Editor’s Note: This is the fourth of a five-part series looking back at the top 25 drivers to race in the 24 editions of the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line, based on victories, results, laps led, qualifying performance and other factors. The drivers will be unveiled five at a time, starting with No. 25 and finishing with No. 1. The 25th Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line is scheduled for Sept. 7-9 at IMS. View Top 25 NASCAR Drivers at the Brickyard | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11.
No. 10: Bobby Labonte. Bobby Labonte’s record at the Brickyard is a microcosm of his outstanding NASCAR Cup Series career – under the radar but impressive.
Labonte is one of the Brickyard winners that’s not on the tip of every racing fan’s tongue maybe because his victory in 2000 was so clinical and efficient, even though it was the culmination of one of the best head-to-head duels in the race’s history.
1989 Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace and Labonte were the only leaders for the last 116 laps of the 160-lap race in 2000. Wallace was the dominant driver of the day in his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford owned by the legendary Roger Penske, leading 110 laps. And when he took the lead from Labonte on Lap 123, it appeared Wallace would deliver the first NASCAR victory at IMS for Penske, the winningest team owner in Indianapolis 500 history.
But Labonte never gave up. Labonte nosed his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac owned by NFL coaching legend Joe Gibbs ahead of Wallace in Turn 3 on Lap 146. Wallace and Labonte raced side by side down the front straightaway, with the right front of Labonte’s car rubbing against the left rear of Wallace’s car as they approached the Yard of Bricks. Labonte led at the line by a scant .004 of a second.
Labonte finally pulled clear of Wallace in Turn 1 on Lap 147 and then poured on the speed, building a gap of 4.229 seconds by the time the checkered flag flew after Lap 160.
That victory was one of five top-10 finishes in 21 career Brickyard starts for Labonte, with all of the top-10s coming between 1995 and 2000.
Labonte’s four-year finishing record of second, third, second and first from 1997-2000 was one of the most impressive performances by any driver in the history of this event. He also completed 3,274 laps during his Brickyard career, second only to Jeff Gordon.
Texan Labonte didn’t speak loudly out of the car, but every one of his rivals knew he was one of the drivers to beat at the Brickyard during the peak of his career.
No. 9: Kasey Kahne. Kasey Kahne ended his NASCAR Cup Series winless streak of 102 races, dating to August 2014, with his surprise victory in the wild 2017 edition of the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line.
The victory also was the record 10th for Hendrick Motorsports in this race and the first for the team not recorded either by Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson.
But this win was no fluke. Former USAC Midget National Champion Kahne has built one of the most impressive Brickyard records of any driver with 10 or more starts in this race.
Kahne has finished in the top seven in seven of his 14 Brickyard starts, including the victory last year, a runner-up finish to Tony Stewart in 2005 and third in 2013. That sustained excellence also has taken place with five different teams and four different manufacturers, Dodge, Ford, Toyota and Chevrolet, proving Kahne’s versatility and talent.
Washington state native Kahne also has led 170 laps at the Brickyard, eighth on the all-time list for this event.
Kahne also has shown speed during qualifying. He has started in the top 10 eight times, with a best qualifying result of second in 2011.
No. 8: Dale Earnhardt. “The Intimidator” was the ultimate NASCAR badass, feared and respected by rivals and beloved by fans during his entire career for his matchless ability and aggression.
He showed his remarkable talent during the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line, winning in 1995 and finishing in the top 10 five times from 1994-2000.
Perhaps the only reason Earnhardt isn’t ranked higher on this list is because his career at the Brickyard lasted only seven races due to his tragic death in a crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. “The Man in Black” was the ultimate meteor of the Brickyard, streaking around the oval in his famous No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet before suddenly disappearing from the horizon.
But few who witnessed Earnhardt’s dramatic win in 1995 will forget it.
Legendary seven-time Cup champion Earnhardt was at the peak of his substantial skills when NASCAR first raced at IMS in 1994, the odds-on favorite to win the inaugural. He started second and brushed the wall early while fighting pole sitter Rick Mast for the lead and never recovered, finishing fifth.
One year later, Earnhardt returned as the race favorite. But “The Intimidator” and the rest of the field had to wait out a rain delay of four hours to start the race as the remnants of Hurricane Erin rumbled through Indiana.
Once the race started, one of the cleanest and fastest Brickyard races unfolded, with just one caution slowing the action. Reigning race winner Jeff Gordon won the pole, and 1988 Cup champion Bill Elliott led the most laps, with 47.
Earnhardt, who started 13th, only led once – when it counted. He took the lead on Lap 137 and led the last 28 laps to edge fellow Cup champion and rival Rusty Wallace by .37 of a second as the checkered flew at 8:03 p.m. (ET), shortly before sunset.
The victory was the most prestigious of Earnhardt’s career until he earned his only Daytona 500 victory in 1998. And there’s no question Earnhardt delivered perhaps the most sarcastic, funny barb to a rival in Victory Lane in Brickyard history after his victory.
Earnhardt often called new rival Gordon a “boy” in interviews, as Gordon was 20 years younger and his polished personality was a fun foil to Earnhardt’s rough-and-tumble persona. So Earnhardt couldn’t resist taking a jab at Gordon in Victory Lane in 1995 when he said, “I’m glad I’m the second man to have won, if not the first. We really appreciate it. NASCAR is happy to be here.”
No. 7: Bill Elliott. At age 46, Bill Elliott became the oldest driver to win the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line with his victory in 2002.
But that victory wasn’t too surprising. Elliott entered IMS that year having won the previous race, at Pocono. Plus the victory was the highlight of one of the longest stretches of excellence produced by any driver in Brickyard history.
“Awesome Bill from Dawsonville” was pretty special on the 2.5-mile oval at IMS. He finished in the top 10 nine times in his first 11 starts, from 1994-2004. His five-year run from 2000-04 –when he was into his mid- and late 40s – was the envy of drivers half his age, as Elliott finished third, eighth, first, fifth and ninth, respectively, during that span.
Elliott was no slouch during qualifying, either. He produced nine top-10 starts, including five in the top five. Both of those stats are among the top five all time in Brickyard history.
Still, the 2002 victory sticks with most fans as the most enduring Elliott memory at the Brickyard.
“Awesome Bill” turned back the clock in 2002 to his dominant days in the mid- to late 80s, leading 93 of 160 laps. Elliott and car owner Ray Evernham paved the way to Victory Lane in a pre-Brickyard test session, during which they ignored the shiny penny of raw qualifying speed and focused on performance over long fuel runs.
That strategy paid off. Elliott hunted down Rusty Wallace on a green-flag run late in the race, using four fresher tires to passing fellow Cup champion Wallace – who took just two tires on his previous stop – for the lead in Turn 3 on Lap 149.
Elliott pulled away and then held off Wallace and the rest of the field on the final restart, with four laps to go, for one of the sweetest victories of his Hall of Fame career.
No. 6: Kevin Harvick. Kevin Harvick became in 2003 the first Richard Childress Racing driver to win the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line since Dale Earnhardt in 1995.
Harvick’s win was far more than just victory No. 2 for Childress at IMS. The race lost one of its all-time fan favorites when Earnhardt was fatally injured in a crash in the 2001 Daytona 500. But reminders of The Intimidator were everywhere after Harvick won in 2003 at IMS.
Harvick replaced Earnhardt at RCR, and he reminded many fans of “The Intimidator.” Harvick was brash, aggressive. He drove the famous Goodwrench Chevrolet, now carrying No. 29 and featuring hints of silver and red in its trademark black color scheme.
Emotion flowed freely in Victory Lane. It was the first Brickyard win for team owner Richard Childress since Earnhardt’s victory in 1995, and Harvick was overjoyed to win on the track where his childhood racing idol, fellow Bakersfield, California, resident Rick Mears, won four Indianapolis 500s.
It’s safe to say Earnhardt would have been proud of Harvick’s performance in 2003 – and of his entire body of work so far at the Brickyard.
Harvick has 11 top-10 finishes in 17 Brickyard starts, tied for third on the all-time list. He has led 181 laps, seventh on the all-time list. He has led in seven races, tied for second all time.
And don’t forget this often-overlooked stat about Harvick at IMS: He has been running at the finish in all 17 of his career starts. Remarkably, he has been on the lead lap at the finish in 16 of those 17 starts, falling short only in 2008.
Harvick also has shown tremendous speed in qualifying. He won the pole in 2003 and 2014, setting an all-time speed record for NASCAR at IMS with a first-round qualifying lap of 188.889 mph in 2014. He has eight top-10 starts overall at the Brickyard.
