advantage of that, addedfuel, now will be back on the lead lap. that will be 18 cars on the lead lap untilwe see what the wave-around situation will be for some of the other drivers. >> steve: well, i think they're in trouble,because it's going to be hard to get the wave-around

because we don't expect the leaders to pit,so they won't be able to pass them on the racetrack bp 29 laps to go and kyle buschproving that his car's handseling good, i don't expect anyone in the front say 8, 10,maybe 12 cars to hit pit road. but looking back at kurt busch, jeff gordon,jimmie johnson, chase elliott, they might decide to come to pit road to find any sortof edge. you see kurt busch is the first car to decideto come get fresh rubber. >> rick: try to take advantage of this caution,give them some type of hope of catching up to what kyle busch has said is a blisteringpace. >> mike: chase elliott in the pit box now,rick, team going to work.

a four tire change, wedge adjustment and sonocorace fuel. the car has been snug over the course of therun. they're trying to free him up with the chassisadjustment. >> kelli: jimmie johnson comes to pit roadfrom the 14th position. chad knaus saying we might as well put freshtires on this. we have nothing to lose. worst, we'll come out 17th. so they're seeing if the fresh rubber canhelp them in the late stages of this race. >> mike: there's kurt busch with four freshtires and a wedge adjustment.

he radioed the crew, they were not affectedby last time, still loose off. but the fresh rubber a good thing for kurtbusch. >> rick: under 28 laps to go from brickyard. out front, kyle busch trying to hang on towin it back to back. >> steve: back at indianapolis coming green,kyle busch feels the track could have been cleaned up even more. listen on the radio. >> i'd like to ask if we can get a blower,a jet dryer, a couple of them. just, like, blow the bottom groove all theway around the racetrack, try to get some

of the water bottles and plastic bags andstuff further off the surface? >> steve: worried about debris on the grilland also feels he can use even more of the racetrack to get this, rick, make his careven quicker. that's not what the rest of the field wantsto hear, is it? >> rick: not at all. he has been the quickest. he has been the most impressive. he has led the most laps. by a long shot.

as they get ready for the restart, which canbe the hairiest time of the race. through the restart zone they go. kyle's outside his teammate, carl edwards,hoping to have a better car for the short runs and the restarts. and way up the racetrack goes carl edwards. he'll lose a couple spots with that mistake. taking advantage of that blunder by the 19is martin truex jr. he has now moved up to second. and right in the tire tracks of kyle busch.

>> steve: see kurt busch all the way to thebottom of the backstretch. remember, he came down and got four freshgoodyear tires, trying to make them work as soon as possible on this restart. >> rick: last year's win for kyle busch wasnot nearly as dominant. it was a very big win for him, a marquee winfor kyle busch on his way to his first championship. he had led only 61 laps in this race priorin the 11 starts that he had here. that was 61 laps combined. today already, 114 laps led, and he continuesto dominate out front. 25 laps to go from the brickyard.

kasey kahne moving out of line, trying totake another spot. this time trying to get one from ricky stenhousejr. he'll do it. as tony stewart will also work to the insideof stenhouse jr. jeff gordon will try to take advantage of that space available. a good run off turn 4 will give him the momentumto get by stenhouse jr. as well. want to take another look at the restart,jeff. >> jeff: i think carl edwards believes ifhe is to win this race, he's eventually going

to have to get in front of the 18 and thisis his shot. as they enter turn 1, he makes a big move. see how much groove he gains on 18? tries to get up there, make something happen,just can't stay in the groove, carried a little bit too much speed. but if you're going to beat the 18, you'vegot to try something. he tried to get the left-front fender. good restart, as good as you can ask for. they enter turn 1 and i think the 18 is thinkingi've got to get to the 18, try to get air

pulled off of him. he turns left, not enough grip, up the racetrack. >> mike: jeff, you've got it right. carl came on the radio after he collectedhimself and said "i had to try something, guys. i tried to dive it in there. it just plowed up the corner. there was nothing there." but to your point, jeff, this is your shotto win the brickyard 400, you've got to take

the chance. >> jeff: that is your shot, marty, becauseeven if you come out third, now you start the next restart behind him. that was your chance to make something onthe outside. i like the aggressive moves. you have to try to do something to beat adominant car. >> rick: we've seen it before out of carledwards. back in 2008 at kansas, jimmie johnson wasleading the race and carl edwards said i'm throwing caution to the wind.

i'm going to go into the turn harder thani've ever done it before. he ended up hitting the wall, but everyonewas like, that was a valiant effort. you tried. >> jeff: he made a valiant move that day andit didn't work out, but what else are you going to do, other than try something aggressive? >> rick: you've got to be aggressive and tryto get by kyle busch today, as he has definitely been the one to beat, almost like his carhas been on rails today. kyle busch, martin truex jr., then kenseth,harvick, edwards in the top five. joey logano and brad keselowski running sixthand seventh.

we talked about the strategy earlier thatthey tried to employ. at lap 84, everything got evened out. for logano, his strategy wasn't going to workanymore because everyone pitted at the same time. >> steve: what was the aggressive strategybecame the strategy. but martin truex jr. has been able to do something no one elsehas today, which is run a faster lap than kyle busch. he gained a little under 0.1 seconds overour leader.

but there has to be hope to the 78 that maybehe can run the 18 down in the last 21 laps. >> rick: an update on logano's teammate, bradkeselowski. >> kelli: rick, during that last caution,one of the members of the 2 crew received some medical attention. it was jeremy oegles, the front tire carriergot hit in the head with a lug nut, suffered a cut on his forehead. you can see it there. so, had a little bit of medical attentionpaid to him, but he smiles and laughs at me when i asked if he was okay, to kind of underscorehow not serious it was.

they put a minions cartoon band-aid on hisforehead. nonetheless, a very dangerous job for theguys on pit road. >> rick: everything about racing is dangerous. and when you think about it, the guys comingout of the pit stalls, the lug nuts are going to be laying there. five lug nuts from each wheel will be layingon the ground. and when they're spinning the tires, thosethings could end up flying, and obviously, one did in that situation. fastest lap turned that time by martin truexjr., who's running second to kyle busch.

problem is, kyle busch ran the second fastestlap. so, not able to gain a lot, martin truex jr.>> steve: but that was a full tenth of a second. and with 20 laps to go, if martin truex jr. can string a few of those laps together, maybegets close enough to put the pressure on kyle busch. that's what we haven't seen today. we talked all weekend about how difficultthis racetrack is. we've talked about the heat. now we're 140 laps into the racetrack, thesedrivers can get tired.

you can see here, the pit crew member gothit with the lug nut. as the drivers leave pit road, they spit thelug nuts up and they can hit a pit crew member right there in the forehead. >> rick: brad keselowski, joey logano in thetop ten. there are the fastest four. it's been 1999 since a ford has won this race,dale jarrett in 1999, when ford won. logano running sixth, the highest scored ford. kyle busch, who ended chevrolet's streak ayear ago -- they had won 12 consecutive races at the brickyard, and kyle busch spoiled thatstreak and now looks to start a streak of

his own. >> steve: rick, that's the distance, onceagain, truex faster than kyle busch, not by much, but still faster. >> jeff: and i think, too, when you're runningsecond and if you've been dominated all day long by the 18 car, he's been faster thanyou all day long, if you could just keep pace with him, that's a sign, hey, we've goth ashot. we need a late-race restart. if i feel like i have a shot, if i had thesame speed as him, then i do what we just saw carl edwards do, try to make somethinghappen.

this will be hard to run kyle busch down. we've seen it all day, he's been the fastestcar. but late-race restart, i'm matching his speed,i have an opportunity. so, you have to see some sign of encouragement,and i think martin truex is seeing it right now. >> steve: and jeff, remember, he's been sayingon the radio all day long, if you can just give me some track position, i think we canrun with the leaders up front. but when he first got a glimpse of the 18at real speed, first time he's seen him all day, remember.

here's what he had to say on the radio. >> yeah, he's been insane all day, so justkeep doing what you're doing. we're fine. >> marty: but they are gaining a little biton the 18 car, a little bit every lap. remember, the last two stapz for truex, they'vemade no changes. they've been very happy with the race car,dave. >> dave: marty, his teammate, matt kensethin the 20, you saw him jump through underneath there up to third position. that was great.

the restart before, he restarted on the outsideand got passed by kevin harvick. harvick now has fallen back behind kensethand has a very tight race car. so, if we do see another restart, inside oroutside can make a huge difference on the runs, especially if they get bottled up likethey did through 1 and 2. >> rick: we have to remember, martin truexjr., matt kenseth, carl edwards, denny hamlin all really with the same engineering information,a lot of the same crew members, a lot of same people back at the shop. they're not able to do what kyle busch isdoing. driving these cars, obviously, has definitelyan advantage if you have the skills that kyle

busch has. >> steve: nascar is all about the men andthe machines. well, the machines of those joe gibbs racingtoyotas -- as you see, carl edwards gets so high, i think he contacted the wall there,jeff. >> jeff: yeah, he did. he came off turn 1. turn 1 is very, very slick, the slickest partof the racetrack. and he went to throttle up, trying to keeppace with the 4 car, used all the racetrack, slid up.

if he didn't hit the wall, it was really close. >> jeff: it's all about the men and the machinesthey're driving. and joe gibbs racing toyotas all have roughlythe same equipment. i think it's worth noting that what kyle buschand adam stevens are doing with their equipment, they have taken advantage of it all weekendlong. two poles, one win already, going for theirsecond win. never been done in nascar. we're really seeing a historic performanceout of kyle busch today. >> marty: and steve, you talk about the sameequipment.

all five of the toyotas brought brand-newrace cars to indianapolis. you know as a crew chief, steve, this is whereyou bring your latest, greatest, best stuff as kind of a test for the chase. so, all five toyota teams, all the chassiscoming from jpr, all brand-new this weekend. >> rick: marty, as impressive as joe gibbsracing has become and has been over the past few weeks, you look at the flip side, andhendrick motorsports and the struggles they have been under, no wins in the last 14 racesand no top ten finishes in the last three races. that's the first time that's happened since2000.

>> steve: yeah, rick, and to take it one stepfurther, in the brickyard 400, only once have they not put a car inside the top ten, andthat was last year. now we see jimmie johnson in 11th trying torun denny hamlin down for that 10th position. >> four straight races without a car in thetop ten, you have to go back to 1994 to see the last time that's happened for this organization. while jimmie johnson is a six-time championhand he has won a race and he's in the playoffs, they definitely just do not have the speedcurrently to keep up with some of the cars near the front. >> jeff: we saw carl edwards a little whileago getting really high off of turn 1.

you can see just right against the wall. it wasn't that he was loose off of 1 likei had assumed. he was just trying to use all the racetrackand set up his entry into turn 2 and he misjudged it just a little bit. but the closer you can be to the wall reallyhelps your angle of attack getting into turn 2, and he was just trying to get his anglecorrect, misjudged it maybe by two inches. >> rick: enough to actually scratch the surfaceof the race car. 13 laps to go. kyle busch out in front, already has led 126laps.

has been putting good laps down, but now notable to close the gap. and he had tried to do that after the restart. kyle larson, a great run, currently in eighth. and kyle larson will have to feel good leavingthe racetrack, as he is now above the cut line as far as who gets into the playoffs. >> jeff: remember, you still have 13 lapsto go. we've seen a lot of crazy things happen. right now, kyle larson has had a really bigrace, trying to help himself. but also, jamie mcmurray, ryan newman, austindillon, those three guys also are having solid

they're not leading the race. they're not contending for the win. but they're having solid races and buildingpoints trying to make this chase. >> steve: and how about the 3 of austin dillon? you talk about -- you say it every year, jeff,points matter. it's not just wins that make the playoff. well, austin dillon, nice, solid run insidethe top ten. him and slugger, ever since slug labbe hasbeen put with austin dillon, they've shown improvement and speed.

they had a meeting and get together and talkedabout what they needed to do to get better at some of these racetracks. they've done it here today. plus 53 for the playoffs and the top ten rungoing so far with 12 to go. >> jeff: and i know richard childress wantsto have faster race cars and be in a position to w races and lead more laps, but they playto their strengths, reliability, that's famous to richard childress racing back to when daleearnhardt was winning. we think about dale earnhardt winning races,leading laps, but they also were extremely reliable with their equipment, and that'scarried out into this year.

think about ryan newman a couple years ago,almost won the championship using that as their strength. >> rick: austin dillon, 26-year-old out ofnorth carolina, trying to hang on to that top ten position as he's running ninth. >> mike: just an update on jeff gordon. this team has worked on the car throughoutthe course of the afternoon. jeff has said -- caution is out on the racetrack. we'll get back to in in a moment, rick. >> rick: caution comes out and looks as thoughit's debris on the racetrack that brings the

caution out. so, we'll see another restart. you notice the left-rear quarter panel flaredout a little bit there. the debris is high in the middle of turns1 and 2, is what the track workers are saying. so, they will have to take care of that. you see it just on the exit of the turn. >> jeff: side skirt, doesn't it? >> steve: it does. looks like an exhaust side skirt.

that is a piece of metal. that is not plastic. that is aluminum or a steel piece of metal. it was only a foot outside of the right reartire tracks. remember, over 200 miles an hour, they haveto pick that up. but what this does, decisions, decisions,decisions. because with 20 laps on the tires, i thinkkyle busch's decision's pretty easy. there's no way adam stevens can pull the leaderof the race off the brickyard 400 with less than ten to go.

but where in that lead lap? someone's going to pit road, but where? second? fourth? sixth? who will be team take the turn to pit roadfor fresh tires? >> jeff: sometimes leading the race is a disadvantage. you know the car in front of you, the 18'sbeen faster all day long. how are you going to win?

you have to do something different than theydo. if they pit ai, a lot of cars are stayingout. if they stay out, a lot of cars are goingto pit. tough decision for the 18. i think he has to stay out, but that opensthe door for others. [ inaudible ]>> rick: did you hear that? that's code. they have already worked on it. they have already decided, if you say jacknicklaus, you're either going to stay out

or -->> steve: look how many are coming, rick. this will change the whole complexion of thisrace. >> rick: kevin harvick was fourth and makesthe hard left turn on to pit road. so, from fourth -- you've got keselowski,kyle larson, austin dillon, daevenl hamlin, jimmie johnson, kurt busch, chase elliott,mcmurray all on pit road. >> mike: austin dillon driving a brand-newrace car today, but it has been a war for sure. they've tuned up on it throughout the day. it had been tuned and tight.

they've got us in neutral, the best it's beenall day. >> kelli: it's a four-tire change for the2 of brad keselowski. >> mike: kevin harvick is in for four tires. >> marty: the plan for wheeler and hamlin,four tires and at an adjustment. they had the speeding penalty earlier. they have made their way into the top ten,so not a lot to lose for denny hamlin and his team with four fresh goodyear tires. we'll see what ground they can make up. >> rick: and this will be interesting to seehow many will be the buffer between the field

and kyle busch.eld and kyle busch me too! >> rick: welcome back. nascar sprint cup series racing from the brickyard,presented by golden corral. next sunday, nascar is back on nbcsn for sprintcup series racing from pocono. that race coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. matt kenseth won that race a year ago. kenseth currently running third here at thebrickyard. the 19 of carl edwards discussing what tookplace on the last restart, already thinking about the next restart.

this is what they had to say. >> yeah, that last restart was awful. just down in there open -->> no matter what, you took off. >> jeff: so, that paints the picture of howhard it is for what martin truex is trying to do right here. he's got to find a way if he's going to winthis race to leave turn 1 still beside kyle busch, but you just heard carl edwards sayhe went to the outside, there was no grip. if truex can stay side by side with the 18,watch the 20 of matt kenseth try to make a move get need 2.

>> rick: one of the things that you have tolook at and focus on is kyle busch is one of the best ever at restarts. so, even on not as fresh tires, he's stillvery good. >> steve: absolutely, but i'm looking back. we talked about kiev harvick and marty saidhe pitted because he would be in an even number row on the outside. he'll be restarting seventh, inside row. he seems a long way back, four rows back,but with fresh tires, turns 1 and 2, if he can get clear, he can make something happen.

>> rick: it will be seven laps to go as theyget ready to enter the restart zone. can kyle busch hold them off for seven morelaps? not a good restart for martin truex jr. he falls back all the way to fourth. and around goes the 19! carl edwards hard into the wall! 31 also around! the 12 -- or the 2 of brad keselowski connected. danica patrick in the 10 also involved.

ryan blaney, the 21, may have been caughtup. ryan blaney we had just praised as being inthe top 16 in points, trying to get a playoff berth. you see ryan blaney take the steering wheeloff. safety crew immediately to him. >> steve: jeff, you told us how crazy therestarts would be, and we saw it here with ten left to go. little give and take, everybody trying toposition themselves for the long run down the backstretch.

>> jeff: 19 and 31 side by side. 19 just gets up the racetrack. i don't know if he got loose, got tight, gotinto the side of 31. >> steve: you had mentioned earlier his cargot really tight on the last restart. as we saw him going up the track, if he leadswith the nose, hard to tell, but he gets into the 31 quarter panel, but kevin harvick, toughturn, got by the spinning 31. >> jeff: that was a big hit for carl edwards. that was a hard hit. also, the 4 right behind the 19.

remember, when you get that close to anothercar, you're pulling the air off of that car. so you're taking a lot of down force awayfrom that car. you have a car on the outside of you, a carin front of you. all those things make your car very, verydifficult to drive. and he already had trouble on the restartbefore. he said his car did not turn well at all. you take the aerodynamics away from the car,the down force, and it drives worse. watch the 4 car. >> steve: on board with the 4 car, you'regoing to see --

>> two wide. two by two. still outside. tight. >> steve: he just comes up the racetrack. you hear the throttle control. kevin harvick does a nice job not gettinginto him. you see up on the right-hand corner of thescreen, the red flag is displayed, the field stopped.

this is another onboard right here with ryanblaney. nowhere to go. a heavy impact. >> jeff: that hurts. you see him holding his left arm, clinchinghis left fist. >> rick: very hard contact for carl edwards. >> jeff: that's restart. if you're kevin harvick, you have to punch. you have to have your nose underneath thecar in front of you.

if you're on the outside, you have to getright next to him, try to pull the air out from under him. that's what you have to do. the only way to move forward in a race likethis is on the restarts. you have to be aggressive. but again, went all last week, you know. the same thing that happened last week ishappening this week. >> rick: cautions late, restarts and chaoslate. two cautions in the first 20 laps, four cautionssince then.

this one collecting four cars.now me as daleearnhardt jr., racecar driver. but there's more to me than that. >> marty: dave rogers made the assessmenton the 19 car, and it's too damaged to go. carl, what happened in that wreck? >> it felt like i just got tight down there. i had a little trouble at the splitter onthe start and i got down there, we were fighting really hard for the bottom. it felt like i just got tight and hit whoever'son the outside of me. so, if indeed that's what happened, i apologize.

that's pretty frustrating. i don't know if he came down or if i cameup, but it felt like i got in there and just scrubbed that right front. hopefully, a toyota wins. i feel bad for stanley, joe gibbs racing,everybody. and everybody that's caught up in that wreck. that's frustrating. >> marty: boy, restarts and outside line,all that tight just really seemed to bother the 19 all day long.

>> yeah. so, i was having a lot of trouble the firstcorner on the outside, and i thought when i got down there the thing would stick becauseit was on the bottom, but i think it's something with the way we had everything going, thesplitter, plus i tried to cool the tires little bit. maybe could have cleaned them a little better,but yeah, sorry for everybody who got tied up in that. that's tough. >> marty: carl edwards' car too damaged tocontinue, guys.

>> rick: thanks, marty. while we're under a red flag condition, takeanother look at the vehicles that were involved. brad keselowski, danica patrick, ricky stenhousejr., carl edwards, ryan blaney and ryan newman caught up in this one. >> jeff: it's interesting what edwards said,he cooled his tires, maybe he should have cleaned him. what he's referring to, before they take thegreen, you see the cars swerving back and forth under caution. they're trying to get heat in the tires andalso clean them.

so, from the earlier restart where his cardidn't stick, he's thinking hey, maybe i need to cool my tires off, so he probably didn'tdo that before the green flag. instead of scuffing them, he just tried toget as much heat out of them as possible, again, frying to do something to beat a dominantcar all day long. he was having trouble on restarts anyway. and as they got bunched up, i think it magnifiedthat problem. i don't think he did anything wrong. you've got to try to do something and it justdidn't work out. >> rick: tire strategy will come into playnow as we get ready for the restart, but still

under red flag condition. let's see if we can chat with kyle busch,who under this red flag condition we hope we can talk with him a little bit about whathis strategy will be and with the fresh tires behind him if he's at all nervous about that. >> jeff: hey, kyle, jeff burton, nbcsn booth. >> yeah, man, got you. >> jeff: well, you have dominated this raceall day long. what are you going to have to do to finishit off? >> i think we've just got to get a good restarthere, like we just got on that one there,

and hope that we can get down into turn 1and then get single file after turn 1. that's going to be the best thing for us,being able to have a chance to get through turn 2 and go win the race. >> jeff: well, i know sitting there, you'regetting hotter by the minute. these cars get hot when you sit. how bad is it inside your car? >> it's definitely warm, but i guess that'swhat we live for as race car drivers is the warmth. so you know, i'm used to it, pretty much.

but the guys have done a great job for me,gave me a great driving car so i haven't had to work as hard as others out here. but also we worked on some of the coolingfor me, too, so i feel fresh and ready to go. >> jeff: kyle, thank you for taking time ina heated moment, obviously. appreciate it. i know all the fans do. >> rick: how about that? probably cooler than some of the other guysout there.

i haven't had to work as hard. >> jeff: so, ha's right. >> rick: yeah. >> jeff: i'm telling you, it's harder to drivea race car in 15th than the one that's winning. the reason why is the one that's winning isbetter than everybody else's. to run 15th, you have to run harder than theguy in first. it's so hard to understand that. you hear of rookies coming into the seriesand racing in 20th and 25th. they say i can't believe how hard you haveto race for 25th.

the competition's harder back there and youhave to drive harder than you do in the front. >> rick: dave? >> dave: tony stewart wasn't listening tothe graphic we showed, but he did get a piece of the action. listen. >> i hit him square, i just don't know howstrong everything in the front end is. >> well, we knew it was your last season youwere getting in the car. we put a little extra bracing in there. >> ah, copy that.

>> dave: this team always having fun, remindingthe champ in his final season if he wanted to do extra bumper work, he could. he hit a car flush, but they'll come to pitroad just to tape down the front end of the hood. they sensed a little pickup on the left side. >> rick: after starting third on the day,tony stewart in his final brickyard 400 has had an up-and-down day, had to get a freepass to get back on the lead lap here under the most recent caution. >> steve: we mentioned how hot the cars getunder the cautions.

the thermometer in stoney text's car, 115degrees. it's about 110 under racing conditions, butas the car has sat, it's really heated up. now tony stewart back on the lead lap, currently17th. we'll see. you never know on these restarts. we could have a ton of overtime. we have to find our way to the line. we're not even to overtime yet, so there'sa lot that could still happen in these six short laps.

>> jeff: what's really bad, too, when yousit there, a lot of times you can't run the fan for the helmet we talked about. the hose that puts air into your helmet, ifyou sit there and run the fan or run the battery down, the car won't start. a lot of times, the team tells you to turnthe fan off and don't use it. i always did it anyway, lied to them and toldthem it was off. it gets so hot in the helmet. >> rick: the other big story, jeff gordonfilling in for dale earnhardt jr. mike, what's happening with his day?

>> mike: he's had to adjust to a brand-newspotter. over the recent years, he's used eddie dejeanetteand is using dale earnhardt jr.'s spotter, t.j. majors. majors caught his attention for the daytona500 in february. while jeff was doing some tv work, he noticedhow he spotted for dale jr., complimented him. i spoke with majors today. he said he was blown away by that and moreblown away when jeff called him last week

to talk about spotting for this race. it's come full circle today, because in thatparticular wreck, t.j. majors was the guy who navigated, helped navigatejeff gordon through the accident without any damage. >> rick: jeff gordon restarts just in frontof tony stewart, three spots in front. kyle busch pretty much gave us his game plan-- i have to have a great restart. i've got to be up front when we get out ofturn 2 so that it can get single file. he thinks he can stay out in front then. >> steve: and it all starts in the restartzone, rick.

basically, as the leader, kyle busch, as yousee, 133 laps today. that's unbelievable. but really, marty, it all comes down to howhe can accelerate out of that zone. if he can beat the second place car to theend of the front stretch, he has a great opportunity. >> marty: and steve, there are cars involvedin the wreck on pit road trying to get the repairs fixed, including ryan newman. that has chase implications here. very comfortably in the chase right now inthe 15th position, but they cannot afford to lose any more points.

they have done a terrific job of the patchworkon the front, but you can see the rear still really damaged for ryan newman. but as they've been reminding him, listen,you only have to limp it around for six more laps, so doing the patchwork and keeping himon the lead lap, kelli. >> kelli: no chase implications for brad keselowski,already in with four wins, but they were trying desperately to get roger penske his firstbrickyard 400 win. when they sat on pit road to make repairs,here's the conversation of what brad saw in that last wreck. >> sorry about that.

>> nothing you can do there, bill. nothing. >> we were in a good spot there. carl could have held it lower, we could havecleared him and have all the no tire cars, tried to gobble them up. >> kelli: so you heard paul wolfe apologizingfor bringing him to pit road, but brad pointed out, it wouldn't have mattered if i had tiresor not. i was in the same position, i would have beencaught up in the wreck one way or another. they have made repairs and fresh tires forthe 2 to finish this race out.

>> rick: these cars really more or less justtrying to get through the last five laps. as we look at the chase grid, the implicationsbig for the 21 team of ryan blaney prior to that accident. ryan blaney was flirting with a top 16 position. and now after that accident, again, one pointfor every position. ryan blaney has now dropped down 13 pointsbelow the cut line. >> steve: again, this is as they run now. >> jeff: there are a lot of things that canhappen before the end of the race, but look how close it is between 16th and 20th.

it is very close and will continue to be. and we talked about ryan newman and the damagehe had. you know, the fact that ryan blaney was inthat wreck, the fact that the 31 car was in that wreck, that helps him, because although,you know -- i'm sorry, the 31 car was in the wreck. the fact that other people in that wreck,that really helps him trying to make this, because all you're doing is comparing yourselfto other people. and if they have trouble, then it doesn'tmatter so much if you have trouble. so, more people being in that wreck was actuallya benefit to some of these guys.

>> rick: joey logano running third in the50th anniversary season for penske. they have never won the brickyard 400. joey logano in a position to give roger penskehis first ever brickyard 400 win. >> we're getting there. we're getting there. great things are happening. >> it's not over until it's over, right? >> no, it's far from over. >> i like your attitude.

>> me, too. >> i like yours, too! >> we don't like attitude, do we? >> we could hear roger penske on there. "i like that attitude." so successful. what an incredible history roger penske hasat indianapolis motor speedway. 16 indy 500 wins. that's the most of all owners.

47 career starts in the brickyard 400, butthe best finish second. happened four times -- rusty wallace threeand joey logano once, last year, finished second to kyle busch. he doesn't want to have that same finish thisweekend, as he now runs third to kyle busch. matt kenseth running second, as we get readyfor the restart. will it be the final restart, though? >> steve: i don't know if it will be the finalrestart, but i agreed with joey logano when he said it's far from over. this is a big track.

turns 1 and 2, we have already seen how difficultthey can be. there's a lot that can happen in these finalrestarts, and it's even getting more complicated as the laps wear down. that might be better for kyle busch, but asthe accidents continue, that keeps moving fresher tires closer and closer to the front. >> marty: and steve, give a hand in talkingabout joey logano to todd gordon and everything he's done. remember in practice yesterday -- friday,actually -- they were a half second off on older tires.

they really threw a lot of things at the carthis afternoon. and honestly did not know what to expect. i talked to todd about the speed the 22 islacking. he said people have been asking me that, butremember, at this point last year, we had one win. it wasn't until after watkins glen that wegot all those wins and winning the chase with five wins last year. so, he says we're a second-half team and they'recertainly showing it with their rally ability, not only here at indianapolis, but last weekat new hampshire, too.

they struggled with the race car all day longand wound up finishing in the top five. they're showing once again they can finishwell and that's what you need in the chase. >> jeff: steve, you talked about how the 18car, what he needs to do is leave the pit, the restart zone with the lead. and that's what he's been so good at. we think about kyle busch on restarts makingit three wide, four wide on the outside, making these big, aggressive moves, but on theseracetracks, what he does such a good job when he's leading is holding the lead by the timehe gets to turn 1. and that is leading the restart zone, andthat is so important.

that's going to be harder right now, though. we've got some stuff going on on the racetrack,and we are going to have to restart -- he is going to have to restart with all thison the racetrack. now, right now it's in the high groove, butthere's a lot of speedy dry on the racetrack. they're trying to get it cleaned up. but the fact that it is in the high groovei think benefits kyle busch even more. >> marty: another reason why he needs to leavethe restart zone with acceleration, because the last accident took off a lot of guys onthe racetrack. the first four pitted at lap 22.

the most important line, right there. below that line, kevin harvick, denny hamlin,jimmie johnson, austin dillon, all with 20 laps fresher goodyear tires. i think that will not come into play if thefront four get a great start and get single file. but if there's any sort of mix-up in turn1 and either harvick, hamlin or johnson can somehow get three wide down the backstretchand get closer to the front two, those tires will pay off. >> jeff: the key right here is it's all aboutthe restart matt kenseth can get.

if matt kenseth can put himself in a positionto be side by side with the 18, well, then advantage joey logano in third position. so, this all hinges on what the 18 can dotaking off, but what the 20 can do as far as keeping up with him. >> steve: and look at the recovery, kevinharvick in fifth. he thought he had a flat, came to pit roadunscheduled. hamlin in sixth, johnson in seventh. both had speeding penalties. they have done a great job of digging backthroughout the entire day to at least give

themselves a shot. now, we have yet to see somebody pass kylebusch, but at least they can see him out the windshield. >> rick: they have cleaned off the racetrack,from the restart zone to the start/finish line. when they get to the start/finish line, itwill be two to go. that is not overtime, at least for now. they will be going the advertised distance,160 laps. kyle busch has already explained what he wantsto have happen.

he wants to be able to get through turns 1and 2 cleanly, be able to have the lead as he exits turn number 2. he thinks that he has the car and enough tiresthat he can make it all the way back around two more times to get the checkered flag andclaim his second brickyard 400. again, kyle busch trying to make history. winning the pole and the races, and both racesat the brickyard on the same weekend. never done before. >> steve: you mentioned this, but it is important. this is not overtime, so it's still the scheduleddistance.

so, if we don't get back to the white flagbefore the caution, we'll redo this again and move into nascar overtime. >> rick: great point, steve, as we look atrow one, row two, back to row three, denny hamlin, kevin harvick. >> jeff: see everybody cleaning their tiresvery aggressively, trying to make sure they are clean. they ran through the speedy dry, so it's veryimportant to have clean tires. spin the rear tires, put heat in them, getready to go. >> rick: the recent caution was because ofan aggressive restart by the 19 of carl edwards.

let's see who gets aggressive on this restart. kyle busch on the inside, matt kenseth onthe outside. into the restart zone they go! we're back to racing at the brickyard! >> just like racing on the beach at daytona,man. >> rick: great restart for kyle busch. joey logano moves all the way up to second. he gets in front of matt kenseth. logano trying to win the brickyard 400 forthe first time for penske.

kyle busch did exactly what he said he wantedto do, get out in front and try to put distance between himself and the field. oh, around goes the 6! trevor bayne into theinside wall! the 15 of clint bowyer also. >> yellow's out. >> rick: caution is out. they didn't get back to the white. we will now have overtime. >> back around here.

>> rick: another driver that was right onthe cut line to get into the playoffs, trevor bayne in the 6. free pass will go to the 34. so, chris buescher will be back on the leadlap, and that will put 19 cars on the lead lap, as we will attempt overtime for the firsttime. this was on the backstretch. >> jeff: trevor bayne trying to block clintbowyer. bowyer had a run on him. trevor bayne trying to block him.

will be one of them. >> steve: at that point, i know they're racinghard, but with only six cars one lap down, both of these cars one lap down, these arethe decisions that trevor bayne has to make better decisions on. while i know he needs to block, but he runsthe 15, you see, all the way to the grass. clint bowyer could get on the gas, but whyshould he? he feels ehe's tied to sixth. it's unfortunate for both of them, but tobe real about the situation, a much bigger penalty for the 6.

>> rick: oh, samantha busch there. the reaction to the caution coming out. so now with the overtime, the way this willwork, once they get the green flag, they will have to make it all the way back around to-- well, we're midway through the back straight -- to this line, the overtime line. race leader, whoever that may be, if theyget to that white line prior to a caution flag coming out, that overtime will be consideredofficial and the next flag will end the race, either a caution or the checkered flag. once they get to that overtime line, theywill try to race all the way back to the checkered.

>> jeff: and we keep changing who the caris on the outside of kyle busch. you know, now we've got another driver. now we have joey logano with a chance to tryand enter turn 1 by kyle busch. no one's been able to do it yet, and kylebusch at every single restart, he consistently beats everybody into turn 1, not by half acar length. the closest anybody came was carl edwards. carl edwards was pretty close, wasn't ableto put it off. everybody else he's cleared by a car length,two car lengths. >> steve: this is going to seem odd, but thelast time these leaders were on pit road was

lap 122. that's 38 laps ago. we've had 16, now 17 laps of caution, so idon't think it makes a big difference, but remember, our pit window was 36 to 39 laps,rick. i would have hoped that these drivers weredoing their job under yellow, saving fuel, but sometimes it's not just having enoughto get to the finish. but when you talk about flat racetracks, sometimesthey don't pick up accurately in the fuel cell, or just an air bubble in the fuel line,all it takes is a stumble. we're not talking about running out of gas,we're just talking about how important the

restart is if any of these four try to accelerateand there is the least amount of stumble. the car behind them will have no notice andno patience and perhaps we'll have another restart with an accident on the front stretch. >> marty: and the note to stevens was areyou worried about fuel? he shook his head no, but he's told kyle buschseveral times save, save, save. they also said they'll try to blow off theentire backstretch with a jet dryer to make sure it's clean. that will take more time. to your point, it's certainly in the crewchief's mind.

they don't seem to be terribly worried aboutit now, though. >> steve: yeah, marty, a lot of times we showincar cameras and show the drivers cutting the cars off right after a caution. people are always asking why are they cuttingthe cars off? this is why. because when you pit, you never know whenyou're going to have to stretch fuel. you don't know, what's your favorite saying,steve? you don't know it's a fuel mileage race untilit's a fuel mileage race. so, you have to assume every single race willbe fuel mileage and the minute you leave pit

road, you have to have that in your head. so, you have to start saving fuel back whenyou pitted on lap 122. that needed to start then. it just can't start right now. >> steve: jeff, you're rolling down the highway,the car in front of you swerves out of the way, and bam, you hit something. that happened to matt kenseth. >> watch for it. >> a little too late.

check that. >> steve: he thought he hit a bumper bar deadcenter there. they've looked it over and are so far keepingthat out there. i can't see a big hole or anything on thefront, but it was a surprise to matt. >> jeff: has not a good feeling, you know,because you don't know what kind of damage is done. you're sitting in the race car, you don'tknow what the splitter looks like or what it looks like underneath the car. it could have grabbed a line or anything underneaththe car.

not a good feeling by any means to run oversomething that big. >> rick: kyle busch setting a new record oflaps led at the brickyard, 140 and counting. what he's racing for he has won before, thecoveted prize at the end of this race, a beautiful trophy and getting into victory lane at indianapolismotor speedway. he did it a year ago. trying to close out the deal as we have goneto overtime. we'll be right back for the restart from thebrickyard. >> rick: like the daytona 500, this placeis as big as it gets in stock car racing. racing at the brickyard, winning at the brickyard,the possibility of kissing the bricks at one

of the most historic and iconic racetracksin the world. drivers with an opportunity. the 48 of jimmie johnson has put himself backin position, surpriseingly back up into the top ten. >> steve: rick, we were critical of hendrickmotorsports and no, sir lack of speed and lack of top ten. the 48 of jimmie johnson and chad knaus havedug deep, have recovered from a seeing penalty back up into the top ten, currently runningseventh. just ahead of him, the 4 of kevin harvick.

early in the race, he thought he had a problemand ended up not having a problem, which puts doubt in the driver's mind. he fought through it and i thought had thefastest car at parts of the race and has made his way forward and now has a restart on theoutside. so, the challenge is getting ready to geteven bigger. >> steve: the front of the 4, denny hamlin,the daytona champion. we have not seen a lot over the summer monthslike his teammates, but also recovered from a speeding penalty, which is unfortunatelyfor the 11 not new for him this year. the most speeding penalties of any driverin 2016 but has stuck with it up to the fifth

position to really join all of his teammatesback up front with the joe gibbs toyota. >> marty: yes, seven speeding penalties thisyear, eleven total penalties overall. i talked with mike wheeler earlier today. he said number one on the list, execution. so, that didn't happen on pit road this afternoon,but they have recovered nicely. twice this year he's recovered with a third-placefinish, as you saw in the fifth place right his ac inside the car has not been workinggreat all day long. they think eventually that drained the mainbattery, so he's had to switch to his backup battery here for the final few laps for dennyhamlin, but a nice recovery after that speeding

penalty. >> jeff: on the outside of the 20 of martintruex jr. that blue confused me. this is a team that's led a lot of laps, beenin position to win a lot of races. they talked about their inconsistency, notbeing consistent finishing races. they're right there with another shot to winthe race, but much like harvick, in the outside it's going to be tough. >> steve: with the inside line is the 20 ofmatt kenseth, a two-time runner-up in the brickyard 500.

you know he wants to win this. this is one of five tracks that the 20, mattkenseth, hasn't won on. a sprint cup champion, has accomplished somuch in his career, rick. these opportunities are not going to continueto come. with the car he's had today, although maybenot as good as kyle busch's, a great opportunity presents itself in overtime. >> jeff: on the outside of the 18, joey logano,another guy with a shot to try to figure out how kyle busch is so good on these restarts. i wonder if joey logano's been watching andpaying attention, and maybe if kyle busch

has had so many restarts, he's taught theseguys something. so, i'm going to say it for the third time,the only chance for joey logano to get a great restart, which is very hard on that outsideline, and enter turn 1 side by side with the 18. >> steve: for kyle busch, it's simple. he's been perfect all weekend, both polesand a race win. he needs to be perfect at least one more timein the restart zone and he'll be kissing the bricks here this afternoon. >> rick: getting ready for the restart.

lights are off on the pace car. once again, they've got to get all the wayback to the backstretch and the overtime line before a flag comes out for this to be anofficial attempt at the final overtime. trying to make history, coming back into therestart zone, kyle busch, the lead and control car. we're in overtime sponsored by credit one. and around goes the 1 of jamie mcmurray! he'll slide back up the racetrack! caution is out again.

44 of brian scott, the 3 of austin dilloninvolved. damage to the 31 of ryan newman. entering turn number 1. >> make it a priority.%- petting it to roll,get the tires to clear. that's all we've got to do, guys. >> rick: kasey kahne will be the free passrecipient. >> see the flag. >> rick: and you see the damage, extensivedamage to the left front. wheel not even turning.

>> steve: as the 1 tries it make it back topit road you see the debris that will add laps to the caution period. remember -- well, here's the replay righthere, jamie mcmurray on the high line trying to accelerate. they're past the start/finish line lookinggtoenter turn 1. he takes a hard left. i don't know if he thinks he was going tobe clear in front of the 14, but the 1 takes a hard across tony stewart. >> jeff: i thought he got lucky, but he getsinto the side of the 31.

had the 31 not been there, he would have hitthe wall harder in my opinion. i thought he kind of went through there unscatheddbut look at the left rear on the 1 car. i'm sure it's flat because he got into the14, but as roughly as he went, i agrre, i think he was trying o get in front of the14. he saw that hole, just misjudged it a littlebit. contact. >> marty: but you have a point. was it flat? is that what made the 1 turn left?

or was the contact with the 14? without a doubt, left rear's flat, but wasit the contact or 3 c1 the result? on board with the 14 will be a great shotright hhre. >> jeff: he just saw the hole and went forit. we've been talking about it. >> keep digging, keep digging, keep digging. >> jeff: you've got to find a way to the bottom. right here there's a hole, a gap behind the24 car. he ees it, oes into it, 14 coming.

that'' theebraking zone, too, okay? so, that's what makes that very difficultto judge. it's right on the braking zonn. and you don't know if the 14's going to breakor not as far as where he lifts. soo the 1 of jamie, he saw that hole, he wentfor it. the 14 also saw that hole and knows he needsto fill it. so he's trying to move up in there,,tryingto brake late. and murray came down trying to fill the ole. >> rick: i had mentioned the 3 was in it.

it was the 31 of newman, not the 3 of austindillon.% so, the 31 invvlved in the incident. >> steve: it's been a few rough accidentsfor the chase grid. kyle larson is surviving in eighth, lookinggood trying to gain points. trevor bayne's been caught up in an accident. ryan blaney. so, a ot of moving in the chase>> marty: >> marty: oh, yeah. i thought it was on right there. look at the 22.

the 18 has a good run, but watch the 22 gettinginto 1. he's up next to him. they entering the corner. he wassthere. look hhw loose the 18 got. now the caution comes out. so, now the blueprint and the game plan isout there. the 22 right on the side of the 18. he gets the 18 loose, so now joey logano'sthinking, okay,, i've got a shot.

i know it's going to be hard, but if i canget my left front on his right rear, get him loose, slow that momentum down, even if idon't pass him, if i could get right beeind him aad try to get by him into turn 2 becausehis momentum is slowed >> marty: back in indianapolis, our secondattempt at an overtime start. adam stevens has asked him to run hard -->> they need to clean the damn track at. we're not doing a great job racing, but wrecking. i'm with you. %>> marty: of course, he would save fuel, so fuel creeping in thee onversation more withmore cautions, kelli.

>> kelli: along the same lines,>> kelli: semi-nervous because they came to pit road on lap 151, but they did not takefuel that time. i ust checked in with the team, the car chiefssys "i think we'll be okay." >> stevv: you heard the 48 came to pit roadand didn't put fuel in. a lot of crew chiees will do that for a fasterfuel stop and they can pull the tires. the last pit, 45 for the leaders, 16 for thefew behind them, but we just heard jimmie johnson. even though it's been 16 laps, no fuel wasadded, so it well be questionable.%- remember, we've had a rash of guys not keeping up tospeed on caution, ss i think it's been harder

to save fuel on the yellow. >> steve: matt kenseth asked about his fuelsituaaion and his crew chief said "i feel good they stay grren, he gets to the overtimeline. it will be an official. official attemmt at overtime. kyle busch, matt kenseth, joey logano's drrppedback to thirr. denny hamlin fourth.%>> we can play one more bb ten. come back, no matter what. no worries.

through 1 and 2. kyle busch way out front kyle busch, afterwinning the championship in 2015, many wondered if he could finish races, if he could winthe championship. he showed everyone a year ago he could dojust that. now he'll get throuuh 4 for the %- ffnal timeat tte brickyard, in a racetrack that makes legendd. kyye busch, back-to-back wins at the brickyard! >> whoo! boys, yeah!

pou did it. >> rick: kyle busch is separatiig himself-- >> great team. great team. great team, pluual. good job. >> rick: even from the great and the greatestof this sport. he swept both races aayear ago he does itagain at one of thh most historic acetracks in the world.

first driver innnascar history % to sweepboth polessand races in the same weekend. the maturity of kyle busch everybody backthere aa mars. it's such a great deal ffr us. >> dave: you seem like ccnditioning wouldbe so important. how impressed are you hat kyle outllsted thhtwwy, oo? >> i thinkkfor everybody out 3 c1 there, itwas hard on them. so, i think these guys, though, are in goodcondition oodrive and now kyle, a little oveetime himself there, rick. >> rick: and how about this?

what a great moment. the 14 and thee88 taking a final lap aroundindianapolis motor speedway tooether. tony stewart in his final season. jeff gordon coming out of retirement toosubstitutedrive there's a lot of ressect between these two race car drivers. they oth know and recognize the ability ofthh other and tte efforts thht they've both put iito their carrers..3 c1 pou can see,when you just think about this a little while ago, they thought boot this a couple daysago, i would imagine. >> rick: the championships %- between ttetwo, the race wins.

as kyle busch continues his celebration. we'll go for the checkered fllg. it's becoming very familiar whatthe bow. >> jeff: we talked about it earlier, steve,as racers, we -have so much respect for what they did thisweekend, what kyle busch did, joe ibbs racing. >> steve: yeah, rick, now that i'm no longeron the ttp of the pit box, i look bacc at my stats and what i was able to accomplishand i remember how difficult the wins ere, how diificult those poles were. i can't get my brain around sweeeing a weekend.

>> announcer: let's hear it for cassidy pope.>> rick: out of retirement, it's time to go back to work. this place is where names aremade. some of the biggest have been able to kiss the bricks at indianapolis motor speedway.11 brickyard wins between johnson, gordon and stewart. let's go to pit road and mike masaro.>> mike: it's been 245 days exactly since jeff gordon has been in a competitive race.to prepare for today, he's been in the simulator, he's watched incar video from chase elliottand jimmie johnson, his teammates, but he says nothing can simulate the real act ofbeing in the race. we'll find out just how good he is in a moment. kelli?>> kelli: of everything team penske has accomplished

in 50 years of racing, one win is noticeablyabsent, a win at the brickyard 400. brad keselowski hopes to change that today, starting fifth,dave. >> dave: can tony stewart win for a thirdtime at his home track, the brickyard? marty? >> marty: kyle busch has a chance at victorytoday. no driver has won both poles in a race weekend and both races. he said he knows aboutthe record and has been wanting to break it for years. it's time to get the brickyard400 under way. time for the command to start the engines.>> announcer: and now, for the most famous words in motorsports, please welcome the chairmanof the board of the indianapolis motor speedway, tony george.>> drivers, start your engines! brrks radio

transmissions ]>> rick: there they are, a tradition at indianapolis motor speedway, the release affidavit balloons,27,000 of them, becoming airborne. tony stewart has won this race two times before. in hisfinal brickyard start, could he get the third? >>> race day at indianapolis. those wordsbring anticipation and conjure up vivid memories, like that day 22 years ago when a kid whoseracing roots were sewn just up the road from here took that first brickyard.>> jeff gordon is about to write his name in the racing history books, winner of theinaugural brickyard 400! >> he said good-bye last fall, but fate hadother plans. fellow champion tony stewart grew up in columbus, indiana. he, too, dreamedof winning at indy, and it came true.

>> you are the man! whoo!>> now he's ready for his final ride and a place he holds so dear. for more than twodecades, these two champions have fueled the legend of their home track. today they bothget one more chance for an encore in the brickyard 400.>> rick: welcome back to indianapolis motor speedway as we get ready for sprint cup seriesracing from the brickyard. a ceremonial first pace lap for the sprint cup cars, and it'sbeing led by tony stewart, the rushville, indiana, native, making his final brickyard400 start. let's chat with him on this ceremonial lap.>> jeff: hey, tony, jeff burton, nbcsn booth. are you with us?>> yeah, bud.

>> jeff: what a great honor, you leading thefield before the race starts. tell us, as you enter your last brickyard 400, what areyour emotions right now? honest, i'm honestly really focused on tryingto win this race here. i think we got a great mobil 1 chevy performance chevrolet here,and i want to go out and do the best we can today. i think we've got a shot at this thing.>> jeff: you've been fast in every practice, qualified well. what's the biggest challengeto winning today? >> just finding out what this thing's reallygoing to do truly on long runs. i mean, nobody really ran more than about ten laps at a time.so, we've got to go 30 laps today. so just got to stay up with the balance. i mean, we'reat the hottest part of the day right now.

just got to stay up with it, try to stay balanced.>> jeff: well, tony, thank you for letting us ride around in this special moment. we'llall be watching. good luck. >> thanks, bud. i appreciate it. glad youguys are with me. >> rick: and you can see the temperature inthe car. we've talked about how the heat will become a factor in today's race, over 113degrees inside the car, and that's just tooling around right now at pace car speed. today'sstarting grid is brought to you by golden corral. up front, kyle busch won the poleonce again. las vegas native, defending brickyard 400 winner, starting next to carl edwards.>> steve: in row two, tony stewart, starting next to this year's daytona 500 winner, dennyhamlin.

own ryan newman.>> rick: back at row four, it's kevin harvick, the 2003 brickyard 400 winner.>> steve: row five, jamie mcmurray, 2010 brickyard 400 winner, starting next to kyle larson.>> jeff: in row six, kurt busch, actually the 2014 indy 500 rookie of the race.>> rick: back in row seven, it's joey logano and jimmie johnson. johnson has won four times here in the brickyard.>> steve: chase elliott, whose dad, bill, won in 2002, next to ricky stenhouse jr. inrow eight. >> jeff: we have ryan blaney starting nextto matt kenseth in row nine. kenseth is a two-time runner-up in the brickyard 400.>> rick: back in row ten, it's vancouver,

washington's greg biffle next to trevor bayneout of knoxville, tennessee. buescher.>> jeff: row 12 has the 2011 brickyard 400 winner paul menard, starting next to the firstwoman to ever lead the indianapolis 500, danica patrick.>> rick: in row 13, aj al allmendinger and kasey kahne.>> steve: we have michael mcdowell and david ragan.>> jeff: aric almirola and dibenedetto, who's doing double duty this week.>> and then bowyer and scott out of boise, idaho.>> steve: cassill and mears, whose uncle won the indy 500.>> jeff: and cole whitt and ryan ellis with

his first ever start here at the brickyard.>> rick: back in row 19, it's regan smith and michael annett, making his second brickyardstart today. >> rick: we're riding with casey mears withthe geico onboard camera. we'll start in row 17. the chevy in-car camera will be carriedaround by the 88 of jeff gordon. he starts 21st. brian blaney in the 21 has the fordonboard camera, starting 17th today. martin truex jr. with the sprint onboard camera willstart in row four. and right next to him will be the 4 of kevin harvick, also carrying oneof our cameras. and kyle busch has the best view of anyoneat the brickyard. he has the toyota onboard camera, starting on full. for some of thestory lines that we'll be following from pit

road, let's go to dave burns.>> dave: rick, race cars do not like extra weight, so when i talked to rodney childerstoday and he told me about three pounds had been added to the 4 car, i ququestioned it.then he told me it was for an extra fan behind harvick's right foot to pull air back, tohelp the system down below. remember, he burned his heels at sonoma. he's hoping that willhelp today. marty? >> marty: dave, there's one race time excitedto get under way, it's martin truex jr. and his team. why? because of the disappointmentlast week at new hampshire. remember, they had a shifter problem. it broke late in therace after they led so many laps at new hampshire last week. kyle told me it shouldn't be aproblem moving forward. in terms of the team,

he said listen, we're getting tough skin outarou. we're used to leading and not having success, but we're looking to turn that around.>> kelli: jimmie johnson looking to reverse their trends. they've finished outside ofthe top ten the last six races. indy could be just the place to do it. a win today wouldtie the six-time champion with jeff gordon for the most ever brickyard 400 wins. thatnumber is five. jimmie johnson today starts from the lucky number 13. mike?>> mike: kelli, his teammate, kasey kahne, is also looking to rebound a bit. but talkingto him after qualifying, we got a sense of disappointment. he felt like he had a muchbetter car than where they ended up, rolling off 26th today. because of that, his crewchief told me the only way they'll get to

the front is by using strategy, and that'ssomething you'll see from a lot of drivers starting midpack today. it could get awfullyinteresting down here, guys. >> rick: i'm sure you guys will be all overit. thanks a lot, mike. aerial coverage provided by our partners at smithfield foods. to you by ge. a 400-mile race. that is 160laps. pit road speed, they will whoa it down to 55 miles per hour. and steve, the fuelwindow, 36 to 39 laps. but as mike just mentioned, strategy could come into play early in thisrace. >> steve: strategy i believe will come intoplay early, rick, and often. it will be very confusing to try to follow because there area lot of different ways to run this race.

160 laps.>> rick: starting back at 21st is the 88 of jeff gordon, driving for dale earnhardt jr.just moments ago this is what they had to say on the radio.>> you know, dale, i'm thinking of you. i'm glad to hear you're making some progress thisweek. i appreciate your patience and, you know, hope for a speedy recovery, but on yourtime frame. >> jeff, thanks for filling in for the nexttwo weeks. i appreciate all you've done friday and saturday, and you know, i'm looking forwardto what we can do today. >> rick: and all of you now know, obviously,that dale earnhardt jr. can listen in to the radio. he can listen in to the communication,just like all the fans can. they can listen

in to the communication between driver, spotyour and crew chief. and of course, everyone knows that dale jr. is focused on this raceas he is continuing to recover. the field two by two as they come up to the yard ofbricks at indianapolis motor speedway led by kyle busch, who won this race one yearago. carl edwards, his teammate, starts on the outside of row number one. tony stewartmaking his final brickyard 400 start on the inside of row two. green flag's in the airand away! >> rick: great start for kyle busch. dennyhamlin now fighting with his teammate, trying to take the second spot away. hamlin and edwardsside by side. here comes stewart! almost to the grass as he tries to make the pass forsecond! he takes it away as they go into 3.

>> clear.>> rick: what a run tony stewart had coming out of 2, takes the second spot away as theywent into 3 and 4. >> steve: you don't think tony stewart wantsto win this race. three wide on lap one. i can promise you what this race means to him.>> rick: kevin harvick's moving out of line, trying to hold off the 3 of austin dillon.jimmie johnson on the inside of two wide, kyle larson outside of him in the 42.>> jeff: that's what makes this facility so unique. the 22 of logano going by larson andchase elliott's going to try to fill that hole as well. these four, while they've lookedthe same, 90-degree corners, do not drive the same. how you get off of turns 2 and 4to go down the long back and front straightaways,

you'll see a lot of late maneuvers tryingto get out of line and dive to the inside in lanes two and three.>> steve: so important to get off of 2 and 4 well because they lead to the long straightaways,steve. if they lose the momentum, they will go by you. on the restarts, we aw early inthe race, carl edwards, who's had a fast car on that first lap when he got three wide,he lost momentum and has gone back to sixth place. so you have to find a way to keep yourmomentum up, three wide again. >> rick: and that's greg biffle making thepass on matt kenseth. kenseth way up the racetrack. kenseth having to catch that number 20 asit shot up the racetrack. kasey kahne able to get by in the 5 and here comes gordon inthe 88.

jeff gordon takes the spot.>> rick: so critical. and it's all set up normally at the opposite end of the racetrack,when you enter either turn 1 or turn 3, you can make the run on either the front stretchor the backstretch to make those passes. >> jeff: such a fast racetrack. you see themcoming on to the front stretch nose to tail. go coming into turn 1.>> rick: upwards of 205 miles an hour. we've seen some cars getting into 1 and 3.>> steve: look at matt kenseth in behind greg biffle and the air is taken off his car, the17 behind him. we've got a caution right now. >> rick: caution on the racetrack early. andit wasn't for that 20 moving. it was, it looks as though, for matt dibenedetto in the 83with damage to the right side of that car.

>> jeff: definitely smoke coming out of theback of the 83. i don't know if it's fluid or oil -->> blew up. >> jeff: you heard oil protect active. that'sbasically a program that the engine producers create, so if you lose oil pressure, it can'tkeep running, can't damage the engine anymore. that's the issue. you heard him say "we blewup." you can see the straightaway and the smoke pours out of the back of the car. lookslike oil smoke to me, jeff. definitely an engine issue or at least an oil leak.>> jeff: no question. and only lap four, setting up some decisions teams will have to makein regard to pit strategy. you would certainly think the cars in the back of the pack wouldcertainly pit with nothing to lose, but it's

going to be interesting to see what this cautioncauses the front cars to do if they're going to pit or not.>> steve: well, this is really a big advantage for teams running maybe 6 to 15th. the goalis to run this like a road course, start pitting early, maybe lap 10 or 12, but to do that,you have to be in touch with the leader. to not lose a lap, you have to be about ten secondswithin the leader. if you're behind that, you lose a lap and it's hard to call yourdriver to pit road. speed in session. we've had problems withcars going down pit road using the timing lines to their advantage. we saw it with martintruex weeks ago, so nascar in response has put more speed loops in, so it's going tobe way easier to get caught speeding. the

teams will not be able to manipulate thoselines and speed into their pit boxes. so this is the first time we've seen that. these driverswill have to be careful, because any time you have short sections, it's much easierto get caught speeding. you can race about 38 laps. when you go fromlap 200 back, that means the first stop comes at lap 8, second at 46, 84 and 122. that isvery aggressive. an ill-timed caution, a bad restart, speeding on pit road, any of thatwould completely kill the strategy. but if you're a car mired back in the pack and youthink you could do something to try and win this race, that would be the aggressive strategyto take. >> rick: just a reminder, it's 160 laps isthis race. only 400 miles. so, that's the

number that they were shooting from backwards,160 and went back to 122 and on back from there. and it looks as though maybe a coupleat the very back of the field are going to take advantage of this caution to come topit road. we'll be back for the green flag after this.ag after this of nascar. and by stp. get ultra performancewith stp ultra 5-in-1 fuel system cleaner. most wins at indianapolis suppressented bysprint. jeff gordon holds that honor with five brickyard 400 wins. of where to stop on pit road.>> yeah, that big bright "88." remind me that it is.>> i will.

time i drove the 31 car, i pulled into the31 pit. so, it is -- and i do, i think the point about the 24 is it being two boxes away-- i'm sorry, the 24 box being two boxes away, he's going to see that. he's going to seesee that number and his first instinct will be to go to that box. the good thing is we'vetalked about it. the spotter knows it he knows it, now there should be tremendous communicationto prevent that from happening. a whole pit stop to this race and really onlystop three times. that would be a huge gamble, but it's the brickyard 400, and if you'reever going to gamble to win a race, the daytona 500 and the brickyard 400 have to be at thetop of the list. >> rick: some may have to do that to try toget by kyle busch. a few clouds in the area

but 93 degrees. the humidity high. it feels like 107 degrees. and i know a lotof people hoping that some cloud cover does pass over. it gives them a little bit moregrip on the racetrack. the track temperature extremely hot as well. the 14 was just talkingon the radio moments ago. let's listen in. >> i have everything on here. it's hot, i'mjust trying to keep everything cool. of the car. now it's 110 degrees in there.>> jeff: down to 110 degrees. >> rick: it was 113 earlier.>> jeff: this is an exceptionally hot race. this race is always hot, but this is the thirdhottest 400 ever. when you come here, you know it will be hot and it's a challenge.this race, i think, is always for the driver

one of the hottest races of the year.>> steve: there are long straightaways, a lot of wide-open throttle time and the carruns so field to the pavement, there's little air moving. even if it's not really hot outside,it's already hot inside the car, on a day like today, it's even worse.>> rick: two by two they come once again on to the front straight. kyle busch and nowtony stewart making up row one. denny hamlin, harvick, keselowski, edwards, mcmurray andnewman as they get ready to enter the restart zone. kyle busch setting the pace. once againat the brickyard. >> rick: and kyle busch rockets ahead of thefield. tony stewart holds on to second. denny hamlin, kevin harvick, carl edwards and bradkeselowski chasing after that 18 of kyle busch.

>> jeff: these cars, they're side by side.when you're going into turn 4 right here, these cars side by side need to get it clearedout before they get there. if not when you run through there side by side, you lose somuch momentum. so, watch these cars here, they're going to be three wide now becauseof that lost momentum off of turn 4. >> steve: you mentioned, jeff, the 24 wasstuck on the outside. he's going to lose at least two, maybe three spots getting intoturn 1. >> jeff: a big block by the 3 of austin dillon,to prevent it from being three wide. as you said, chase elliott just lost all that momentumby being side by side. again, here we see it again. you've got to find a way to getsingled up.

in the sunnyd machine.>> rick: imagine the feeling right now. jeff gordon just went by the 24 car. i'm not surehe can say he's done that too many times in his career.>> jeff: you can see how tight the battle is and how intense it is. all these spotson restarts, you have to fight hard. it's very hard to pass on this racetrack and youhave just got to push. >> steve: and you can see the intensity early.remember, we're only 10 laps into a 160-lap race. normally when we see this, as we seeanother three wide. a.j. allmendinger goes down to the front stretch trying to clearboth cars and danica patrick thinks about it backs out and lets the 24 in line.>> rick: that still leaves ricky stenhouse

jr. in the 17 hung out.>> steve: but see what happens. danica patrick lost some aggression there for just a moment,thought better of it, and 95 turned underneath her, her progression.>> rick: slowed her down just a bit, as now she has momentum once again, trying to getbay that 95 of michael mcdowell. just behind her, the 34 of chris buescher of texas, stayingon the back bumper of patrick. year. tony stewart trying to hang on to second,at second, third and fourth all together as kevin harvick has closed the gap now. jimmiejohnson, number 4, running in the fourth spot as denny hamlin looks to the inside of tonystewart. >> jeff: see denny hamlin make that earlyturn to get up inside of stewart. he wasn't

doing it thinking he was going it pass him.he was doing it trying to get air on his car, trying to get more down force to make hiscar drive better. that's why it's so hard to pass here. you need that air in your car,but when you turn early like that, it makes the car way too tight. it won't turn. or itmakes it looser. you need to stay against the wall in the turns like they're doing now,but when you do that, you lose all the air in your car. so, that's why it's so challenginghere at indy, and that's why you see them on restarts have to be so aggressive.>> steve: there's such a balance between offense and defense, rick. have the 11 of hamlin lookingto pass tony stewart. on the left-hand side of your screen is kevin harvick. where ishe riding? right behind the 11, just waiting

to jump at the opportunity. if the 11 makesa move and it doesn't work, it can slow down the 11 and the 14. we'll see kevin harvicktry to pass them both. >> rick: kyle busch already has the 3.2-secondlead after this restart. he looked to be saving a little bit of fuel under the first caution,but now, obviously, he's not worried about fuel at all. he's going out there trying toget everything he can. is that because he doesn't want guys to short pit on him rightnow? >> steve: yeah, we mentioned that greasivestaj. you have to be within a certain distance of the leader, around ten seconds. so, kylebusch's only defense to that is to set the fastest pace he can to lead this race. andwith a four-second lead early, it looks to

be pretty clear that that's kyle busch's plan.>> rick: as you mentioned, if they're within about ten seconds, right now that would bethe 13 of ryan newman, who's ten seconds behind kyle busch. marty? most important run of the day. that time you'retalking about, steve, is what crew chiefs call the delta. you know all about that. it'sabout 11 seconds. the more cars they can put more than 11 seconds down on this first run,the more cars they eliminate that can play the strategy game against the 18. so, adamstevens told kyle busch, go as hard as you can from the drop of the green flag this entirefirst run, because they will take as many cars as they can out of the game. right, steve?>> steve: absolutely. this is going to be

a chess match all day long between the differentcrew chiefs, but how about the pace kyle busch is setting from lap 10 to lap 13, he's extendedhis lead to over four seconds. that is the best thing he can do. and you can see, i won'tsay he's not driving hard, but he looks pretty comfortable. not a lot of movement in thewheel, jeff. looks to be handling reasonably well. look at that lead.>> jeff: remember how harvick's wheel looked like, how much wheel input he needed whenwe were riding along with him. busch is in clear air as opposed to harvick, who is rightbehind people and his car will not drive as well as kyle busch's. so, yes, it did lookmuch easier. it's hard to drive, i can promise you, but he wasn't having as hard of a timeas kevin harvick was.

>> and tony stewart's car is not good rightnow. it started off good, the entry and exit are fine, but he radioed his crew and said"bud, this car is really, really, really, really tight." that means it won't turn thecenter of the corner. that's why they're stacking up behind him.>> marty: under the last caution, denny hamlin told mike wheeler, i think we can get the14 in two, but they cannot pass tony stewart. maybe concern about the engine. listen inon the radio. max gas quick off the corner.>> is it an early part throttle or wide open? >> it's kind of right as i'm slamming thegas. it's just kind of -- it makes a big pop and then it goes.>> steve: you see hamlin and harvick make

the pass for second and third, so not a lotof concern in the 11 camp, but he definitely wanted mike wheeler to know about that popin the engine. kelli? >> kelli: brad keselowski has four wins thisseason. one of those gave team penske its 100th win, but his crew chief, paul wolfe,told me the win would be way bigger than that. have yet to win together. right now, bradsays the car is a little free on entry and definitely free on exit. mike?>> mike: kelli, as jeff gordon has acclimated himself with the 88 race team, he's been inseparablefrom crew chief greg. he sat with him after practice was complete. ives wanted go overdata and he told him, i just want the car to be perfect. not exactly perfect right now,loose in turn 1, tight everywhere else. rick?

seconds of what he has run. kyle busch dominatingat indy. puts race coverage and live in-car camerasright at your fingertips. you can also listen to drivers and teams discuss race strategy.download it for free at nascar.com/mobile. hamlin, but now only six drivers are within10 seconds of kyle busch. that means that tony stewart running sixth is the closestas far as under that delta number that we talked about. a lap down.>> steve: we keep using the word delta. what it basically means is this. the lap timesaround indianapolis takes 52 to 53 seconds as kyle larson tries to make a move on stoneystewart. take the 78, cole earn person likes

to be aggressive with his pit strategy. truexis 10 1/2 seconds behind the leader, so if martin truex hits pit road right now, theyhave an efficient pit stop, get off and on pit road pretty good, usually takes around52 seconds. add that to his 10-second deficit, he'll come out right around the leader, kylebusch. the goal is to stay in front of the leader. because remember, if the caution comesout then, the whole field pits, the 78 would be the leader. if he comes out behind kylebusch and the caution comes out, marty, well that kills the whole strategy because thenyou're a lap down. >> marty: cole earn and i were talking aboutthat this morning. you see larson trying to get the next spot. he said he would be willingto do something because that might be the

only way to keep up with the 18 this afternoon.it's been a struggle for the 78 team this weekend and that surprised him. in the indytest two weeks ago, they were probably the best car, but as cole pearn told me, the trackcompletely changed between the test and now. weekend. they had to borrow setup from dennyhamlin and carl edwards as well. the car too tight right now for martin truex jr., kelli.>> kelli: jimmie johnson in the 48 team know what a big race the brickyard 400 is, so theybrought a brand-new race car to the track. can make a difference.>> steve: basically, the cars have different fans, some to cool the front tires and somejust to move air underneath the front of the car. so, chad knaus and jimmie johnson mustbelieve that turning the fans off either,

a, shifts the aerodynamic balance to be tighter,or b, stop cooling the front tire, actually asking for the air pressure to build up inthe front tires, making the car a little bit tighter. a tight direction. it might not come back.>> jeff: try and get the right-front heated up. a lot of air pressure built into it. it'shard to get the right-front to work. we're close to pit stop, so we're not that far away.i think now you've just got to make the car drive as best you can and not worry aboutthe long-run consequences. to eighth. dave, what's going on?>> dave: rick, he's used all the words that drivers use to describe how tight the racecar is, plowing, won't turn the center. and

he was asked if he could lift early goinginto the corners. jeff, i know that's one technique you can use to sometimes help it,but he said i've tried that and it's been no help.>> rick: now we see martin truex jr. trying to come to pit road before anyone else. andwhen he did come to pit road right around that 10-second mark.>> steve: so now it's all about the pit stop. a good pit stop.>> rick: marty? >> marty: and that's the most critical part.cole earn, we were talking about this this morning, steve. he said the guy has to becrystal clear and clean on pit road. he said last weekend in new hampshire was maybe thebest weekend they had all year long. truex

said the car was tight and air pressure adjustmentto loosen him up. now the key is where he cycles out in terms of where kyle busch is.>> steve: that's the important question. the answer is not where he wanted, because kylebusch streaked by the 78 in turn 1, so the 78 is a lap down. we talked about the delta,around 10 or 11 seconds. this proves to me that that right now is not enough time. hewas 11.4 seconds behind the leader. the pit stop looked decent. other crew chiefs willpay attention to that as we see more cars on pit road.>> rick: carl edwards is down here, kyle larson also has made his way to pit road as wellas matt kenseth. so quite a few are staying out. dave?>> dave: this has been a car that's been a

little tight from the center off. sonoco fuel, marty.>> marty: that was the hope that cole pearn hoped for, that everybody else would cometo pit road. hamlin is leading with an air pressure adjustment to tighten up the car.he said it was a little free. and carl edwards also leaving with a wedge adjustment, saidit was extremely tight at the beginning but got better the longer they ran.>> rick: kevin harvick also rolling down on pit road. all the lead lap cars now makingtheir way on to pit road. again, it's under green flag conditions. kelli?>> kelli: now you see jimmie johnson in that lowe's 48 car coming. as you said, he wasgood when he was in clear air, but he said

he was just getting way too free in trafficand four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment for the 48.>> dave: for kevin harvick, going the right way this afternoon, the car pretty balancedbut just a little tight across the center of the corner. a four tire and fuel change.>> mike: greg ives is coaching jeff gordon, telling him to look for the 88 sign. he hitthe box perfectly, a tire change, wedge adjustment and fuel for jeff gordon as they completethe stop, and he is away. and continues to make great laps. and nowhe's decided to come to pit road. that will help the cars that have committed to pit roadnot be a lap down. >> rick: marty.>> marty: and guys, kyle busch coming in as

you talked about. that was the hope for martintruex jr. and everybody else that started to get looser the longer he ran. you'll seea small wedge adjustment for kyle busch, trying to tighten up just a bit. four fresh goodyeartires as well for the leader, mike. >> mike: chase elliott on pit road as well.he's been chasing the nose of the car, having to wait on that. he'll make a wedge adjustment,air pressure, four tires and sonoco race fuel. has yet to come to pit road, as well as joeylogano. paul menard and brian scott. those four cars running one, two, three, four, needto still come to pit road. but again, the pit window 33 to 36 laps. they can stay outfor at least eight more laps. >> steve: and we had a long caution. we talkedabout the aggressive strategy to pit early,

and now i'm thinking it's only to pit threetimes as menard hits pit road. >> kelli: the car is loose off and they'llput air into the right-rear tire. four goodyear tires and sonoco fuel for paul menard.>> steve: as i was saying, as we see paul menard leave pit road, they love to play thefuel strategy game. he's pointing the 5 by. he knows he's slower on older tires. makethis a three-stop race. to do that, they'll have to get to lap 38, 39 with pace laps,so that's ten laps away from right now. he has to be trying that. if not, they wouldn'tstay on the racetrack losing this time. see how much time he's given up to new tires?the only reason why paul wolfe would stay on the racetrack is because he's trying toeliminate a pit stop from the race.

>> rick: so, we thought it might be shortpitting that would come into play. maybe it's pitting less, is what brad keselowski's trying.brad keselowski's trying you? >> rick: welcome back to indy. and looks asthough kevin harvick back on pit road. why, dave?>> dave: rick, he believes he has a flat tire in the 4 car. we'll see how they come offhere, but he just pitted a little while ago. we reported it. then he felt something funnyin the car. right-rear looks like it has lots of air. coming around to the right-front,that looks like it's aired up, too, but they replaced the right side.>> rick: he felt like he had a tire going and so, to be cautious, they came to pit road.they were just on pit road less than five

laps earlier.>> steve: rick, we talked about trying to eliminate a pit stop and i was talking aboutbrad keselowski, who's leading the race. he caught my attention. but it's not just bradkeselowski. this is team penske's all in the boat in this, because 11 seconds behind the2 of brad keselowski is his team penske teammate, the 22 of joey logano. both yet to make apit stop 32 laps into this run. we mentioned roger penske, 16 indianapolis 500s, neverwon a brickyard 400. i think that is playing into this. i think they are doing everythingpossible to try to win a race, marty. sort, right? so, that's what todd gordon isdoing here along with his teammate up front, trying to stretch this as far as they can,saving some fuel here because they have enough

time on the racetrack to save fuel. we seethat gap between him and kyle busch, a massive gap, so they can save fuel right here andgain themselves to a point where they can almost get it done in three stops. that'sthe goal. i just talked to todd gordon. he affirmed that is what they're trying to do,so they set it up here early in the race so they will be a pace off at lap 160.>> steve: but what will kill this strategy is a caution right now, because they needthis to go green to their pit stop. if there's a caution right now, they're definitely goingto come to pit road, and i would question the cars with eight or nine laps on theirtires would not come to pit road. so, those are the risks. those are the risks of thisstrategy. it's easy to say you're going to

do it but it's very hard to do it. and the4 of kevin harvick right here, a lap down, he has to push extremely hard to try to unlaphimself. win, why not split the strategy? have twocompletely different strategies. why go all in with the strategy with two different cars?that's interesting to me. but there's the 4 car. he needs to unlap himself, if he can.but if this goes green and they pit, he will still be in the lead lap. he was only five seconds behind the 18 ofkyle busch. so, when all this cycles out, if we don't get a caution right now, thenhe will be back in the lead lap. he obviously lost a lot of positions, but he would nothave lost a lap to the 18 car.

>> steve: and jeff, he has fresher right-sidetires, but not because he wanted them. when greg zipadelli, team manager, and the crewlooked over the right-side tires that came off, they found nothing strange. again itwas a funny feeling that kevin felt, and you can't take chances at these speeds.>> jeff: and listen, that is an awful feeling. when you pit your race car, you pit becauseyou know you have a problem. there's something wrong. and when they say, hey, there's nothingwrong, we didn't see anything, then what do you do the next time you feel something? so,that puts the driver in a very difficult position. he didn't pit because he thought everythingwas great. he thought he had a problem. hey, no tire problem. now what do you do?>> rick: car didn't feel right for the 4 of

kevin harve yirks but problems for the 2 carthat's out front, brad keselowski. they're having communication issues right now withthe radio. >> did you say anything?>> yeah, talking to me. you hear me? >> i didn't hear a word you said on eitherchannel, which doesn't mean anything. he may have heard you. if he heard you, then it'sgood. >> i did not hear you either, paul.>> need to know where the track bar affects the car the most in the corner here. needto know. you're trying to work pit strategy. you cannotrun an extra lap, it's 2 1/2 miles. if paul wolfe needs keselowski to pit at 38, 39'snot an option. he'll run out of gas on the

become stretch. you have to be in pit road.i've been in this situation at watkins glen and had to have my driver black flagged becausei had to ask them, hey, black flag us. i need him to come in before we run out of gas.>> jeff: and because the track is so good, you need two spotters. so normally, the communicationin that situation now returns to brad the driver and the spotter because that's theonly two people who can hear each other. well, who does it now? who is the spotter? becauseif you're on the front straightaway, the radio may not work on the back straightaway, soit's more confusing for it to happen here or on a road course. map, it's very important to remember, threepace laps. the 2 car of brad keselowski has

had to run three laps at a caution pace tostart the race. you see the 24, chase elliott, trying to get by the 2 on the fresher tires.but brad keselowski and paul wolfe, 21 sprint cup wins. five of those were on a fuel mileagestrategy. so, this is not outside of the box of where they are normally at. they're alwaysaggressive. i love the call. this is what the playoffs drives. brad keselowski, he'sin the playoffs. joey logano, he's in the playoffs. let's try to win the brickyard 400.>> jeff: this team has forced other teams to change their strategies throughout thelast couple years. they have been very aggressive, kind of rewrote the book, pitted when otherswouldn't even consider pitting, and they have found ways to make it work. so, they are veryinnovative when it comes to strategies.

>> rick: we've talked about how big the brickyard400 is. i mean, it's what legends are striving for. and penske has had so much success atall forms of racing, especially here. and in this 50th anniversary season, both bradkeselowski and joey logano have mentioned has ever been able to do that.>> jeff: yeah, if you ever want to be a hero in racing, being a hero within the team penskeorganization, that would be pretty good. and delivering roger penske that brick of a trophythey give you for winning the brickyard 400, that would be special to the entire organization,whatever team delivered it would definitely checked box on the team penske side, the lackof a win at the brickyard. believe me, he tells everybody he wants to win at indianapolis.these guys are going to pit in two to three

laps, both logano and brad keselowski. so,team penske trying to do it on fuel strategy. they're going to try to do it again.>> steve: rick, if they go two or three laps, it's a no-brainer. they've run over 40 laps.that's the magic number. if they can do that with the pace lap, even with the four cautionlaps built in, i feel really good about their strategy as far as being able to stretch thefuel. the real question comes in, where are the cautions? remember, we've made a big dealabout this strategy. we are at the one-quarter point of this race. 40 laps into 160-lap race.there are so many ways this strategy can go wrong. this is very, very aggressive.>> jeff: another thing we cannot remember, it's been since 1999 that ford has won thisrace. and this is a very prestigious race.

race.>> rick: kyle busch has closed the gap. he was about 24 seconds behind brad keselowski.keselowski obviously out in front, probably saving a little bit of fuel, but kyle buschnow only 17 seconds back from what keselowski has run. so, he gained about seven to eightseconds in this run. >> jeff: you wonder how fast kyle busch is?he's come down pit road, changed tires, gone back on the racetrack and is only three secondsbehind catching joey logano, who is yet to pit. he pitted in extra time and still runhis way up almost to the second position. >> jeff: he will probably pass him beforelogano pits. he will probably pass him. >> rick: we're looking at brad keselowski.again, they're trying a fuel mileage strategy.

he and teammate joey logano have not beento pit road yet. they're the only two cars that are on this strategy. everyone else cameright around lap 24, 25, and even 27. kyle busch was on pit road at lap 27. there's thegap now. when the two cars pit, that will put kyle busch back out in front. and again,kyle busch on pit road at lap 27. that was about 14 laps ago.>> steve: and you just heard the call, pitting this time. so, right now, joey logano's gotto be thinking about what he needs to do on pit road. remember we talked about it earlier,there are more lines on pit road right now, so you have to be careful. you have to over the side of caution a littlebit. the more lines that are on pit road,

the easier to get caught speeding.>> rick: pit road speed 55 miles per hour. they give them a grace of five miles per hour,so you don't want to go over 60. and brad keselowski, race leader now on pit road forhis first stop of the race. kelli? he's saying his car was getting loose on exit,especially off of turn number 2. he was saving as much fuel as he could back in the exit.he said they're going to make an air pressure adjustment, four tires and sonoco fuel forbrad keselowski. >> rick: great stop. 50 years of racing onboard with the 22 of joey logano as he comes in for his stop now. logano, right in frontof marty snider. >> marty: he said making a decent adjustmenthere. he said i'm really bad and maxed out

the track bar. tire changes, coming aroundthe rear end. he had a little problem getting around the back of the car, but they're notworried about that. they're worried about all of the sonoco fuel the car can stand andalso a wedge adjustment to make it looser for joey logano. packed full of fuel, of course.>> rick: two penske cars have been to pit road, meaning the entire field has come onto pit road and back out in front is kyle busch leading by about four seconds over dennyhamlin. aggressive pit strategy has put brad keselowski in a little bit of a winning positionmaybe for penske today. we'll see if the strategy works. >> rick: nascar on nbcsn is brought to youby -- trivante financial. visit to learn more.

his career. michael's open wheel history hasalways made the brickyard a special place to him. to view the full tour visit, visitprivateracing.com and follow them on facebook, twitter and instagram. great walk down memorylane for michael mcdowell. watch every sprint cup series race with the nbc sports app. geta closer look at additional camera angles, driver stats and more information. downloadthe app and find out more at nbcsports.com/live. here's michael mcdowell out on the track.and he's currently 28th. he's a lap down. pace here. kyle has about a four-second leadover teammates denny hamlin, carl edwards, martin truex jr., four toyotas running upfront. but we have to keep our eye on brad keselowski and joey logano, because thosetwo are on a totally different strategy, where

they're trying to stretch the fuel mileageand see if they can get to the checkered flag with one less pit stop than everyone else.>> steve: i think the key to the strategy is they've talked so much about the speedof the 18 car, the 11 car, the 19. they don't think that they can run as quick as they can,so they're trying to find a way. so, the problem is the cars don't drive as well. so, to haveyour car drive here so you can make lap time is vitally important.>> rick: one driver who tried to make some adjustments on pit road recently was the 48of jimmie johnson. as we look at our "nascar heat evolution." they made some changes tothe front end, steve. >> steve: we talk about wedge and track barand these adjustments. right here the splitter

is up in the air, the dirty air underneaththe splitter. the goal is you want the splitter as close to the track as possible to makedown force. as we lower the splitter on the wind tunnel, you'll see the stream of airunderneath the splitter, much more precise making front downforce. they made the adjustmenton a pit stop. and clean, more front down force, make thecar faster. they came down pit road. look at the right-front tire changer. he pullsthe tire off and reaches in and grabs it on the right-front to allow the door travel more.the left front, does the same thing. so, what they've done now is lowered the entire frontof the car trying to make that front down force.>> steve: and rick, a packer sounds complicated,

it's very simple. it's just a shim. the moreshim, the higher the car. you pull the shim, the car rides lower. planning ahead. chadknaus and the 48 of jimmie johnson, those are not things easily removed unless you planahead before you put your car into the race. they have to have either a handle on them,the way they're installed. so, you see teams start races with a lot of plans to fix theircar. see the 48 hopefully getting to turn a little bit better.>> rick: with more on the four-time winner of this race, kelli.>> kelli: at the brickyard for jimmie johnson, every pit box, every pit stall has the driver'sname written on it for the fans to see. well, jimmie, j-i-m-m-i-e johnson's pit box wasspelled j-i-m-m-y and they quickly rectified

the issue, jimmie laughing it off the wholetime. when i rode along with him today, he told me a better misspelling story. firsttime he ever had a die-cast car made of his own car, he was so excited to see it. he saidwe had made all the approvals, couldn't wait to get it, opened up the box, and there itwas, j-i-m-m-y johnson written on his first ever diecast car. he said it was embarrassingat the time. now, though, they've become quite collectible and highly sought after. >> rick: absolutely. nobody wants their namespelled wrong, especially a, well, a six-time champion like jimmie johnson. jimmie johnsoncurrently running in the fifth position, top five performance early in this run. stillonly 51 laps complete of the 160 scheduled.

up to 12 before the pit cycle started andnow is up at sixth. another joe gibbs racing car we've talked about having speed. we talkabout it being very difficult to pass on this racetrack, but matt kenseth's an example,if you have a fast car, you can find your way toward the front.>> rick: and we mentioned joe gibbs racing and their successes. martin truex jr. andthe 78 team have an alliance with joe gibbs racing. and right now, the top six positionsare held by all five of those drivers. four joe gibbs racing drivers and martin truexjr. very strong right now at indianapolis. brian blaney, the 21, just in front of ryannewman in the 31. those two fighting for the 11th spot on the racetrack.>> jeff: newman and his team aren't very pleased

right now, looking at lap times yesterday.i thought they had a top five, cast, but they haven't been able to find their way. they'vestarted 6th and have worked back to 13th. no cautions?>> steve: well, just -- they've got to be lucky. ill-timed cautions. basically, therisk, the danger time for those two team penske fords is when the 18 of kyle busch pits, betweenthat and when the penske cars pit, there can't be a yellow. that will ruin the strategy.>> rick: 37 laps out front, and it looks as though a caution will come out as greg biffleslams the right side of his car into the wall. >> steve: heavy impact right there.>> rick: a lot of damage to the right side of that car. it happens quickly here at indianapolis.you're carrying so much speed through these

90-degree turns. kelli.>> kelli: what a shame for greg biffle, who has had three straight top ten finishes cominginto this. he initially asked his team to tighten him up a little bit, but after thatpit stop, he said he had zero turn in the car. and now he's obviously made heavy contactwith the wall. roll toward pit road.>> access road? >> rick: take a look. up against the wallalready. the 16 of greg biffle bringing out just the second caution of the day in indianapolismotor speedway. >> rick: great nascar footage. in theatersaugust 19th. marty?>> marty: spit stops coming fast and furious

for martin truex jr. he said it's a littletight but much better on that run. he's going to take four goodyear tires. here you seehim top left of your screen. for carl edwards, a long debate on the radio. he said if it'sa short run, we're not going win this race, and they debated on putting a packer in thatcar. they're not going to do that. denny hamlin, his teammate, kyle bright said this car isvery good in clean air, but in traffic, the track bar has to be so high, he cannot runlike he wants to. brad keselowski leaves pit road. kyle busch with an air pressure changeand tires for him. brad keselowski wins that race off pit road. rick?>> rick: two tires. again, they were only on the track about 11 laps since they hadbeen on pit road. joey logano stays out to

try the strategy with fuel mileage. try thestrategy with fuel mileage >> rick: nascar on nbcsn is brought to youby -- ford. we go further so you can. and by sprint, proud sponsor of the nascar sprintcup series. and not the sparks show that greg biffle wanted today, racing for his father,jack biffle, who passed away earlier this week. nascar race view gives you access tofeatures that let you follow your favorite driver as if you're at the track. get livestats, leaderboards, driver and team communications and more, all on your devices. it's availablenow for an all-new low price when you visit nascar.com/raceview. welcome back to the crownroyal presents the combat wounded coalition 400 at the brickyard. marty.>> marty: rick, todd gordon made the call

to leave joey logano out on the racetrack.is this just a matter of sticking to your strategy? and any question of whether or notyou are going to stick to it, todd? today with the cautions falling right. sofar, we've gotten where we needed to. got to find a little bit more speed, but we'lldo that on the next two stops. day, then, with the three top strategies?>> yeah, i mean -- it's hard to hear you there, but the way pit road is here in the cycle,you can do, the penalty's not as big. and i think as hard as it is to pass, limitingyour time on pit road can put you in the best position.>> marty: that's the plan for the 22, three stops today and that's it, kelli.>> kelli: and paul wolfe for team penske,

you have two tires, what do you need for yourstrategy to work? to gain the track position. we knew we couldat least get two and still stay in front of them. we made some adjustments. hopefully,we can get the speed we need and continue to stay up front. take the free pass.>> rick: right. >> jeff: and get back on the lead lap. so,the danger here really isn't that high. now, whether it works to win the race or not, that'sa whole other question, but he probably will never be in a position where he will get alap down, unless we get that wrong caution >> steve: and two tires was the right callfor paul wolfe. the only position he basically

lost was the 22 of joey logano. so, the 2had a great strategy. two tire was good and here's what they said on the radio.>> to take the top, i would guess, i would have made it turn 1. not 4.>> rick: a little strategy there as they're getting ready to come to the restart zone.he takes the top. we definitely let him in. brad keselowski and joey logano on the radio.they can't communicate with each other, as the green flag comes back out. joey logano,a great start. let's see if brad keselowski gets as good of a start. he does not. andkyle busch will go by for second. brad keselowski not even close to as good a start as he washoping for, as another car goes by. that's carl edwards in the 19 that gets by him.>> steve: we can talk strategy, but this comes

down to getting good restarts. you have toget good restarts. brad keselowski has not and now he's three wide down the backstretch.>> rick: three wide and losing positions. >> jeff: that's what we talked about. if youenter turn 2 or 2ur7b 4, just like now, side by side, you lose so much momentum. watchmartin truex behind these two cars. he's going to see an opportunity here, try to make itthree wide or even two wide as they single out.>> rick: fan out once again as they come down the front stretch. stretch, you saw a group of cars off the backhit pit road. that was the wave of cars we had, including the 34, the 15, a group ofcars. simple math at indianapolis, you wave

by, get a lap back, you pit the first lapand stay in front of the leader. good work by all of those crew chiefs.>> rick: the pack still working around indianapolis motor speedway. joey logano still in frontof kyle busch but only 0.3 seconds separates the top two. carl edwards, kyle larson, mattkenseth the top five. really battling hard to stay in front of kylebusch. he's aware of the risk that todd gordon took leaving him on the racetrack. he knowshe has to give it his all on all of the restarts. >> jeff: this is the thing that is so difficult.you know, coming back after being out of the race car for a long time, finding a way toget the restarts right. restarts have so difficult. the restart. it's the hardest part of racing,in my opinion, especially adding on the fact

of not being in that race car. very, verydifficult. >> rick: jeff gordon was about to go a lapdown before the caution came out. the caution came out and the 10 of danica patrick gotthe free pass. that's why the two are running nose to tail right now. there were seven wave-around,as you mentioned. took advantage of the caution to get back on to the lead lap. so, currently,we have 28 cars on the lead lap, running 28th is chris buescher. joey logano staying infront of kyle busch, but the gap continues to get smaller, as we see austin dillon workingto the inside of jeff gordon driving the 88 for dale earnhardt jr. a moment.>> steve: one thing's for sure, we heard the

crew chief on the 2 talk about the fuel mileageof those penske fords. you see the 22 get loose and the 18 take advantage into turn4. but i was going to say, they may be getting good fuel mileage, but it doesn't seem tobe hurting down the straightaway, jeff. they still have great straight-line speed.>> rick: with the pass by kyle busch, how does that hurt joey logano, who's on a completelydifferent strategy? say ten seconds of the leader. but like isaid earlier, i am not really sure how much that matters at this point. you're stuck somuch into this strategy of stopping, you know, three times. so, obviously, the closer hecan stay to the leader, the better his opportunity is. but they're on this strategy to see itout no matter what.

>> rick: joey logano needs to make it to atleast lap 80, so, the halfway point. joey logano would be coming to pit road in about18 laps. >> steve: yeah, and i think that's a non issuefor joey logano. just run as fast as you can. sometimes it's complicated, sometimes youhave to worry about all the details. joey logano, do the best you can, run as fast asyou can, try to stay as close to the lead as you can. but really, his strategy, he'sthe only guy on it. i look behind him and see edwards with the speed, larson has drivento the fourth position. you mentioned matt kenseth, jeff, back in fifth. tony stewartin sixth. there are a lot of players in this race.>> jeff: it's going to continue to change.

the race. i wouldn't have thought in a millionyears that joey logano, you could put that car and put it in this position, him stayup there this long. he showed no speed whatsoever, but in that cleaner air with better trackposition, now the car is a little bit quicker. so, track position means so much. good pitstops, good strategy, all those things can put a car right now that is not leading, putthem in the right place at the right time and have a chance to win. two fresh tires. i thought it was a rightcall, but the one position on the restart, not controlling the restart killed the 2 car.he lost momentum on the first lap. now he's all the way back in 11th in that dirty airand behind on tires. so, i thought paul wolfe

was doing the right thing. i was wrong. itlooks to be that staying out and getting the clean air, even only one position, could matterto the 2. allmendinger, a team that's struggled lately,had a lot of problems. they're having a good, solid run today.>> rick: out in front, kyle busch has led 43 laps of the brickyard. carl edwards hasmoved up to second. >> rick: welcome back to nascar sprint cupseries racing from the brickyard. telecast presented by golden corral. today's aerialcoverage provided by our partners at smithfield foods. again, the cloud cover has not comeover the track as much as i'm sure most of the teams were hoping for, so it stays sunnyand bright all the way around this 2 1/2-mile

track, as kyle busch continues to lead twoseconds over carl edwards now. kyle larson, joey logano, matt kenseth the top five. martintruex jr., denny hamlin, jimmie johnson, tony stewart and kurt busch in the top ten. brickyard 400, his first career crown jewelwin, if you will. he told me the problem with that, when you win a crown jewel, you wantto win more crown jewels. kyle going for the win again today. he actually said, i've gottenthe balance on the 18 car better on this run. i think that's what the rest of the fielddid not want to hear. back in the second position, his teammate, carl edwards. and he said earlieron the radio, if it comes down to a short run at the end of a race, we're not goingto win. we need to make an adjustment. here's

the adjustment they talked about making.>> what do you think, want to bite the bullet, put more pressure on the right-front at therestart? >> i think it's going to be a big deal. withthat short run, we're sure going to win. >> ten-four.>> marty: they waved off that change because they thought it would cost them too much time,but they feel they need to make the 19 better to win the race.>> dave: kyle larson in the xfinity race finished fourth and has two top tens in sprint caraction, so he feels confident about this. make it work better. as far as matt kenseth,he's been mostly tight all day long. they made a wedge adjustment on the last stop,trying free it up.

>> marty: a lot of talk about joey logano'spaint scheme this weekend. it was from the all-star race back in may, and in pictures,all of the big moments in the moments of team penske. after the race, todd gordon said whydon't we run that at indianapolis? that's where it makes the most sense. so they broughtit this weekend. very happy with it. there losing a couple spots to martin truex jr.and denny hamlin. truex said the car is better on this run. and martin cole earn told mefinishing with consistency is key. he said we've been fast and haven't finished. teammate in the 78 car, martin truex jr. kelli?>> kelli: jimmie johnson has been on a career stride. he has finished outside the top tenthe last six races, but he says team morale

is still high, said we have a good foundationto build from. we don't want a decent finish, we want to dominate and we're highly inspiredto get back on that mount we feel like we should be on, dave.>> dave: tony stewart's big race today was on the mind of mike bugarewicz, so much sothat they didn't bring the car they were going to. they rushed this car through the buildingprocess because they had some ideas. he said this one blew the other out of the water andit's running well, kelli. they've lost all water pressure, now sayingthey have just blown up. and they were really hoping to turn things around. he's been inthe wall several of the last races. they had a poor qualifying effort after some reallygood practice speeds. they thought they had

made the right adjustment, but that's allfor naught now, as you can see the 47 sitting on the pit road with a blown engine. dave?>> dave: kelli, a lot of crew chiefs this weekend told me how edgy the setups were onthese race cars. if you went a little too far one way, you could really hurt the handling.well, that's happened for kurt busch. his car wouldn't turn well, so they made an adjustmenton the last pit stop and crew chief tony gibson said, i guess we overshot, because kurt wastalking about the car being very loose on the exit of the corner, kelli.>> kelli: brad keselowski's been running a different strategy, had the long fuel runbegin with and two tires on the last stop. dave?>> dave: kevin harvick on the lead lap and

moving forward. that car is fast and the adjustmentsthey have made have been very good. in fact, rodney childers trying to put the car backwhere it was at the beginning of the race setupwise, and that's working for kevin. forjamie mcmurray in the 1 car, he had a flat tire. they're keeping an eye on it. the tiresare just fading, according to the driver right now. he's half down on the track bar backto zero but trying to work forward in the 1 car. kelli?>> kelli: paul menard loved coming here to watch the indy 100 as a kid and has his owncup win in the brickyard 400 back in 2011. how special is this place to him? well, hesays he'll be building a house in a few years and he wants to put a yard of bricks in thedriveway. so, this weekend he went out and

walked on the track, took a picture of theyard of bricks here to make sure he gets all those dimensions right. right now, paul sayingthey are just too tight through the center and they need to take more wedge down on thenext stop, marty. was the best example of the team stickingtogether and after that, rallied us. it was a good finish for us on the weekend. so, they'revery happy with last weekend at new hampshire, even though they finished outside of the topten. right now blaney in the 15th position. guys?>> rick: thank you, guys. straight through the field there as there were some positionschanging through the field. kyle busch, no positions changing up there, as he has beendominant. of the 75 that have been run, he

has led 54 laps already. carl edwards, kylelarson, matt kenseth and martin truex jr. of the list. 57 laps led already of the 78that have been run. sprint's network reliability's now within 1% of verizon. switch today andsave 50% on most verizon, at&t or t-mobile rates. visit a sprint store or sprint.com/networktoday. take a look at the toyota driver update. up front, the toyota camry driven by kylebusch. teammate carl edwards second. matt kenseth four, martin truex jr. fifth and dennyhamlin sixth. once again, all five of the toyota drivers with the alliance with joegibbs racing running in the top six. chevy had won 12 straight here before busch wonlast year in a toyota, and now busch trying to become only the second driver to ever goback to back with wins. jimmie johnson did

it in 2008 and 2009, and kyle busch won lastyear, trying to get that second win. >> jeff: kyle busch is kind of beating everybodypretty badly right now. this is a pretty good race. third, fourth and fifth, a tight battle.>> rick: kyle larson has third. kyle larson was able to win earlier this week in the campingworld truck series on dirt at el dora. was hoping that that momentum might come intoplay this weekend, as they come to the big track, the brickyard. and kyle larson runningin the second spot. excuse me, third. >> steve: think how big of a win it wouldbe for the 42 of kyle larson. so close at dover this year, so much expectation on thisyoung man. he come out of the box so strong. i think it was just a foregone conclusionhe was going win and win often. has yet to

reach victory lane at the sprint cup level.to do it for your first ever time and here in indianapolis would be an unbelievable accomplishment. here at the brickyard. and of course, youhave to remember that kyle larson drives for chip ganassi, who's had incredible amountsof success at indianapolis. chip ganassi won the brickyard 400 with jamie mcmurray a fewyears back when jamie won the daytona 500 and then came back in the same year and wonthe brickyard 400. indianapolis. it's absolutely impressive,as the 20 goes by the 42. and you mentioned the 20 car, jeff. that car looks good. he'sdriven all the way from the 18th position where he started.>> jeff: and matt kenseth, this is his kind

of race, the long green flag runs, he's socompetitive and so consistent. he lays down the same lap time lap after lap after lap.he can run his car on the edge for long periods of time. this is the kind of race that mattkenseth seems to do really well on. we saw it last week, he didn't go out and lead abunch of laps, none of that stuff. just getting himself in position, getting his car better,and ultimately, he was able to win the race. >> steve: and this track's hard to pass on.we saw just a little while ago, as they entered turn 1, martin truex was behind the 20 car,and he could not get the pass on. he's right on the 20. watch what happens. look how faraway. he's right on his bumper. he slides, loses the racetrack. now look at the gap,huge gap. so, the reason that is -- watch

right here. listen to the throttle.[ inaudible radio transmissions ] >> jeff: you hear him on and off the throttle.that's because he lost all the down force behind matt kenseth. he could not keep hiscar on the racetrack. he's right there, i can pass him. as soon as he's on the throttle,he loses the grip. that's why indy's so hard. mike?>> mike: just an update on the 88 and jeff gordon. on pit road now, the car has beenextremely tight, just cannot get back to the throttle right now. he's been working the track car, hasn't mademuch of a difference. an air pressure adjustment, chassis adjustment and four tires, hopingto give gordon more to work with this afternoon.

pit road. kyle busch out front has about athree-second lead over carl edwards. matt kenseth has moved up to third. martin truexjr. is fourth. kyle larson's dropped back to fifth. denny hamlin is sixth. now kylebusch continuing to put cars either a lap down or multiple laps down, which is the casewith cole whitt in the 98, who now is two laps down.>> steve: it's been not confusing but busy with all of the different pit strategies,teams running in the front, staying on the racetrack, some pitting early. we talked aboutkevin harvick after the first green flag pit stop, thought he had an issue with a tire,came to pit road, lost a lap. well, he is on a heck of a drive back up through the field.we talk about indianapolis and track position,

how hard it is to pass. but all those storylines you want out there, but the simple fact is harvick in the 4 car has pitted one extratime than everyone else, under green, lost a lap, got a lap back and has driven backto ninth position. jeff, if you have a car, you can drive back up through the field.>> rick: kelli? through turn 1 and free everywhere else. they'llmake adjustments to help him out there and four goodyear tires and sonoco fuel for jimmiejohnson. >> steve: denny hamlin also coming in andother teams playing this strategy. denny hamlin up front was in the third position, says thecar was a little free, but with an air pressure adjustment, trying to tighten it up. dave?>> dave: wedge adjustment on the right left

rear of the 14 car. four tires for him. hesaid, "oh, man, we are still tight," so they made a large adjustment for him. this run but too tight in the center. you'llsee him hit his pit stall. a lot of people playing the strategy that the 22 was playingearlier, pitting here a little bit earlier in the window than most people expected. it'sgoing to be an air pressure adjustment for edwards. they're still worried about thatshort-run speed, and it's going to be four tires as well. a slower stop, too, kelli.>> kelli: brad keselowski said we're just not good on restarts. i don't know what totell you except it gets better as we go, except he's been loose off turn 2. this time it'sfour goodyear tires for brad keselowski and

sonoco fuel.>> dave: joey logano's coming in. he said he maxed out the track bar once again, thatthe car just had no front turn. it's a pretty big wedge adjustment on the left side, tryingto get the car to loosen up for joey logano. >> steve: they did, rick. and we mentionedthis, nascar has added pit road time lines. there used to be tevin speed sections, nowthere's twelve speed sections. marty? >> marty: martin truex jr. coming to a slideand a stop as we right along board with him. he said it's genertight at the start but getsbetter the longer they run. four goodyear tires for martin truex jr. and an air pressureadjustment trying to help the tight condition early in the run. dave?>> dave: jamie mcmurray slides to a stop in

his pit stall. the pit stalls are very narrowbut very long, so it gives a false sense of security sometimes. good job by jamie jumpingon the brakes. he'll get four tires and fuel here.>> rick: race leader kyle busch on pit road now as well.>> steve: drag racing his way to a pit stall. he's got to sequence in here somehow and getto the pit stall. telling them, let him go and hold on to your stall. kyle said the cargot a little too snug at the end of that run, but not bad at all. it's going to be an airpressure adjustment and a wedge adjustment trying to free it up, especially towards theend of the run and four goodyear tires for kyle busch, the leader.

>> steve: they have, rick. all the leadersare pitting early. they understand with only 73 laps to go, they're trying to get on pitroad, but you can't make mistakes. we saw the 11 and 48 with speeding penalties, rick.a big change here, more speed timelines on pit road. there used to be only 7, now there's12. caught a couple drivers out. >> rick: the 11 and 48 caught for speeding.you're watching nascar sprint cup series racing from the brickyard. >> rick: nascar on nbcsn is brought to youby toyota. let's go places. and by golden corral's premium weekends. prime rib, newcoconut shrimp and more, just $13.99. nascar drive is nascar.com's live race day companion.select your in-car video or camera angle,

access integrated driver stats, lap-by-lapcommentary and social conversations in realtime. you won't miss a lap when you visit nascar.com/driveon your personal computer now. you're getting a look at casey mears from that geico onboardcamera. and kyle busch continuing to dominate. kyle busch now has led 69 of the 90 laps.carl edwards running second but almost seven seconds back. and that gap was quite a bitcloser, but because of the green flag pit stops, the 18 of kyle busch had a very goodone, and carl edwards not as good. so, the gap now has separated about five seconds fromwhat they were running. carl edwards was quite a bit closer to kyle busch before the stops.>> steve: yeah, and the big winner in all the stops, you're riding along with him rightnow, jeff gordon. he was back in tl in 20th,

22nd, 18th in that range. and through thestops, coming on pit road early, getting fresher tires before those guys, he's worked up to12th right now. >> steve: and he feels the best about thecar he's felt all day, jeff. feels tight in the corners, can't get back to the throttlethe way he'd like. made an air pressure adjustment and it seems to have helped the balance ofthe race car a bit. one thing i wanted to point out that may have been overshadowedthis weekend, jeff gordon, while he's been asked several times about what this meansfor his legacy coming out of retirement, he's downplayed that dramatically, saying look,it's not about that. it's very much about dale earnhardt jr. we're thinking about him.and in fact, you can see that on the race

car, on the windshield over the driver's seat,where it says dale earnhardt jr.'s name. even in the garage area in practice, originallyit had jeff gordon's name there. the team asked to have that taken down and dale jr.'sname put back up. marty? teammate, kyle busch. in fact, it was threeseconds slower, but there was a republican. add that packer to the right to help the 19car on the short run? well, they did it on this last stop. carl, remember, toll the team,we cannot win this race if it comes down to a short run unless we do that. so, they bitthe bullet to add that packer to the right front. he's also worried there might be avibration in the car, that maybe they didn't get all the lug nuts tight and dave rogersjust reaffirmed, we did get all the lug nuts

tight, just drive through it, if you can.steve, at some point, you have to bite the bullet as a crew chief, don't you? it maybe the difference in winning or losing. spread out. a three-second longer pit stopunder yellow flag conditions when everyone's on pit road together could be, you know, five,six, eight, ten, twelve spots, rick. so, wise move to make the adjustments under green.>> rick: difference in stops for kyle busch, stops under 13 seconds, and carl edwards over15 seconds. >> jeff: big gain here with jeff gordon. whenyou pit has a lot to do with when others pit. there's one car. if you think of where he'sbeen all day long, in 18th, 19th, 20th in a dogfight with a bunch of other cars. thatpit stop was able to clear those cars, get

in front of those cars. now he has a cleanracetrack. first time he's had it all day. so, now his car drives so much better. so,the adjustments, steve, you know may have helped the car, but what really helped wasgetting it into clean air. at indianapolis. 200 miles an hour going into1 and 3. >> steve: and rick, we knew there would bean effect of dale earnhardt jr. not being the driver behind the wheel of the 88, andyou see had t here in the chase bubble. with dale jr. not getting any points for last weekor this week or the upcoming pocono race, expecting jeff gordon to be back again, he's11 below the cut line. while i know the most concerning thing is to get their driver backin the car, but that completely changes the

complexion for the 42 of kyle larson. he'shaving a great run, just above the cut line. the 21 is just below the cut line. so, whilethis is a negative for the 88, it definitely changes the outcome for everyone else tryingto make it to the playoffs. was after race number two. so, it's been quitesome time since kyle larson has been in this position. but kyle larson running very strongonce again here. kyle larson currently fifth on the racetrack. kyle larson, a 23-year-oldout of elk grove, california. still has yet to get his first win in the sprint cup series.his best finish here, seventh. that took place back in 2014. but he has never finished outsideof the top ten in his two starts here. riding along with kevin harvick.>> jeff: we.

>> rick: basically almost completely recovered,jeff. he was running fifth before the extra time for the tire, fought his way back upto the sixth position. second-placed carl edwards at the brickyard.why pause to take a pill? or stop to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use is approvedto treat both erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to gofrequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines,and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex do not take cialis if you take nitratesfor chest pain, or adempas for pulmonary hypertension, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure.do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayedbackache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term

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with a passion for our food and a simple belief.the simpler the better. this is the ford f-150. the only pick-up with a high strength, military-grade,aluminum-alloy body. of all the full-size, half ton pickups, it's got the most towing,the best payload and the highest gas mileage. plus, no body rust. and guess what? this isthe safest f-150 ever built. the only pickup to pull the government's 5-star safety ratingand earn an iihs top safety pick. this is the f-150. and ford f-series is the undisputedtruck leader for 39 straight years. about heat.>> jeff: you've heard hot how hot it is. that is always in the race car, puts air in therace car so there's more air in there. nascar makes you have that. you can see kevin harvickright here under caution. it's so hot in his

race car, he's dumping water, pouring it downhis neck, getting it anywhere he can, pouring it on his face. these race cars are so hotand so uncomfortable, any kind of relief you can get is a great thing.>> steve: well, kevin harvick is dumping that water on him under caution. what the driversalso have on them for opportunity, as we go on board with the 78, you'll see the drinksystem out of his helmet. so, under green flag conditions, martin truex can continueto hydrate himself. he doesn't have to wait for a caution. it's probably not easy, butin the long green flag runs, as we complete 43 laps, on this green flag run, you can seehim put his hand out the window, how much air that blows in, blowing the helmet skirtup, it makes a difference, but he is able

to get the fluids into his system as he races.>> jeff: it makes a huge difference. it's almost 112 degrees inside tony stewart's car.by the way, that's in the coolest part of the car, because down by his feet, the transmission,the shifter, all that metal is so hot. you literally cannot touch it. if you touch it,it will burn you. as a matter of fact, after these races, you take your gloves off andhold the steering wheel, the steering wheel will be so hot, you can hardly hold it. so,111 degrees up high. down by his feet, it's much hotter.>> rick: and actually making light of the situation earlier, tony stewart said thison the radio about the heat. good to go here.>> ten-four. i'd turn off the air conditioner

for a little bit.>> i'll take one this time, friend. >> i thought you said you were cold out there.>> yeah, but i'm still thirsty. >> jeff: yeah, i'll bet he's chilly. here'sthe other thing that the drivers have right on top of their helmets. you can see thishose. that hose is hooked to either a fan or actually an air a lot of drivers have gone to only using afan because of the weight. but on a day like today, there's a unit that brings air in fromoutside of the race car, cools it and dumps cool air into the helmet. that air is alsofiltered where carbon monoxide is cleaned from it. so, that air, although it's not,like, 50 degrees or anything, it's probably,

i'm going to guess on a day like this maybe85 degrees going into your helmet, maybe 80, 75. it feels like unbelievable pleasure. andyou think it's broken sometimes. it's so hot in there, you think it's blowing that youflip your shield up, turn the air conditioner off, you realize it's not broken it was workingreally well. so, that's the relief the drivers have.>> rick: and jeff, we see tony's sponsors on the inside of his race car there, but thehelmet is somewhat subdued. that's because every week tony's running a tribute helmet.this week, why not? the tribute is to a.j. foyt, his childhood hero and the man who headedmuch of his racing life after. it's a.j. on the helmet this week, coyote enterprises acrossthe back there. really cool. a very warm race

day at indianapolis. not the warmest thatwe have seen for the brickyard 400, but ranking right up there. it's currently 93 degrees.so, in the past few years, it's definitely one of the hottest days. and again, as theyshield the cars off on the track, that creates even more heat, and that's what we're seeinghere at indianapolis now as these cars completely sealing off that front of the car as wellas the side skirts. >> jeff: we saw brad keselowski. he missedthe corner altogether. he completely missed turn 1 -- i'm sorry, turn 3. he went way upthe racetrack. now austin dillon got by. but you're right, this racetrack for drivers,when you know it's going to be hot and you racetrack. the front of the cars barely comeup, side skirts barely come off the ground.

it will cook you. this is a hot racetrack.>> rick: the hottest guy on the track has been kyle busch, out in front. >> rick: welcome back to nascar's sprint cupseries race from the brickyard. telecast presented by golden corral. following race coverage,stay tuned for the nascar america post race show presented by advance auto parts. andfollowing the post race show, be sure to catch "victory lap," a full recap and analysis oftoday's race, all right here on nbcsn. it will be dominated by kyle busch, who has dominatedthis race, as he closes in on the back bumper of the 17 of ricky stenhouse jr., currentlyrunning 20th. only 20 cars still on the lead lap. that is a testament to how aggressivekyle busch has been since the initial drop

of the green flag, as we've completed 108of the 160 scheduled laps. 52 to go from the brickyard. only two cautions. the record forfewest cautions in a brickyard race is one. but last year, there were nine cautions. so,quite a bit different from a year ago, at least the pace of this race. for some updatesfrom pit road, let's go to marty snider. >> marty: right now ryan newman in the 13thposition. he said indianapolis can be a fun and miserable place all at the same time.the f the car is handling well, it's a fun racetrack to run, but if it's not, it's miserable,because it seems like you're working twice as hard. right now, newman certainly workingtwice as hard, but the car's getting better. there. he said the car's just so sensitive,a little bit too loose right now for ryan

newman. dave?>> dave: when i talked to matt mccall, jamie mcmurray's crew chief this morning, he saidone of jamie's best skills is he knows you have way more to lose if you miss a pass thanif you wait for the right time. that's the veteran skills he possesses. the problem rightnow, that last adjustment hurt the front end of the car, and that's where you really needto guide the car to making those passes, mike. >> mike: kasey kahne, dave, not having thebest day, either. started off 26th, and while he's picked up ten positions, he has beenstruggling with the race car. extremely tight throughout the afternoon, especially in turn3. they've made several air pressure adjustments, but kahne has been a little frustrated withthat, saying the air pressure is just not

working. kelli?>> kelli: we talked about the struggles as of late for the 48 team. well, when jimmiejohnson was asked earlier this week if they were pressing too much, he said yeah, that'sthe problem, we've just been making too many mistakes. the whole team is doing that. ifwe have a fifth-place car, let's at least finish there. he says it starts with me. islid through the pit box and i can't do that. i've been at 110%, and that's when you makemistakes. well, it happened to him again after spending much of the early stages of the race.jimmie johnson hit with that speeding penalty on pit road, and now he's mired back in 19thposition. >> rick: and about to go a lap down. jeffgordon currently running 12th, had this to

say on the radio. down.>> steve: that's great information. talk about veteran drivers, he says not only what he'sstruggling with, but jeff gordon wants to know what the 41 as struggling with so hecan pass him. if he knows he's loose off or in or tight, that will affect how gordon approachesthe 41. >> rick: welcome back, as we look at the topspeed presented by sprint. ryan blaney has posted the fastest speed on the racetrack.that was entering the turn. 206.58 miles per hour. sprint's network reliability is nowwithin 1% of verizon's. switch today and save 50% on most verizon, at&t or t. mobile rates.visit a sprint store or sprint.com/network

today. next sunday, nascar is back on nbcsn.sprint cup series will visit the tricky triangle, pocono. race coverage beginning at 1:00 p.m.eastern. jeff gordon, he's won six times, the most of any drivers. matt kenseth wonthe race last year. >> jeff: we talked about kyle busch dominatingthis race. guess what? now you have to lap six-time champion jimmie johnson. jimmie johnson'snot going to make this easy. >> rick: and you just made a statement therethat i think we really have to amplify. kyle busch has been so good. he's about to lapjimmie johnson. and jimmie johnson has won at this place four times.>> steve: yeah, and you heard kelli stavast say he was trying reduce his mistakes. well,today he was caught speeding, putting him

in this position. he was running seventh whenhe was caught for speeding. now he's running 17th position, trying to hold off kyle busch,aggressively. >> rick: marty?>> marty: guys, it's so impressive what kyle busch has done today, on board with him ashe gets around jimmie johnson, finally, to put him a lap down. i asked adam to evaluatethe team and where they are, and he said i really feel we've been on our game the lastseveral weeks, but we want a more consistent rhythm of top five. that's going to get usin the right part for the chase. he said we've been out of that experimental phase of theseason for quite a while now. and he called this part of the season "kick butt mode" thatit's time to go into that. steve, he brings

up a great point, though. at some point inthe season, and a lot of times use the brickyard as that demarcation point -- you've got toturn your attention to consistency, top five, getting ready for the chase, because that'sthe mode you need to be in from september onwards. gone on to win the championship. this is amarquee event circled on the calendar. teams build new cars, go to the wind tunnel andtest it, if they have the opportunity. so, if you can come here and outperform your competition,that is a huge shot in the arm. that gives you the confidence that you're on the rightpath when the playoffs come later in the year. >> rick: here's some momentum as he goes byryan blaney. kyle busch on pace to break jeff

gordon's record of most laps led in the 400.gordon led 124 laps back in 2004. and kyle busch definitely on pace to break that number,as he's already led 97 of the 118 that have been run. let's talk about strategy, as weare under 43 to go, brought you by smithfield foods. steve?>> steve: we've talked all weekend long about the extreme heat here in indiana. well, driverfatigue, we haven't seen a lot yet, but as we're 60 laps green flag run, as get in theclosing laps of this race, little mistakes are going to make a big difference. that canhappen with driver fatigue. and how about when you have tired drivers making late-racerestarts? we saw it last week in new hampshire and yesterday in the xfinity race. if cautionscome toward the end of the race, they're going

to determine the winner when drivers are perhapsat their most tired point of the race. like new hampshire, it's still aggressiveon restarts. you have everybody fighting for the bottom grooves. they will get very aggressivewhen we get ready for the restarts. kelli? >> kelli: after going a lap down, jimmie johnsonbrings the 48 to pit road. obviously, you can sense some frustration over the radio,but he has said that the car was better after the last adjustment. it was more snug allthe way around, so with a four-tire stop there for the 48.>> rick: and a smart move for the 48. he just got lapped. so, come to pit road and gamble. >> rick: into the wall is the 23, david ragan.that will bring the caution out. see the left

rear tire is down. third caution of the daycomes out. >> that's pretty good there. i'm not sure-- >> rick: see parts of the tire coming out.>> going to the garage here. >> rick: could be some spring rubbers thathave come out of that car. take a look at what happened.>> jeff: his hand's out the window. he knew he had a problem. came off turn 1, had a problem.looks like left-rear tire. >> rick: left-rear tire is down.>> jeff: sure. >> rick: into the wall goes david ragan, bringingout the third caution. that will reset the field. you guys mentioned restarts. they'llbe coming up next.

>> steve: at the brickyard, the leaders areon pit road. matt kenseth was running in third position, said his car started out tight,then it went neutral, then back to tight and hard-to-turn side. so, they'll make an airpressure adjustment, fill it up with fuel and four tires.>> marty: martin truex jr. for the second stop will n a row with no changes on the car.he said it's pretty good. all we need is track position, four new tires. carl edwards saidhe did was tight in center and that's it, but he was catching his teammate, kyle busch,and they'll make more of the same changes as last time for busch with a wedge adjustmentand air pressure. the 18 easily holds serve off of pit road with four new tires.>> rick: kyle busch and carl edwards holing

their positions. tony stewart speeding onpit road, a very big penalty for tony stewart. presented by golden corral. again, next sunday,nascar back on nbcsn. we will head to pocono. that race coverage beginning at 1:00 eastern.jeff gordon once again will be subbing for dale earnhardt jr. nascar's added a lap ofcaution. we will slip back away to commercial so we can get more green flag laps here atthe brickyard. >> rick: st. elmo's shrimp cocktail. it isnearly as world-famous as the indianapolis motor speedway. one of the local cuisinesthat everyone likes to take part in when they come to the brickyard in the summer months.on pit road, the 14 of tony stewart got caught for speeding, but they had to say on the radio.>> guys were waving around. it's really not

that big a penalty, is it?>> no, not really. >> it's still a penalty, and i apologize forthat. sorry. of the penalty that they received.>> steve: they're going to be disappointed momentarily that when they learn that justbecause he's in front of the lead lap cars, he's not able to gain that lap back. thatis the penalty of speeding, you're uneligible for the wave-around positions.>> dave: mike bugarewicz says they'll have to go to the back, trying to consult aboutis that. >> rick: the rule is simple, the wave-aroundis an advantage. but the caveat is you can't be under penalty for something else. whenthe 14 sped on pit road, that eliminated his

opportunity to be a wave-around car.>> rick: under this caution, because this is the one where he received the penalty.>> jeff: now we're getting ready, with 35 to go, we're getting ready to deal with laterace restarts and you can see how aggressive they are. you have to make moves and be aggressive.you see tony stewart making this three wide. you see the 20 and the 2 get bottled up, the42 make the move. now look what that bottles up, it makes you four wide. so, somethinghappening in front of you, two cars side by side will create the opportunity for threeand four wide. so you're going to see these drivers having to take advantage. we saw itlast week. we saw all the reps that happened late in the race last week because of theopportunity from the restart. i wouldn't be

surprised to see some action right now. >> rick: tony stewart had gone a lap done.you see the lights back on the pace car, meaning they'll go another time around before we getthe green flag. but again, tony stewart thought that because they were taking advantage ofpitting when they did, the caution came out. >> jeff: that's correct. he pitted under green,and the leaders did not pit. they passed him because of his pit stop. he was too far awayfrom the leaders, got lapped. he sped on pit road. so, when you speed, you're not eligibleany longer, or you have any sort of penalty, you're not eligible to take the pass-around.that's what the rule is and that's why they're still a lap down.>> rick: the other fledged the field today,

jeff gordon. mike?>> mike: rick, one of the biggest obstacles gordon has faced today has been the temperaturesinside that race car. we've seen them exceed 110 degrees. after being outside the car for245 days, well, he may be feeling the effects. off for the remainder of this race. marty?>> marty: mike, it will be fun with two joe gibbs racing teammates starting on the frontrow for the restart, carl edwards and kyle busch as well. dave rogers trying to get hisdriver, carl edwards, fired up for the restart. >> how are you doing in there, bud?>> i'm green. i'm doing great. how are you doing?>> i'm not doing as good as you look. you look really good out there. pretty fast hotrodlike last time, last run.

and he reminded him, we put that in the rightfront to help you on the restart. so, they're confident they might be able to beat theirteammate. it will be fun to watch. in row one. we have one on row two are theircorporate car, truex jr., but i look to row three, kevin harvick. speeding penalty early,went all the way to the back, has driven all the way back up inside the top five. >> rick: we mentioned the restarts, how hecticthey can be, as they get into turn 1. coming up to speed. kyle busch and carl edwards makingup row number one. they're in the restart zone. green flag back in the air! a lot betterrestart that time for carl edwards. kyle clears him, carl edwards second, martin truex jr.third. here comes kevin harvick back up to

fourth now is harvick. got a little bit looseas he was trying to get by matt kenseth, but able to hold on to that spot. here comes dennyhamlin. hamlin in the 11. joey logano in the 22, austin dillon in the 3. those three fightingfor position. falling back, the 88 of jeff gordon.>> jeff: jeff got way out of the groove in turn 3. to counter the movement coming frombehind him, he just turned left and blocked the inside move to keep him in coming by.>> rick: so many cars that took the wave-around, on pit road now so they can fill up with fuelto make it to the end of this race. 32 laps to go. out in front, kyle busch. has led 107laps of the 128 complete. down the backstretch already, has almost a second advantage overcarl edwards. martin truex jr. is third. harvick

and kenseth top five. here's chase elliott.young rookie. the 24 car, taking over for the retired jeff gordon, who unretired tosub for dale earnhardt jr. for this race. we've seen him lead a lot of laps, but hewasn't contested most of the day. as you see jeff gordon get by the 21 of ryan blaney.but on the restart, they were right on his rear bumper, contesting the position and he'sdriven over the rest of the field by over a second. i don't want to take anything awayfrom this 18 car. this is jeff gordon, a five-time brickyard 400 champion working very hard torun in the top 15. we have so many competitors in this field. this is a very deep field ofcompetition. and the 18 of kyle busch, this performance is extremely impressive.>> rick: and it can't just be in this race.

the 130 laps. and the caution has come outone more time. the 7, regan smith, the new york native -->> we're going to lose that lap and i'm going to make it.>> rick: -- has brought the caution out. fourth caution now of the day. but getting back towhat kyle busch has been able to accomplish up to this point, no one has ever done whathe is closing in on being able to do, win the pole and the races for both races at thebrickyard. front. we're not seeing it. but that's becausewhat kyle busch and his team have done has been extraordinary. it is -- you know, wheni watch how fast they are and the way they execute on races, it's unbelievable. and iwatch it with amazement because many times

they make it look easy. this team and theorganization right now, the way toyota has worked with joe gibbs racing and also furniturerow racing, the way they've pulled it together, this formula's working, plain and simple working. >> dave: you talk about how impressive kylebusch has been today. talking to adam stevens this morning, he said what impressed him wasyesterday in the xfinity series race. all the cars behind him had on brand-new tires.kyle busch was on old tires and held them off. adam told me he's just able to find thatextra 1% or 2% that drivers have to find, and that's what makes a championship driver.today we're seeing that. his teammate thought he might catch him on the restart. kyle buschimmediately pulled away. and as you mentioned,

rick, trying to go for nascar history, sweepingthe poles and the races in a race weekend. >> rick: absolutely. paul menard will receivethe free pass with the caution coming out. the pits are open. it's a quick yellow. paulmenard was one of the drivers that did the wave-around and came on to pit road rightafter the start of the race. they're able to get back on pit road and add fuel. thewave-around cars aren't allowed to do that under caution. once they do the wave-around,they have to wait for the green flag to come out before they can come back on to pit roadto add fuel. paul menard took advantage of that, added fuel, now will be back on thelead lap. that will be 18 cars on the lead lap until we see what the wave-around situationwill be for some of the other drivers.

don't expect anyone in the front say 8, 10,maybe 12 cars to hit pit road. but looking back at kurt busch, jeff gordon, jimmie johnson,chase elliott, they might decide to come to pit road to find any sort of edge. you seekurt busch is the first car to decide to come get fresh rubber.>> rick: try to take advantage of this caution, give them some type of hope of catching upto what kyle busch has said is a blistering pace. mike?>> mike: chase elliott in the pit box now, rick, team going to work. a four tire change,wedge adjustment and sonoco race fuel. the car has been snug over the course of the run.they're trying to free him up with the chassis

adjustment.>> kelli: jimmie johnson comes to pit road from the 14th position. chad knaus sayingwe might as well put fresh tires on this. we have nothing to lose. worst, we'll comeout 17th. so they're seeing if the fresh rubber can help them in the late stages of this race.>> mike: there's kurt busch with four fresh tires and a wedge adjustment. he radioed thecrew, they were not affected by last time, still loose off. but the fresh rubber a goodthing for kurt busch. >> rick: under 28 laps to go from brickyard.out front, kyle busch trying to hang on to win it back to back. cleaned up even more. listen on the radio.>> i'd like to ask if we can get a blower,

a jet dryer, a couple of them. just, like,blow the bottom groove all the way around the racetrack, try to get some of the waterbottles and plastic bags and stuff further off the surface?>> steve: worried about debris on the grill and also feels he can use even more of theracetrack to get this, rick, make his car even quicker. that's not what the rest ofthe field wants to hear, is it? >> rick: not at all. he has been the quickest.he has been the most impressive. he has led the most laps. by a long shot. as they getready for the restart, which can be the hairiest time of the race. through the restart zonethey go. kyle's outside his teammate, carl edwards, hoping to have a better car for theshort runs and the restarts. and way up the

racetrack goes carl edwards. he'll lose acouple spots with that mistake. taking advantage of that blunder by the 19 is martin truexjr. he has now moved up to second. and right in the tire tracks of kyle busch.>> steve: see kurt busch all the way to the bottom of the backstretch. remember, he camedown and got four fresh goodyear tires, trying to make them work as soon as possible on thisrestart. >> rick: last year's win for kyle busch wasnot nearly as dominant. it was a very big win for him, a marquee win for kyle buschon his way to his first championship. he had led only 61 laps in this race prior in the11 starts that he had here. that was 61 laps combined. today already, 114 laps led, andhe continues to dominate out front. 25 laps

to go from the brickyard. kasey kahne moving out of line, trying totake another spot. this time trying to get one from ricky stenhouse jr. he'll do it.as tony stewart will also work to the inside of stenhouse jr. jeff gordon will try to takeadvantage of that space available. a good run off turn 4 will give him the momentumto get by stenhouse jr. as well. want to take another look at the restart, jeff.>> jeff: i think carl edwards believes if he is to win this race, he's eventually goingto have to get in front of the 18 and this is his shot. as they enter turn 1, he makesa big move. see how much groove he gains on 18? tries to get up there, make somethinghappen, just can't stay in the groove, carried

a little bit too much speed. but if you'regoing to beat the 18, you've got to try something. he tried to get the left-front fender. goodrestart, as good as you can ask for. they enter turn 1 and i think the 18 is thinkingi've got to get to the 18, try to get air pulled off of him. he turns left, not enoughgrip, up the racetrack. >> mike: jeff, you've got it right. carl cameon the radio after he collected himself and said "i had to try something, guys. i triedto dive it in there. it just plowed up the corner. there was nothing there." but to yourpoint, jeff, this is your shot to win the brickyard 400, you've got to take the chance.>> jeff: that is your shot, marty, because even if you come out third, now you startthe next restart behind him. that was your

chance to make something on the outside. ilike the aggressive moves. you have to try to do something to beat a dominant car.>> rick: we've seen it before out of carl edwards. back in 2008 at kansas, jimmie johnsonwas leading the race and carl edwards said i'm throwing caution to the wind. i'm goingto go into the turn harder than i've ever done it before. he ended up hitting the wall,but everyone was like, that was a valiant effort. you tried.>> jeff: he made a valiant move that day and it didn't work out, but what else are yougoing to do, other than try something aggressive? been the one to beat, almost like his carhas been on rails today. kyle busch, martin

truex jr., then kenseth, harvick, edwardsin the top five. joey logano and brad keselowski running sixth and seventh. we talked aboutthe strategy earlier that they tried to employ. at lap 84, everything got evened out. forlogano, his strategy wasn't going to work anymore because everyone pitted at the sametime. >> steve: what was the aggressive strategybecame the strategy. but martin truex jr. kyle busch. he gained a little under 0.1 secondsover our leader. but there has to be hope to the 78 that maybe he can run the 18 downin the last 21 laps. >> rick: an update on logano's teammate, bradkeselowski. kelli? some medical attention. it was jeremy oegles,the front tire carrier got hit in the head

with a lug nut, suffered a cut on his forehead.you can see it there. so, had a little bit of medical attention paid to him, but he smilesand laughs at me when i asked if he was okay, to kind of underscore how not serious it was.they put a minions cartoon band-aid on his forehead. nonetheless, a very dangerous jobfor the guys on pit road. >> rick: everything about racing is dangerous.and when you think about it, the guys coming out of the pit stalls, the lug nuts are goingto be laying there. five lug nuts from each wheel will be laying on the ground. and whenthey're spinning the tires, those things could end up flying, and obviously, one did in thatsituation. fastest lap turned that time by martin truex jr., who's running second tokyle busch. problem is, kyle busch ran the

second fastest lap. so, not able to gain alot, martin truex jr. >> steve: but that was a full tenth of a second. and with 20 laps to go, if martin truex jr.can string a few of those laps together, maybe gets close enough to put the pressure on kylebusch. that's what we haven't seen today. we talked all weekend about how difficultthis racetrack is. we've talked about the heat. now we're 140 laps into the racetrack,these drivers can get tired. you can see here, the pit crew member got hit with the lug nut.as the drivers leave pit road, they spit the lug nuts up and they can hit a pit crew memberright there in the forehead. >> rick: brad keselowski, joey logano in thetop ten. there are the fastest four. it's

been 1999 since a ford has won this race,dale jarrett in 1999, when ford won. logano running sixth, the highest scored ford. kylebusch, who ended chevrolet's streak a year ago -- they had won 12 consecutive races atthe brickyard, and kyle busch spoiled that streak and now looks to start a streak ofhis own. much, but still faster.>> jeff: and i think, too, when you're running second and if you've been dominated all daylong by the 18 car, he's been faster than you all day long, if you could just keep pacewith him, that's a sign, hey, we've goth a shot. we need a late-race restart. if i feellike i have a shot, if i had the same speed as him, then i do what we just saw carl edwardsdo, try to make something happen. this will

be hard to run kyle busch down. we've seenit all day, he's been the fastest car. but late-race restart, i'm matching his speed,i have an opportunity. so, you have to see some sign of encouragement, and i think martintruex is seeing it right now. give me some track position, i think we canrun with the leaders up front. but when he first got a glimpse of the 18 at real speed,first time he's seen him all day, remember. >> yeah, he's been insane all day, so justkeep doing what you're doing. we're fine. >> marty: but they are gaining a little biton the 18 car, a little bit every lap. remember, the last two stapz for truex, they've madeno changes. they've been very happy with the race car, dave.>> dave: marty, his teammate, matt kenseth

in the 20, you saw him jump through underneaththere up to third position. that was great. the restart before, he restarted on the outsideand got passed by kevin harvick. harvick now has fallen back behind kenseth and has a verytight race car. so, if we do see another restart, inside or outside can make a huge differenceon the runs, especially if they get bottled up like they did through 1 and 2.>> rick: we have to remember, martin truex jr., matt kenseth, carl edwards, denny hamlinall really with the same engineering information, a lot of the same crew members, a lot of samepeople back at the shop. they're not able to do what kyle busch is doing. driving thesecars, obviously, has definitely an advantage if you have the skills that kyle busch has.>> steve: nascar is all about the men and

the machines. well, the machines of thosejoe gibbs racing toyotas -- as you see, carl edwards gets so high, i think he contactedthe wall there, jeff. >> jeff: yeah, he did. he came off turn 1.turn 1 is very, very slick, the slickest part of the racetrack. and he went to throttleup, trying to keep pace with the 4 car, used all the racetrack, slid up. if he didn't hitthe wall, it was really close. >> jeff: it's all about the men and the machinesthey're driving. and joe gibbs racing toyotas all have roughly the same equipment. i thinkit's worth noting that what kyle busch and adam stevens are doing with their equipment,they have taken advantage of it all weekend long. two poles, one win already, going fortheir second win. never been done in nascar.

>> marty: and steve, you talk about the sameequipment. all five of the toyotas brought brand-new race cars to indianapolis. you knowas a crew chief, steve, this is where you bring your latest, greatest, best stuff askind of a test for the chase. races. that's the first time that's happenedsince 2000. they not put a car inside the top ten, andthat was last year. now we see jimmie johnson in 11th trying to run denny hamlin down forthat 10th position. the last time that's happened for this organization.while jimmie johnson is a six-time champion hand he has won a race and he's in the playoffs,they definitely just do not have the speed currently to keep up with some of the carsnear the front.

>> jeff: we saw carl edwards a little whileago getting really high off of turn 1. you can see just right against the wall. it wasn'tthat he was loose off of 1 like i had assumed. it just a little bit. but the closer you canbe to the wall really helps your angle of attack getting into turn 2, and he was justtrying to get his angle correct, misjudged it maybe by two inches.>> rick: enough to actually scratch the surface of the race car. 13 laps to go. kyle buschout in front, already has led 126 laps. martin truex jr. has been putting good laps down,but now not able to close the gap. and he had tried to do that after the restart. kyle larson, a great run, currently in eighth.and kyle larson will have to feel good leaving

the racetrack, as he is now above the cutline as far as who gets into the playoffs. >> jeff: remember, you still have 13 lapsto go. we've seen a lot of crazy things happen. right now, kyle larson has had a really bigrace, trying to help himself. but also, jamie mcmurray, ryan newman, austin dillon, thosethree guys also are having solid races. they're not leading the race. they're not contendingfor the win. but they're having solid races and building points trying to make this chase.>> steve: and how about the 3 of austin dillon? you talk about -- you say it every year, jeff,points matter. it's not just wins that make the playoff. well, austin dillon, nice, solidrun inside the top ten. him and slugger, ever since slug labbe has been put with austindillon, they've shown improvement and speed.

at some of these racetracks. they've doneit here today. plus 53 for the playoffs and the top ten run going so far with 12 to go.>> jeff: and i know richard childress wants to have faster race cars and be in a positionto w races and lead more laps, but they play to their strengths, reliability, that's famousto richard childress racing back to when dale earnhardt was winning. we think about daleearnhardt winning races, leading laps, but they also were extremely reliable with theirequipment, and that's carried out into this year. think about ryan newman a couple yearsago, almost won the championship using that as their strength.>> rick: austin dillon, 26-year-old out of north carolina, trying to hang on to thattop ten position as he's running ninth. mike?

>> mike: just an update on jeff gordon. thisteam has worked on the car throughout the course of the afternoon. jeff has said -- cautionis out on the racetrack. we'll get back to in in a moment, rick.>> rick: caution comes out and looks as though it's debris on the racetrack that brings thecaution out. so, we'll see another restart. you noticethe left-rear quarter panel flared out a little bit there. the debris is high in the middleof turns 1 and 2, is what the track workers are saying. so, they will have to take careof that. you see it just on the exit of the turn.>> jeff: side skirt, doesn't it? >> steve: it does. looks like an exhaust sideskirt. that is a piece of metal. that is not

plastic. that is aluminum or a steel pieceof metal. it was only a foot outside of the right rear tire tracks. remember, over 200miles an hour, they have to pick that up. but what this does, decisions, decisions,decisions. because with 20 laps on the tires, i think kyle busch's decision's pretty easy.there's no way adam stevens can pull the leader of the race off the brickyard 400 with lessthan ten to go. but where in that lead lap? someone's going to pit road, but where? second?fourth? sixth? who will be team take the turn to pit road for fresh tires?>> jeff: sometimes leading the race is a disadvantage. you know the car in front of you, the 18'sbeen faster all day long. how are you going to win? you have to do something differentthan they do. if they pit ai, a lot of cars

are staying out. if they stay out, a lot ofcars are going to pit. tough decision for the 18. i think he has to stay out, but thatopens the door for others. [ inaudible ]>> rick: did you hear that? that's code. they have already worked on it. they have alreadydecided, if you say jack nicklaus, you're either going to stay out or -->> steve: look how many are coming, rick. >> rick: kevin harvick was fourth and makesthe hard left turn on to pit road. so, from fourth -- you've got keselowski, kyle larson,austin dillon, daevenl hamlin, jimmie johnson, kurt busch, chase elliott, mcmurray all onpit road. mike? they've tuned up on it throughout the day.it had been tuned and tight. they've got us

in neutral, the best it's been all day.>> kelli: it's a four-tire change for the 2 of brad keselowski.>> mike: kevin harvick is in for four tires. >> marty: the plan for wheeler and hamlin,four tires and at an adjustment. they had the speeding penalty earlier. they have madetheir way into the top ten, so not a lot to lose for denny hamlin and his team with fourfresh goodyear tires. we'll see what ground they can make up.>> rick: and this will be interesting to see how many will be the buffer between the fieldand kyle busch.eld and kyle busch me too! >> rick: welcome back. nascar sprint cup seriesracing from the brickyard, presented by golden corral. next sunday, nascar is back on nbcsnfor sprint cup series racing from pocono.

that race coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. eastern.matt kenseth won that race a year ago. kenseth currently running third here at the brickyard.the 19 of carl edwards discussing what took place on the last restart, already thinkingabout the next restart. this is what they had to say.>> yeah, that last restart was awful. just down in there open -->> no matter what, you took off. to do right here. he's got to find a way ifhe's going to win this race to leave turn 1 still beside kyle busch, but you just heardcarl edwards say he went to the outside, there was no grip. if truex can stay side by sidewith the 18, watch the 20 of matt kenseth try to make a move get need 2.>> rick: one of the things that you have to

look at and focus on is kyle busch is oneof the best ever at restarts. so, even on not as fresh tires, he's still very good.>> steve: absolutely, but i'm looking back. row on the outside. he'll be restarting seventh,inside row. he seems a long way back, four rows back, but with fresh tires, turns 1 and2, if he can get clear, he can make something happen.>> rick: it will be seven laps to go as they get ready to enter the restart zone. can kylebusch hold them off for seven more laps? green flag back in the air! not a good restart formartin truex jr. he falls back all the way to fourth. and around goes the 19! carl edwards hardinto the wall! 31 also around! the 12 -- or

the 2 of brad keselowski connected. danicapatrick in the 10 also involved. ryan blaney, the 21, may have been caught up. ryan blaneywe had just praised as being in the top 16 in points, trying to get a playoff berth.you see ryan blaney take the steering wheel off. safety crew immediately to him.>> steve: jeff, you told us how crazy the restarts would be, and we saw it here withten left to go. little give and take, everybody trying to position themselves for the longrun down the backstretch. >> jeff: 19 and 31 side by side. 19 just getsup the racetrack. i don't know if he got loose, got tight, got into the side of 31.>> steve: you had mentioned earlier his car got really tight on the last restart. as wesaw him going up the track, if he leads with

the nose, hard to tell, but he gets into the31 quarter panel, but kevin harvick, tough turn, got by the spinning 31.>> jeff: that was a big hit for carl edwards. that was a hard hit. also, the 4 right behindthe 19. remember, when you get that close to another car, you're pulling the air offof that car. so you're taking a lot of down force away from that car. you have a car onthe outside of you, a car in front of you. all those things make your car very, verydifficult to drive. and he already had trouble on the restart before. he said his car didnot turn well at all. you take the aerodynamics away from the car, the down force, and itdrives worse. watch the 4 car. >> two wide. two by two. still outside. tight.>> steve: he just comes up the racetrack.

you hear the throttle control. kevin harvickdoes a nice job not getting into him. you see up on the right-hand corner of the screen,the red flag is displayed, the field stopped. this is another onboard right here with ryanblaney. nowhere to go. a heavy impact. >> jeff: that hurts. you see him holding hisleft arm, clinching his left fist. >> rick: very hard contact for carl edwards.>> jeff: that's restart. if you're kevin harvick, you have to punch. you have to have your noseunderneath the car in front of you. if you're on the outside, you have to get right nextto him, try to pull the air out from under him. that's what you have to do. the onlyway to move forward in a race like this is on the restarts. you have to be aggressive.but again, went all last week, you know. the

same thing that happened last week is happeningthis week. >> rick: cautions late, restarts and chaoslate. two cautions in the first 20 laps, four cautions since then. this one collecting fourcars.now me as dale earnhardt jr., racecar driver. but there's more to me than that. carl, what happened in that wreck?>> it felt like i just got tight down there. really hard for the bottom. it felt like ijust got tight and hit whoever's on the outside of me. so, if indeed that's what happened,i apologize. that's pretty frustrating. i don't know if he came down or if i came up,but it felt like i got in there and just scrubbed that right front. hopefully, a toyota wins.i feel bad for stanley, joe gibbs racing,

everybody. and everybody that's caught upin that wreck. that's frustrating. the 19 all day long.>> yeah. so, i was having a lot of trouble the first corner on the outside, and i thoughtwhen i got down there the thing would stick because it was on the bottom, but i thinkit's something with the way we had everything going, the splitter, plus i tried to coolthe tires little bit. up in that. that's tough.>> marty: carl edwards' car too damaged to continue, guys.>> rick: thanks, marty. while we're under a red flag condition, take another look atthe vehicles that were involved. brad keselowski, danica patrick, ricky stenhouse jr., carledwards, ryan blaney and ryan newman caught

up in this one.>> jeff: it's interesting what edwards said, he cooled his tires, maybe he should havecleaned him. what he's referring to, before they take the green, you see the cars swervingback and forth under caution. they're trying to get heat in the tires and also clean them.so, from the earlier restart where his car didn't stick, he's thinking hey, maybe i needto cool my tires off, so he probably didn't do that before the green flag. instead ofscuffing them, he just tried to get as much heat out of them as possible, again, fryingto do something to beat a dominant car all day long. he was having trouble on restartsanyway. and as they got bunched up, i think it magnified that problem. i don't think hedid anything wrong. you've got to try to do

something and it just didn't work out.>> rick: tire strategy will come into play now as we get ready for the restart, but stillunder red flag condition. let's see if we can chat with kyle busch, who under this redflag condition we hope we can talk with him a little bit about what his strategy willbe and with the fresh tires behind him if he's at all nervous about that.>> jeff: hey, kyle, jeff burton, nbcsn booth. are you with us?>> yeah, man, got you. >> jeff: well, you have dominated this raceall day long. what are you going to have to do to finish it off?>> i think we've just got to get a good restart here, like we just got on that one there,and hope that we can get down into turn 1

and then get single file after turn 1. that'sgoing to be the best thing for us, being able to have a chance to get through turn 2 andgo win the race. >> jeff: well, i know sitting there, you'regetting hotter by the minute. these cars get hot when you sit. how bad is it inside yourcar? so you know, i'm used to it, pretty much.but the guys have done a great job for me, gave me a great driving car so i haven't hadto work as hard as others out here. but also we worked on some of the cooling for me, too,so i feel fresh and ready to go. >> jeff: kyle, thank you for taking time ina heated moment, obviously. appreciate it. i know all the fans do. good luck.>> rick: how about that? probably cooler than

some of the other guys out there. i haven'thad to work as hard. >> jeff: so, ha's right.>> rick: yeah. the reason why is the one that's winning isbetter than everybody else's. to run 15th, you have to run harder than the guy in first.it's so hard to understand that. you hear of rookies coming into the series and racingin 20th and 25th. they say i can't believe how hard you have to race for 25th. the competition'sharder back there and you have to drive harder than you do in the front.>> rick: dave? of the action. listen.>> i hit him square, i just don't know how strong everything in the front end is.>> well, we knew it was your last season you

were getting in the car. we put a little extrabracing in there. >> ah, copy that.>> dave: this team always having fun, reminding the champ in his final season if he wantedto do extra bumper work, he could. he hit a car flush, but they'll come to pit roadjust to tape down the front end of the hood. they sensed a little pickup on the left side.>> rick: after starting third on the day, tony stewart in his final brickyard 400 hashad an up-and-down day, had to get a free pass to get back on the lead lap here underthe most recent caution. >> steve: we mentioned how hot the cars getunder the cautions. the thermometer in stoney text's car, 115 degrees. it's about 110 underracing conditions, but as the car has sat,

it's really heated up. now tony stewart backon the lead lap, currently 17th. we'll see. you never know on these restarts. we couldhave a ton of overtime. we have to find our way to the line. we'renot even to overtime yet, so there's a lot that could still happen in these six shortlaps. fan for the helmet we talked about. the hosethat puts air into your helmet, if you sit there and run the fan or run the battery down,the car won't start. a lot of times, the team tells you to turn the fan off and don't useit. i always did it anyway, lied to them and told them it was off. it gets so hot in thehelmet. happening with his day?>> mike: he's had to adjust to a brand-new

spotter. over the recent years, he's usededdie dejeanette and is using dale earnhardt jr.'s spotter, t.j. majors. majors caughthis attention for the daytona 500 in february. him. i spoke with majors today. he said hewas blown away by that and more blown away when jeff called him last week to talk aboutspotting for this race. it's come full circle today, because in that particular wreck, t.j.majors was the guy who navigated, helped navigate jeff gordon through the accident without anydamage. >> rick: jeff gordon restarts just in frontof tony stewart, three spots in front. kyle busch pretty much gave us his game plan -- ihave to have a great restart. i've got to be up front when we get out of turn 2 so thatit can get single file. he thinks he can stay

out in front then.>> steve: and it all starts in the restart zone, rick. basically, as the leader, kylebusch, as you see, 133 laps today. that's unbelievable. but really, marty, it all comesdown to how he can accelerate out of that zone. if he can beat the second place carto the end of the front stretch, he has a great opportunity.>> marty: and steve, there are cars involved in the wreck on pit road trying to get therepairs fixed, including ryan newman. that has chase implications here. very comfortablyin the chase right now in the 15th position, but they cannot afford to lose any more points.they have done a terrific job of the patchwork on the front, but you can see the rear stillreally damaged for ryan newman.

desperately to get roger penske his firstbrickyard 400 win. when they sat on pit road to make repairs, here's the conversation ofwhat brad saw in that last wreck. >> sorry about that.>> nothing you can do there, bill. nothing. >> we were in a good spot there. carl couldhave held it lower, we could have cleared him and have all the no tire cars, tried togobble them up. out, it wouldn't have mattered if i had tiresor not. i was in the same position, i would have been caught up in the wreck one way oranother. they have made repairs and fresh tires for the 2 to finish this race out.>> rick: these cars really more or less just trying to get through the last five laps.as we look at the chase grid, the implications

big for the 21 team of ryan blaney prior tothat accident. ryan blaney was flirting with a top 16 position. and now after that accident,again, one point for every position. ryan blaney has now dropped down 13 points belowthe cut line. >> steve: again, this is as they run now.>> jeff: there are a lot of things that can happen before the end of the race, but lookhow close it is between 16th and 20th. it is very close and will continue to be. andwe talked about ryan newman and the damage he had. you know, the fact that ryan blaneywas in that wreck, the fact that the 31 car was in that wreck, that helps him, becausealthough, you know -- i'm sorry, the 31 car was in the wreck. the fact that other peoplein that wreck, that really helps him trying

to make this, because all you're doing iscomparing yourself to other people. and if they have trouble, then it doesn't matterso much if you have trouble. so, more people being in that wreck was actually a benefitto some of these guys. they have never won the brickyard 400. joeylogano in a position to give roger penske his first ever brickyard 400 win.>> we're getting there. we're getting there. great things are happening.>> ten-four. >> it's not over until it's over, right?>> no, it's far from over. >> i like your attitude.>> me, too. >> i like yours, too!>> we don't like attitude, do we?

>> we could hear roger penske on there. "ilike that attitude." so successful. what an incredible history roger penske has at indianapolismotor speedway. 16 indy 500 wins. that's the most of all owners. 47 career starts in thebrickyard 400, but the best finish second. second to kyle busch. he doesn't want to havethat same finish this weekend, as he now runs third to kyle busch. matt kenseth runningsecond, as we get ready for the restart. will it be the final restart, though?>> steve: i don't know if it will be the final restart, but i agreed with joey logano whenhe said it's far from over. this is a big track. turns 1 and 2, we have already seenhow difficult they can be. there's a lot that can happen in these final restarts, and it'seven getting more complicated as the laps

wear down. that might be better for kyle busch,but as the accidents continue, that keeps moving fresher tires closer and closer tothe front. he's done. remember in practice yesterday-- friday, actually -- they were a half second off on older tires. they really threw a lotof things at the car this afternoon. and honestly did not know what to expect. i talked to toddabout the speed the 22 is lacking. he said people have been asking me that, but remember,at this point last year, we had one win. five wins last year. so, he says we're a second-halfteam and they're certainly showing it with their rally ability, not only here at indianapolis,but last week at new hampshire, too. they struggled with the race car all day long andwound up finishing in the top five. they're

showing once again they can finish well andthat's what you need in the chase. the restart zone with the lead. and that'swhat he's been so good at. we think about kyle busch on restarts making it three wide,four wide on the outside, making these big, aggressive moves, but on these racetracks,what he does such a good job when he's leading is holding the lead by the time he gets toturn 1. and that is leading the restart zone, and that is so important. that's going tobe harder right now, though. we've got some stuff going on on the racetrack, and we aregoing to have to restart -- he is going to have to restart with all this on the racetrack.now, right now it's in the high groove, but there's a lot of speedy dry on the racetrack.they're trying to get it cleaned up. but the

fact that it is in the high groove i thinkbenefits kyle busch even more. the last accident took off a lot of guys onthe racetrack. the first four pitted at lap 22. the most important line, right there.below that line, kevin harvick, denny hamlin, jimmie johnson, austin dillon, all with 20laps fresher goodyear tires. i think that will not come into play if the front fourget a great start and get single file. but if there's any sort of mix-up in turn 1 andeither harvick, hamlin or johnson can somehow get three wide down the backstretch and getcloser to the front two, those tires will pay off.>> jeff: the key right here is it's all about the restart matt kenseth can get. if mattkenseth can put himself in a position to be

side by side with the 18, well, then advantagejoey logano in third position. as keeping up with him.>> steve: and look at the recovery, kevin harvick in fifth. he thought he had a flat,came to pit road unscheduled. hamlin in sixth, johnson in seventh. both had speeding penalties.they have done a great job of digging back throughout the entire day to at least givethemselves a shot. now, we have yet to see somebody pass kyle busch, but at least theycan see him out the windshield. line. when they get to the start/finish line,it will be two to go. that is not overtime, at least for now. they will be going the advertiseddistance, 160 laps. kyle busch has already explained what he wants to have happen. hewants to be able to get through turns 1 and

2 cleanly, be able to have the lead as heexits turn number 2. he thinks that he has the car and enough tires that he can makeit all the way back around two more times to get the checkered flag and claim his secondbrickyard 400. again, kyle busch trying to make history. winning the pole and the races,and both races at the brickyard on the same weekend. never done before.>> steve: you mentioned this, but it is important. this is not overtime, so it's still the scheduleddistance. so, if we don't get back to the white flag before the caution, we'll redothis again and move into nascar overtime. hamlin, kevin harvick.>> jeff: see everybody cleaning their tires very aggressively, trying to make sure theyare clean. they ran through the speedy dry,

so it's very important to have clean tires.spin the rear tires, put heat in them, get ready to go.>> rick: the recent caution was because of an aggressive restart by the 19 of carl edwards.let's see who gets aggressive on this restart. kyle busch on the inside, matt kenseth onthe outside. into the restart zone they go! we're back to racing at the brickyard!>> just like racing on the beach at daytona, man.>> rick: great restart for kyle busch. joey logano moves all the way up to second. hegets in front of matt kenseth. logano trying to win the brickyard 400 for the first timefor penske. kyle busch did exactly what he said he wanted to do, get out in front andtry to put distance between himself and the

field. oh, around goes the 6! trevor bayneinto the inside wall! the 15 of clint bowyer also.>> yellow's out. >> rick: caution is out. they didn't get backto the white. we will now have overtime. >> back around here.>> rick: another driver that was right on the cut line to get into the playoffs, trevorbayne in the 6. free pass will go to the 34. lap, as we will attempt overtime for the firsttime. take a look at what happened. this was on the backstretch.>> jeff: trevor bayne trying to block clint bowyer. bowyer had a run on him. trevor baynetrying to block him. will be one of them. better decisions on. while i know he needsto block, but he runs the 15, you see, all

the way to the grass. clint bowyer could geton the gas, but why should he? he feels ehe's tied to sixth. it's unfortunate for both ofthem, but to be real about the situation, a much bigger penalty for the 6. >> rick: oh, samantha busch there. the reactionto the caution coming out. so now with the overtime, the way this will work, once theyget the green flag, they will have to make it all the way back around to -- well, we'remidway through the back straight -- to this line, the overtime line. race leader, whoeverthat may be, if they get to that white line prior to a caution flag coming out, that overtimewill be considered official and the next flag will end the race, either a caution or thecheckered flag. once they get to that overtime

line, they will try to race all the way backto the checkered. >> jeff: and we keep changing who the caris on the outside of kyle busch. you know, now we've got another driver. now we havejoey logano with a chance to try and enter turn 1 by kyle busch. no one's been able todo it yet, and kyle busch at every single restart, he consistently beats everybody intoturn 1, not by half a car length. the closest anybody came was carl edwards. carl edwardswas pretty close, wasn't able to put it off. lap 122. that's 38 laps ago. we've had 16,now 17 laps of caution, so i don't think it makes a big difference, but remember, ourpit window was 36 to 39 laps, rick. i would have hoped that these drivers were doing theirjob under yellow, saving fuel, but sometimes

it's not just having enough to get to thefinish. but when you talk about flat racetracks, sometimes they don't pick up accurately inthe fuel cell, or just an air bubble in the fuel line, all it takes is a stumble. we'renot talking about running out of gas, we're just talking about how important the restartis if any of these four try to accelerate and there is the least amount of stumble. restart with an accident on the front stretch.>> marty: and the note to stevens was are you worried about fuel? he shook his headno, but he's told kyle busch several times save, save, save. they also said they'll tryto blow off the entire backstretch with a jet dryer to make sure it's clean. that willtake more time. to your point, it's certainly

in the crew chief's mind. they don't seemto be terribly worried about it now, though. the cars off right after a caution. peopleare always asking why are they cutting the cars off? this is why. because when you pit,you never know when you're going to have to stretch fuel. you don't know, what's yourfavorite saying, steve? you don't know it's a fuel mileage race until it's a fuel mileagerace. so, you have to assume every single race will be fuel mileage and the minute youleave pit road, you have to have that in your head. so, you have to start saving fuel backwhen you pitted on lap 122. that needed to start then. it just can't start right now.>> steve: jeff, you're rolling down the highway, the car in front of you swerves out of theway, and bam, you hit something. that happened

to matt kenseth. listen.>> watch for it. >> a little too late. check that. >> steve: he thought he hit a bumper bar deadcenter there. they've looked it over and are so far keeping that out there. i can't seea big hole or anything on the front, but it was a surprise to matt.>> jeff: has not a good feeling, you know, because you don't know what kind of damageis done. you're sitting in the race car, you don't know what the splitter looks like orwhat it looks like underneath the car. it could have grabbed a line or anything underneaththe car. not a good feeling by any means to run over something that big.>> rick: kyle busch setting a new record of

laps led at the brickyard, 140 and counting.what he's racing for he has won before, the coveted prize at the end of this race, a beautifultrophy and getting into victory lane at indianapolis he did it a year ago. trying to close outthe deal as we have gone to overtime. we'll be right back for the restart from the brickyard.>> rick: like the daytona 500, this place is as big as it gets in stock car racing.racing at the brickyard, winning at the brickyard, the possibility of kissing the bricks at oneof the most historic and iconic racetracks drivers with an opportunity. the 48 of jimmiejohnson has put himself back in position, surpriseingly back up into the top ten.>> steve: rick, we were critical of hendrick motorsports and no, sir lack of speed andlack of top ten. the 48 of jimmie johnson

and chad knaus have dug deep, have recoveredfrom a seeing penalty back up into the top ten, currently running seventh. just aheadof him, the 4 of kevin harvick. early in the race, he thought he had a problem and endedup not having a problem, which puts doubt in the driver's mind. he fought through itand i thought had the fastest car at parts of the race and has made his way forward andnow has a restart on the outside. so, the challenge is getting ready to get even bigger.>> steve: the front of the 4, denny hamlin, the daytona champion. we have not seen a lotover the summer months like his teammates, but also recovered from a speeding penalty,which is unfortunately for the 11 not new for him this year. the most speeding penaltiesof any driver in 2016 but has stuck with it

up to the fifth position to really join allof his teammates back up front with the joe gibbs toyota.>> marty: yes, seven speeding penalties this year, eleven total penalties overall. i talkedwith mike wheeler earlier today. he said number one on the list, execution. so, that didn'thappen on pit road this afternoon, but they have recovered nicely. twice this year he'srecovered with a third-place finish, as you saw in the fifth place right now. his ac insidethe car has not been working great all day long. they think eventually that drained themain battery, so he's had to switch to his backup battery here for the final few lapsfor denny hamlin, but a nice recovery after that speeding penalty.>> jeff: on the outside of the 20 of martin

truex jr. that blue confused me. martin truexjr. this is a team that's led a lot of laps, been in position to win a lot of races. theytalked about their inconsistency, not being consistent finishing races. they're rightthere with another shot to win the race, but much like harvick, in the outside line. it's going to be tough.>> steve: with the inside line is the 20 of matt kenseth, a two-time runner-up in thebrickyard 500. you know he wants to win this. this is one of five tracks that the 20, mattkenseth, hasn't won on. a sprint cup champion, has accomplished so much in his career, rick.these opportunities are not going to continue to come. with the car he's had today, althoughmaybe not as good as kyle busch's, a great

opportunity presents itself in overtime.>> jeff: on the outside of the 18, joey logano, another guy with a shot to try to figure outhow kyle busch is so good on these restarts. has had so many restarts, he's taught theseguys something. so, i'm going to say it for the third time, the only chance for joey loganoto get a great restart, which is very hard on that outside line, and enter turn 1 sideby side with the 18. >> steve: for kyle busch, it's simple. he'sbeen perfect all weekend, both poles and a race win. he needs to be perfect at leastone more time in the restart zone and he'll be kissing the bricks here this afternoon.>> rick: getting ready for the restart. lights are off on the pace car. once again, they'vegot to get all the way back to the backstretch

and the overtime line before a flag comesout for this to be an official attempt at the final overtime. trying to make history,coming back into the restart zone, kyle busch, the lead and control car. green flag backin the air! we're in overtime sponsored by credit one. and around goes the 1 of jamiemcmurray! he'll slide back up the racetrack! caution is out again. 44 of brian scott, the3 of austin dillon involved. damage to the 31 of ryan newman. entering turn number 1. >> make it a priority.%- petting it to roll,get the tires to clear. that's all we've got to do, guys.>> rick: kasey kahne will be the free pass recipient.>> see the flag.

>> rick: and you see the damage, extensivedamage to the left front. wheel not even turning. laps to the caution period. remember -- well,here's the replay right here, jamie mcmurray on the high line trying to accelerate. they'repast the start/finish line lookinggto enter turn 1. he takes a hard left. i don't knowif he thinks he was going to be clear in front of the 14, but the 1 takes a hard across tonystewart. >> jeff: i thought he got lucky, but he getsinto the side of the 31. had the 31 not been there, he would have hit the wall harder inmy opinion. i thought he kind of went through there unscathedd but look at the left rearon the 1 car. i'm sure it's flat because he got into the 14, but as roughly as he went,i agrre, i think he was trying o get in front

of the 14. he saw that hole, just misjudgedit a little bit. contact. >> marty: but you have a point. was it flat?is that what made the 1 turn left? or was the contact with the 14? without a doubt,left rear's flat, but was it the contact or 3 c1 the result? on board with the 14 willbe a great shot right hhre. >> jeff: he just saw the hole and went forit. we've been talking about it. >> keep digging, keep digging, keep digging.>> jeff: you've got to find a way to the bottom. right here there's a hole, a gap behind the24 car. he ees it, oes into it, 14 coming. that'' theebraking zone, too, okay? so, that'swhat makes that very difficult to judge. it's right on the braking zonn. and you don't knowif the 14's going to break or not as far as

where he lifts. soo the 1 of jamie, he sawthat hole, he went for it. the 14 also saw that hole and knows he needs to fill it. sohe's trying to move up in there,,trying to brake late. and murray came down trying to fill the ole.>> rick: i had mentioned the 3 was in it. >> steve: it's been a few rough accidentsfor the chase grid. kyle larson is surviving in eighth, looking good trying to gain points.trevor bayne's been caught up in an accident. ryan blaney. so, a ot of moving in the chase>> marty: >> marty: oh, yeah. i thought it was on rightthere. look at the 22. the 18 has a good run, but watch the 22 getting into 1. he's up nextto him. they entering the corner. he wassthere.

look hhw loose the 18 got. now the cautioncomes out. so, now the blueprint and the game plan is out there. the 22 right on the sideof the 18. he gets the 18 loose, so now joey logano's thinking, okay,, i've got a shot.i know it's going to be hard, but if i can get my left front on his right rear, get himloose, slow that momentum down, even if i don't pass him, if i could get right beeindhim aad try to get by him into turn 2 because his momentum is slowed >> marty: back in indianapolis, our secondattempt at an overtime start. adam stevens has asked him to run hard -->> they need to clean the damn track at. we're not doing a great job racing, but wrecking.i'm with you. %

>> marty: of course, he would save fuel, sofuel creeping in thee onversation more with more cautions, kelli.>> kelli: along the same lines, >> kelli: semi-nervous because they came topit road on lap 151, but they did not take fuel that time. i ust checked in with theteam, the car chief ssys "i think we'll be okay.">> stevv: you heard the 48 came to pit road and didn't put fuel in. a lot of crew chieeswill do that for a faster fuel stop and they can pull the tires. the last pit, 45 for theleaders, 16 for the few behind them, but we just heard jimmie johnson. even though it'sbeen 16 laps, no fuel was added, so it well be questionable.%- remember, we've had a rashof guys not keeping up to speed on caution,

ss i think it's been harder to save fuel onthe yellow. it will be an official. official attemmt atovertime. kyle busch, matt kenseth, joey logano's drrpped back to thirr. denny hamlin fourth.%>> we can play one more bb ten. come back, no matter what. no worries. through 1 and2. kyle busch way out front kyle busch, after winning the championship in 2015, many wonderedif he could finish races, if he could win the championship. he showed everyone a yearago he could do just that. now he'll get throuuh 4 for the %- ffnal time at tte brickyard,in a racetrack that makes legendd. kyye busch, back-to-back wins at the brickyard!>> whoo! boys, yeah! pou did it. >> great team. great team. great team, pluual.good job.

>> rick: even from the great and the greatestof this sport. he swept both races aayear ago he does it again at one of thh most historicacetracks in the world. first driver innnascar history % to sweep both polessand races inthe same weekend. the maturity of kyle busch everybody backthere aa mars. it's such a great deal ffr us.>> dave: you seem like ccnditioning would be so important. how impressed are you hatkyle outllsted thht wwy, oo? >> i thinkkfor everybody out 3 c1 there, itwas hard on them. so, i think these guys, though, are in good condition oodrive andnow kyle, a little oveetime himself there, rick.>> rick: and how about this? what a great

moment. the 14 and thee88 taking a final laparound indianapolis motor speedway tooether. tony stewart in his final season. jeff gordoncoming out of retirement toosubstitute drive there's a lot of ressect between these tworace car drivers. >> rick: the championships %- between ttetwo, the race wins. as kyle busch continues his celebration. we'll go for the checkeredfllg. it's becoming very familiar what the bow. >> jeff: we talked about it earlier,steve, as racers, we how diificult those poles were. i can't getmy brain around sweeeing a weekend. we'll hear from the wwnner when we ccme back.thnnerwn n n omba cck is e f-1.onk-upth athth-gum-aoy b tsihaon pick g t m bethghgalee. ody ru datthfeev blt one 5-st sety titi as toty pick.iss

thfoie thesput truckde 39ye>> rick: very emotional, as tony stewart has run hii last brickyard 400. announced lastyear that 2016 would be the final season for hhm to run in the sprint cup series. and gettingthe congraaulatory hugs from another only jeff gordon, but also team members. a verybig and emotional day for tony stewart and an even bigger one for kyle busch.>> marty: it's a familiaa place for kyle buschh he won thhebrickyard 400 last year. he makesit two years in a row 3 c1 getting to victory lane, but this onn in very dominnnt %- fashion,leading 149 laps..3 c1 and this is how you celebrate phen you win tte brickyard. skittles flying everywhere. careful,,thoseskittles hurt, don't they? kyle, you told

me this afternoon%%- this skittles camry wasawesome. i just cannt hank everyone from skittlee enough, everyone from m&m's in their 70thannivvrsary season with us. of ccurse, interstate baateries. this toyota was aweeome today,so fast and booeg abbe to get we thank our partners at joe 3 c1 ggbbs racing, adaa stevensand % these guys are a great group and i'm proud to be winning wwth them. it's just funto come out here and have such a dominant piece screw it up.>> marty: what message do yoo think this sent to the rest of the coopetition? do you thinkyou've set yourselles up as the team to beat come november?>> joe gibbs racing, yeah, for sure. i wouldn't say thee18. i thin any of us have a shot towin any given week. carl was very strong today,

matt was strong today. truex showed his strengthtodayy as well. so, it's pretty cool to come out here and have anooher brickyard 400 ictooy,two in row, and to celebrate with all this team, got to ask kyleeabouttsome history oncehe gets a hug and a letts bring brexonn n on the-interview. you were aware of the record, that yyu had the chance to be the first driverin nascar histooy to win both poles and 3 c1 both races in theewwekend. what's that significance to you?>> it's so cool, because you know, ii hasn't been done before. i've tried and haae beensuccessful at being able toodo a lot of thiigs that otter people havee't done efore. so iguess i gave myself more chances than anyone,

realll, % because i've probably run more % xfinityraces. but man, wwen it helps you and it'' helping you win on sundays, that's whattmakeseverything so >> martt: i think brexon wants the mike. takeff, okky? >> sounds great. thank you..>> marty: kyle busch going o kiss some bricks. they said it was his house. i think his houseis buiit with >> rick: absolutely. froo jeff gordon. again,tony stewart's final brickyard 400. let's hear from hii with elli.>> kelli: obviously a lot of media attention and fanfare surrounding ony. your final briccyard400. you'veegot to share that hug and some moments on track withhjeff gordon. a chanceto do thht. so, i couldn't think of a better

guy to share that mmment with than jeff.>> kelli: the score sheets will show you ffnishing 11th, but what will stand out more for youthis weekend? >> this has been the most relaxing brickkardi've had and probably the most fun at aa brickyard. it was nice to win thhse two raccs, but itwas stressful to do it. -pfor some eason, this weekend, drew brownand eddie jarvis nd we had a llt of fun this weekend from start to finish.>> kelli: and fun being the operative word. it seems like you're aaing a llt of fuu asof late. whaa is it like to experience that in your final season>> a heck oo a lot better than being frustrated all the time.

soo you know, there's just o you know, teammembers, crew chiefs, drivers. and you know, we're just having fun with it, and that'swhat we saiddwe wanted to do at tte start of he year, and we wanted to have fun andwin a race. we've done all that, and i don't think we're quite done yet. so you kkow, we'rejust goong to keep having fun and going for it. i put us waa behhnd todayywithha penaltythat got us a lap don and at the bbck of the lonnest line,,and you know, thh battle %- backtoo11th, i'm prettt proud of that for the whole team.>> kelli: not ooly is he proud, i'm sure the entire city of indianapolis proud today oftony stewart. >> mike: also proud of jeff gordon. a yearago whennyou raced here at theebrickyard,

we all thought that was your last hoorah here.today probably was. it's embarrassingg while was filling in for dale jr., and i hope he'sdoing good, i needed a fiil-in on restarts. it was pretty bad. but you know, other thanthat, i i didn't want to see the cautiins there at the end. but i don't know, i'm goingto need practice on restarts for pocono anywwy. so, we finally actually on the last one gotthe car where it was decent on he outside. it was so loose on the outside before that.and we made up a bunch of spots off of 4, but i mean, on one hand, i'm relieved thisis over. on the other handd i would have liked for it to have gone better and i'm lookingforward to pocono. thank you to tony stewart. what a class act he is. meant a lot to methat he invited me to take thatless lap with

>> what was that like?>> tony and i have gone through a lot over the last few years, but we've been reallygood friends. i was with him when he got hurt this year. and to see what he's done, howtough he is as a competitor. i've always known what a great guy and race car driver he is,but now i know more about who tony stewart really is, and i'm just so proud that i wasable to be here and race with him in his final race, maybe..3 c1 i don't know. i thoughtlast year would be my final race, so you never know with tony stewart. but that meant a lotto me to stand up in the drivers' peeting, recognize him and take the pace lap with himat the end. >> marty: what about you? is next week yourfinal race?

>> if it's this hot, i hope so. my thing is,i can't waii just to talk to dale jr., debrief him on how today went and see how he's doing.i want him in the car as soon as possible. i'm too old to be doing this stuff, but youknow, to come here, do this race, finish 13th and decent, i think i can do better next weekfor him and then we'll just go from there. >> marty: looking forward to pocono. greatto see you back on the track. >> thank you very much. i'm glad i was inthe axalta chevrolet. >> mike: he held up great, considering thetemperature in the race car. >> rick: thanks, mike. and dale earnhardtjr. tweeting this week saying he's seeing improvement, getting better. that's exactlywhat everyone with team hendrick and everyone

in racing wants to see, dale earnhardt jr.getting better, but it has been announced that jeff gordon will once again drive fordale earnhardt jr. in pocono next week. but really, what an incredible moment that wejust all witnessed, to be a part of, tony stewart, jeff gordon, final time at the brickyard.>> jeff: listen, they know what the brickyard means. it's such a huge part of worldwidemotorsports history, the heritage of it. just to have the opportunity to even compete hereas stock car guys, you never thought you would have it. so, to have that opportunity -- tony ran theindy 500. they both won the brickyard 400 multiple times. just, it's a really specialplace. and this shows you how much they appreciate

it.>> steve: there was all these questions coming in, how would jeff gordon do, being out ofa race car for so long? he came home in 13th. i know he obviously wanted more. but thinkabout someone whose career spanneded decades to come cute of retirement. and tony stewart,to put the emotion of the situation not behind him, but just in check and race and race allday long. he mentioned it, put himself behind with a speeding penalty, recovered, didn'tgive up to fight back to 11th place. i think where they finished doesn't matter as muchas how they raced, and that's two great competitors you saw right there.>> rick: great performances out of both. let's take a look at the final results, unofficialresults. kyle busch and matt kenseth one and

two, both from joe gibbs racing. and kylebusch mentioned his teammates at joe gibbs racing, probably his closest competition forthe championship this year. >> steve: jimmie johnson came back from thespeeding penalty to finish third. jeff gordon in 13th. and how about chris buescher in 14th,a strong run for that rookie of the year contender. >> rick: further back in the field, clintbowyer involved in a late-race incident. >> jeff: ryan newman in 30th, a chase contender,had trouble. >> steve: a lot of the chase contenders hadissues. trevor bayne was one of them. >> rick: let's look at the chase grid after20 races.