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Thursday, August 2
Three straight winners have won titles
ESPN.com news services
INDIANAPOLIS -- Because of its historic nature, the Brickyard 400 has been one of the biggest races of the Winston Cup season since it was added to the schedule in 1994.
Stock cars competing at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway offer a stirring combination for a midsummer motorsports classic. But, there may be more to the Brickyard 400 than NASCAR's best competing at the world's most famous track. Consider that the last three Brickyard 400 winners have gone on to win the Winston Cup title.
Jeff Gordon became the first two-time Brickyard 400 winner in 1998 and went on to win his third championship that season. Dale Jarrett won his second Brickyard 400 in 1999 and captured his only title that season. And last year, Bobby Labonte 's victory over Rusty Wallace at the Brickyard 400 was his signature win in his title season.
Is this a trend or coincidence?
"There is no rhyme or reason that that's happened, and it definitely isn't going to happen forever," Labonte said. "There is no way that that one race can dictate anything else that is going to happen the rest of the year. I guess it's coincidence, but then again, maybe not. Maybe there is something to that because the teams that do well in the Brickyard 400 are usually the teams that are doing well in the Winston Cup championship."
In that case, perhaps the best way to forecast the eighth running of the Brickyard 400 is to take a good look at the drivers breaking away from the pack in the standings. And through the first half of the season, former Brickyard 400 winners Gordon, Jarrett and Ricky Rudd are atop the points.
A rejuvenated Sterling Marlin is in the top five with Indiana's own Tony Stewart ready to add his name to the list of winners at Indy. Stewart came close this past May in the Indianapolis 500 when he was in the lead in the latter quarter of the race before making his final pit stop. Stewart finished sixth. He went on to finish third later that day in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
While these drivers finished the first half of the season in the top five in the standings, they are not the only challengers to win the 2001 Brickyard 400.
Steve Park could burst through and win. It was after last year's Brickyard 400 that Park broke out and scored his first career victory at Watkins Glen, N.Y., just a week after racing at Indianapolis. Park, a former modified racer from Long Island, N.Y., scored his second win in the second race of the season, at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham.
"We ran a lot of open wheel stuff and with the tradition that is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, growing up as a kid in open wheel cars, you have always had a dream to run at Indy," Park said. "Following the path of NASCAR and being able to reach the pinnacle of Winston Cup, 10 years ago you thought you would never have that opportunity. Then, to run with NASCAR and have a date at Indy has fulfilled a lot of our dreams."
Another driver capable of breaking into Victory Lane is Johnny Benson. Benson led 70 laps in the 1996 Brickyard 400 as a rookie before finishing eighth. He finished 25th last year, one lap down, but is securely in the top-10 in points halfway through the season.
"You have to have a good car with good horsepower and you have to get off the corners really good," Benson said. "Getting in the corners is OK, but you have to be able to get off. Turns 2 and Turn 4, you really have to have down pat. You have to have a lot of momentum coming off those corners and have a good run down the straightaway. I think once you get that, you are really in pretty good shape there. It's tough, but if you can get the car turned and have a lot of momentum coming off that corner, you are in pretty good shape."
Team owner Robert Yates has won twice at the Brickyard with Jarrett in 1996 and '99. This year, he may get a chance with his other driver, 1997 Brickyard 400 winner Rudd. Earlier this year, Rudd proved he can win on flat tracks when he edged Gordon at Pocono, Pa. Now, he is ready to win for a second time at Indianapolis.
"It will always be a special place for me," Rudd said. "It always had been, but to win on top of that makes it even that much more special."
It's special to win at Indianapolis because of the challenge. In a stock car, the turns are difficult because the nine-degree banking does not allow a driver to throw the car into the corners like on a high-banked track.
"I think it's a track that is a little bit difficult to run fast on," Rudd said. "You have to really attack the track, but you also be real careful because the entry speeds in those flat corners is very high. There is not a lot of room for the entrance to the corner. If you miss the entrance in the corner, if you gather the car back up, it's going to be a bad lap.
"Whether you do it in qualifying or in the race, it's a hard track to repeat your laps to run every corner, all four of them, every lap, accurately. You are going to miss a percentage of them. You aren't going to hit those corners 100 percent right all the time."
While Rudd wants to win for a second time, his teammate is hoping to become the first three-time winner.
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Just to race (at Indianapolis) was awesome. To win it, it will always be the biggest win of my career. ” |
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— Gordon |
"Fortunately for myself and the team, I enjoy racing at the Brickyard because of the challenge it presents with four different corners instead of the traditional oval," Jarrett
said. "It requires using a different type of art and skill of driving to get around the track. I know for me and probably for the other drivers, it's a place that's typical of our driving style."
Talk about big-name drivers, and there is no name bigger in the Brickyard 400 than former Pittsboro, Ind., native Gordon. He won the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 and became the first two-time winner of the race in '98, the same year he won his third championship.
Gordon leads a powerful three-car effort at Hendrick Motorsports along with two-time champ Terry Labonte and Jerry Nadeau , who finished fourth in last year's Brickyard 400. Gordon, however, didn't fare as well as he finished 33rd after he was involved in the first accident of the day that also involved Martin and Rick Mast.
"It was frustrating, we didn't qualify well and then we were involved in the crash early in the race," Gordon said. "There is a lot of hype. Just like Daytona, there is so much buildup going into it you hope if any day is a good day, you hope it is that day."
This year, Gordon is back and was the points leader at the halfway point of the season, showing signs he is ready to not only win again at the Brickyard, but capture his fourth championship. Both would be firsts for his crew chief, Robbie Loomis.
"As a whole team right now, we want to experience great things," Gordon said. "To me, that is one of the greatest things you can experience as a team - winning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There are a lot of guys right now who have not experienced what it is like to win at Indianapolis. I would love to experience that with Robbie Loomis.
"It's a lot of fun working with new people and seeing how things have grown from where we started to where we are at right now. When you win races, no matter where it is at, it means even more than it ever has before because you did it together and how you had to come together as a team to make it happen. To do it at Indianapolis would be the ultimate."
Gordon had all the qualities that could have led him to the Indianapolis 500. He was a young, American open-wheel race driver and a USAC star. But, at that time, it was difficult to break into a big-time ride so Gordon headed to NASCAR, where he achieved history by winning the inaugural Brickyard 400.
"That was a big part of my life, a huge achievement, that is something I'm very excited about," Gordon said. "I don't know of anybody who really doesn't want to race at Indianapolis, but the opportunities in Indy car racing at that time were pretty slim, especially with a top team. When the opportunity came to be with a top team and go there with a stock car, it was incredible.
"Just to race there was awesome. To win it, it will always be the biggest win of my career."
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