Top Gun at Indy

Beginning in the mid-'80s, NASCAR stock car racing had been gainingwidespread acclaim and acceptance--especially in the corporate boardroomsof America.

Meanwhile, the once monolithic IndyCar ranks cracked somewhat in themid-'70s when Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) broke away from theUnited States Auto Club (USAC), the major open-wheel race sanctioningbody in America at the time.

CART immediately took IndyCar abroad and changed the oval track seriesinto a mix of road course and circle tracks. Along with an influx offoreign drivers and lesser popularity with the American racing public,NASCAR gained ground on open-wheel racing with the fans and corporatesponsors in the '80s and early '90s.

The '92 season proved to be a watershed year for NASCAR as founder BillFrance Sr. passed away; Richard Petty, the division's winningest driver,retired from the sport; and night racing hit the superspeedways.

The year also marked the first-ever on-track appearance of NASCAR at theIndianapolis Motor Speedway as nine drivers and stock cars tested at thefamed speedplant.

A year later, the top 32 cars in the 1993 championship chase were givena two-day test at the track. When an estimated 75,000 fans showed up foreach day of the testing, there was no doubt the Indianapolis MotorSpeedway would be on the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup schedule.

Anticipation for the event--which was a year away at the time--was so highthat the race sold out in less than 36 hours.

Unheralded Rick Mast, taking advantage of softer Hoosier tires, was the13th car to qualify and his Skoal Classic Ford proved to be fastest intime trials winning the pole with a lap of 172.414 mph. The speed justedged Dale Earnhardt for the top spot and earned Mast $50,000 in cash, a$40,000 van, and a $10,000 bonus from his car owner, Richard Jackson.

With more than 300,000 fans in attendance, the 1994 Brickyard 400 tookthe green flag on August, 6, 1994. The fireworks started early asEarnhardt slapped the Turn 4 wall in a dash to lead the first lap andwas never again a factor in challenging for the win, although stillmanaging a Fifth-Place finish.

The most memorable incident of the inaugural Brickyard 400 came at themidway point. Brothers Brett and Geoff Bodine, running 1-2 at the time,tangled coming off of Turn 4. The ensuing wreck between Geoff Bodine andDale Jarrett prompted terse on-camera comments from the two brothers,which shed a public light on a simmering family feud that lasted foryears afterward.

The chase for the win came down to Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, and thendivision point leader Ernie Irvan. Each took a turn at the point in thefinal 30 laps with Gordon zipping to the inside of Irvan for the leadwith four laps remaining as Irvan slowed with a right-front flat.

That put Gordon, Indiana's favorite son, squarely en route to thecheckered flag in front of Brett Bodine, Bill Elliott, Wallace, and theaforementioned Earnhardt.

Darrell Waltrip, Ken Schrader, Michael Waltrip, Todd Bodine, and MorganShepherd completed the Top-10 finishers.

There were 16 cars on the lead lap at the checkered flag with Irvan adisappointing Seventeenth, the first driver one-lap down.

Gordon, who started Third, led 93 of the 160 laps contested and tookhome $613,000 in prize money, a king's ransom compared to the $258,275Sterling Marlin collected for winning the Daytona 500 earlier that year.

The 1994 Brickyard 400 did more for Gordon than fatten his and car ownerRick Hendrick's wallet. The victory catapulted the young "Wonder Boy" tothree championships over the next four seasons and an iconic, elitestatus with fans of the sport.

Gordon's Indy win and personal marketability, along with the hugeBrickyard attendance numbers and mainstream television/print mediainterest, also skyrocketed NASCAR to unseen levels, a meteoric growthspurt that continues more than a decade later.

Since the inaugural '94 race, the Brickyard 400 has positioned itself asone of the crown jewels on the NASCAR schedule.

In addition to Gordon's four Brickyard 400 titles, Dale Jarrettrecovered from the disappointment of his crash in the first event to winthe '96 and '99 races while Dale Earnhardt (1995), Ricky Rudd (1997),Bobby Labonte (2000), Bill Elliott (2002), and Kevin Harvick (2003)complete the list of champions in the 11 Brickyard 400 classics held todate.

Gordon will be shooting for win number five and another distinction--thatof becoming the first driver to win two Brickyard 400 races in a rowthis time around. Last year, Gordon led a dominating 124 circuits--themost of any winner in the history of the race --in beating Jarrett,Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne, and Tony Stewart to the finish.

Whatever the outcome of this year's race, there can be no question theBrickyard 400 has become one of the most important races of the season,not only for NASCAR, but for the racing community as a whole. Withcontinual upheaval in the open-wheel ranks, it could also be debatedthat the Brickyard 400 has eclipsed the Indy 500 in terms of competitionand marketing might.

The 2005 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will take thegreen flag at approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, August 7.The event will be telecast live on NBC and broadcast worldwide on theIndianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.