So, as a popular YouTube video states, “let’s do this.” Enjoy it, you might be trivia king one day because of me.
First, some housekeeping. This year’s Brickyard 400 is the 17th annual 400 miler at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in beautiful Speedway, Ind., on Indy’s west side.
There are, of course, only four drivers who have competed in all 16 Brickyard 400s. They are, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin and Jeff Burton. Gordon has won the most 400s of any NASCAR driver—4, and he won the inaugural race in 1994.
Labonte won in 2000. Martin finished second in 1998 and in 2009. He also holds the dubious honor of being the driver who has led the most Brickyard 400s without a win: 6. However, Martin does hold the track record for being the oldest pole sitter in the 100-year history of the racetrack, at 50 years and 197 days.
Burton might be the most consistent driver of the group. He has finished all 16 races. Burton led 6 times in the 2006 race for 87 laps, but didn’t win. He has completed more laps than any other driver in Brickyard 400 history: 2,524.
Burton was not the driver who led the most laps in one race but wasn’t able to win. That “honor” goes to Juan Pablo Montoya, whose problems in last year’s race have been well documented.
Last week I mentioned the Jimmie Johnson is a three-time winner, and two-time defending Brickyard 400 champ. Johnson is the only winner to have defended his title successfully. He won from the pole in 2008’s caution-marred race, becoming the second driver to win the 400 from the first starting spot. Who was the first to win from the pole?
Kevin Harvick, who did it in 2003.
And speaking of firsts, Jeff Gordon hails from Pittsboro, Ind., but is one of two Hoosiers to have kissed the bricks. The other is Tony Stewart, another two-time winner. Stewart won in 2005 and again in 2007.
Also, a first for myself was the 1996 Brickyard 400. Dale Jarrett won and Mark Martin finished fourth. Three years later, in 1999, Dale Jarrett once again covered the field and became the second two-time Brickyard 400 winner (Gordon won his second in ’98). Who finished fourth in 1999? Mark Martin.
Speaking of Dale Jarrett, he became the first driver to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same year when he won his first Brickyard in ’96. Jimmie Johnson pulled off that feat in 2006 and did Jarrett one better by going on to win the NASCAR Nextel Cup title that season.
It’s a family affair in Indy…Dale Earnhardt Sr. won the second-ever Brickyard 400 in 1995. If his son Dale Jr. were to win they would be the only father-son duo to win the Brickyard 400. Only one other father-son duo has visited victory lane at Indy. Al Unser and Al Unser Jr. have both drank milk after winning the Indy 500.
If you had to place a bet on which manufacturer would win, it would be safe to put your money on Chevy. The bowties have won 11 races out of 16, and Hendrick Motorsports—NASCAR’s “superteam” has captured seven wins at Indy (four by Gordon and three by Johnson).
And of course my favorite place in the world, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is the largest capacity sporting facility in the world. And in only four days, 43 cars will streak by under the flag stand and take the green flag to start the 17th Brickyard 400.
I can’t wait. Can you?
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