Roush Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth served notice that they will contend for victory in the 12th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard by posting the fastest laps in private testing July 11 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Biffle turned the fastest lap of the day at 181.963mph in the #16 National Guard Ford. Kenseth was just .22 of a mph slower at 181.742 in the #17 DeWalt Tools Ford. Roush Racings #97-Kurt Busch was fastest in two days of testing last week at 180.208. Weather forecasts call for the remnants of Hurricane Dennis to bring heavy rain to Indianapolis over the next several days, so the 23 NEXTEL Cup Series drivers and teams on hand at IMS took advantage of cloudy but dry skies save for a few afternoon sprinkles to turn a total of 1,988 laps on the 2.5-mile oval. Boris Said, who will attempt to qualify for his first Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, turned the most laps of any driver with 137. Unoffical speeds from Monday, July 11th:
Car No., Driver, Speed, Total Laps
#16-Greg Biffle, 181.963mph, 112 laps run
#17-Matt Kenseth, 181.742, 90
#49-Ken Schrader, 181.727, 47
#7-Robby Gordon, 181.722, 45
#38-Elliott Sadler, 181.495, 79
#41-Casey Mears, 181.296, 90
#01-Joe Nemechek, 180.751, 133
#31-Jeff Burton, 180.402, 84
#11-Jason Leffler, 180.270, 126
#15-Michael Waltrip, 180.260, 95
#29-Kevin Harvick, 180.060, 62
#37-Kevin Lepage, 179.725, 27
#42-Jamie McMurray, 179.674, 117
#19-Jeremy Mayfield, 179.661, 134
#2-Rusty Wallace, 179.633, 49
#77-Travis Kvapil, 179.525, 92
#18-Bobby Labonte, 179.506, 109
#45-Kyle Petty, 179.265, 98
#07-Dave Blaney, 178.813, 61
#10-Scott Riggs, 178.477, 75
#36-Boris Said, 177.298, 137
#4-Mike Wallace, 177.110, 84
#66-Mike Garvey, 174.795, 42
Testing is scheduled for Tuesday, July 12, with more testing July 18-19. Drivers scheduled to participate next week include former Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winners Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett and Bill Elliott, Indiana native Tony Stewart, former USAC standout Kasey Kahne, Indiana native Tony Raines and Dale Earnhardt Jr., winner of the NEXTEL Cup Series race July 10 at Chicagoland Speedway. Fans are welcome to watch testing July 12, 18 and 19 from the South Terrace grandstands, located in the infield between Turns 1 and 2. Admission is free.
Tickets: To purchase tickets, camping or parking for the 12th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, contact the IMS ticket office at (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area, (317) 492-6700 locally or log on to www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.(driver quotes about practice, photos and more at the IMS Site)(7-12-2005)
