Houston, Kenseth make early exit from Brickyard

By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
August 5, 2001
4:21 PM EDT (2021 GMT)

INDIANAPOLIS -- Andy Houston and Matt Kenseth both made a premature exit from the eighth annual Brickyard 400 Sunday, the result of an accident just two laps into the prestigious 160-lap event.

Matt Kenseth's No. 17 Ford

Houston was battling a pack of cars through Turn 2 and got turned around at the exit of the turn, collecting Kenseth, Robert Pressley and Mark Martin along the way. 2000 Brickyard champion Bobby Labonte barely escaped the waylay.

Houston is unsure what exactly happened, whether he was assisted in his misfortune or if it was a self-inflicted wound.

“Obviously the car just jumped around on me,” Houston said. “I don’t know if I had any help from behind. I haven’t seen a replay or anything like that. It felt like I could have had some help because the car was sticking really good to just jump out like that. There wasn’t really any indication, it just really swapped ends on me.”

This was the earliest caution period in Brickyard 400 history. The previous earliest caution came in 1994 and 1997, when the caution flew after four laps.

Houston’s NASCAR Winston Cup rookie season has been a tumultuous learning experience. Two weeks ago, sponsor McDonald’s announced that the No. 96 PPI team would not be attending Loudon or Pocono, much to Houston’s dismay. Having tested Indy, they opted to run the race.

Houston gets into the wall as others maneuver to avoid the mess.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Houston said. “To come up here for the first time wanting to do well and I felt like we could do well. The car was really good the first lap and I felt like it was gonna be real strong and to go home early hurts. It’s just a bad day for us. This deal has been pretty tough from the start and it’ll be over before long.”

On Friday, McDonald's announced that it was phasing out primary sponsorship of Houston's ride to become an associate sponsor of PPI Motorsports teammate Ricky Craven in 2002.

Houston, a rookie, has qualified for only 12 of the 20 races this season -- and after finishing last two races in a row, he sat out the last two events while PPI Motorsports president Cal Wells pondered the future of the No. 96 team.

PPI said it will enter Houston's car in seven more races, with the primary sponsorship ending after the Sept. 30 race at Kansas Speedway.