Top 25 Moments at the Brickyard: 5-1
September 08, 2018 | By Paul Kelly, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Editor’s Note: This is the last of a five-part series looking back at the top 25 moments in the 24-year history of the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line. The moments will be unveiled five at a time, starting with No. 25 and finishing with No. 1. The 25th Running of the event is scheduled for Sept. 7-9 at IMS. Previous Moments | 10-6, 15-11, 20-16 and 25-21.
No. 5: Gordon drives to No. 5. Jeff Gordon dominated the first 11 years of NASCAR Cup Series racing at Indianapolis, winning the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line a record four times between 1994 and 2004.
But in the nine races since his fourth victory, Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson became the main man at Indy, also earning four wins between 2006-12. Gordon was nearing his 43rd birthday on Race Day in 2014, near the twilight of his Hall of Fame career. Most figured it would be Johnson, not Gordon, who became the first five-time winner of an oval event at the world’s most famous racetrack, which opened in 1909.
Former Indiana resident Gordon thought overwise. He turned back the clock in 2014 and produced what he called one of the greatest restarts of his life to earn his fifth Brickyard victory, cementing his legacy as the greatest stock car driver ever at IMS.
After late pit stops, former USAC open-wheel star Kasey Kahne cycled to the lead on Lap 131. The final caution period of the race took place from Laps 140-143, bunching the field behind leader Kahne.
The ensuing, and final, restart would prove pivotal. Restarts were not Gordon’s strong suit, but he knew he had to find a way past Kahne’s car quickly and get his No. 24 Axalta Coatings Chevrolet into clean air.
When the green flag flew on Lap 144, Gordon nailed the restart. He powered past Kahne in Turn 1 and began to pull away toward immortality, leading the last 17 laps and beating Kyle Busch to the finish by 2.325 seconds. History was his.
No. 4: Jarrett, Parrott kiss the bricks. The third annual NASCAR Cup Series race at IMS featured a stirring duel between Dale Jarrett and Ernie Irvan for victory, but the 1996 race will be remembered more for what happened after the checkered flag flew.
Inaugural Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon won the pole for the second consecutive year, but his chances for a second victory ended when a flat tire sent him into the Turn 4 wall on Lap 24. Gordon ended up 37th.
Unheralded Johnny Benson Jr. then dominated the race between Laps 32-120, leading three times for a race-high 70 laps before a mistake on a pit stop on Lap 125 dropped him from contention.
Then Jarrett and Robert Yates Racing teammate and Brickyard standout Ernie Irvan began a stirring duel for the victory. Irvan passed Jarrett for the lead in Turn 3 on Lap 139, but Jarrett drove past Irvan in Turn 2 on Lap 154.
Irvan never got a chance to make one final run at his teammate, as Robert Pressley crashed in Turn 4 on Lap 158 and the last two laps were run under caution.
After the race, Jarrett and crew chief Todd Parrott made an impromptu trip to the Yard of Bricks start-finish line to celebrate their victory and honor the special history of IMS. They knelt, placed their lips on the Yard of Bricks and made a smooch heard ‘round the racing world.
It was the first time any driver made the gesture repeated by every Brickyard winner and most Indianapolis 500 winners since then.
No. 3: Stewart finally breaks through. Tony Stewart grew up in Columbus, Indiana, just 50 miles from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He would race home from school as a boy and listen to and watch coverage of Indianapolis 500 practice and qualifying or jump into a truck with his family and head to the Speedway to watch.
Stewart was a prodigy behind the wheel of race car, winning the USAC Triple Crown in 1995, the IndyCar Series championship in 1996-97 and many Cup Series races after starting his full-time Cup career in 1999 with Joe Gibbs Racing.
But there was one missing entry on his resume – a win at Indianapolis, his Field of Dreams. It was the place he wanted to win more than anywhere else.
Stewart had plenty of close calls. He led in four of his five five Indianapolis 500 starts for a total of 122 laps. But his best “500” finish was fifth in 1997.
Entering the Brickyard in 2005, Stewart had finished no better than fifth in his prior six NASCAR starts at IMS. His patience was wearing thin with questions from media and fans about when he would finally win at his beloved track.
Those questions ended with one of the most joyous, memorable victories in the 24-year history of this race. Stewart led a race-high 44 laps, but he needed to hold off fellow USAC graduate Kasey Kahne over the final 11 laps, winning by .794 of a second as the huge crowd roared and pumped their arms in celebration.
Few who saw the race on television could forget Stewart’s father, Nelson Stewart, hanging over the railing in the Turn 2 Suites and pointing his index finger at his temple, encouraging his mercurial son to keep a cool head in the final charge to the Yard of Bricks.
And no one forgot the post-race scene, when Stewart stopped his No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac in front of the Turn 2 suites, took a swig from a can of Coca-Cola from a fan and saluted his friends and family. Then Stewart drove back to the Yard of Bricks and climbed the front stretch fence in celebration with his Joe Gibbs Racing crew.
“I wish I could put it into words,” Stewart said as he laid on the outside wall on the front stretch after climbing the catch fence. “Today’s been my entire life.”
No. 2: Brickyard 400 announced in April 1993. Years of fantasy became a firm date of reality when IMS President Tony George and NASCAR President Bill France Jr. announced April 14, 1993 that the inaugural Brickyard 400 would take place Saturday, Aug. 6, 1994.
The Brickyard would be the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to take place at the fabled Speedway since the Harvest Classic for open-wheel cars in fall 1916, breaking down the invisible barrier to the track for NASCAR and other forms of global motorsport.
Fan response was instant and overwhelming. The number of applications for tickets for the inaugural Brickyard was more than double the available seats at IMS, the world’s largest spectator sporting facility.
The incredible appetite for NASCAR racing at IMS – and the ensuing success of the inaugural race – established a new beachhead for stock car racing away from its Southern roots. The triumphant arrival of another series at the Speedway besides IndyCar also laid the groundwork for Gasoline Alley to open to a variety of other elite global series in the 2000s, including Formula One and MotoGP.
No. 1: Gordon wins inaugural. Jeff Gordon’s victory in the inaugural Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line on Aug. 6, 1994 was his second career NASCAR Cup Series win, but there was no question it was one of the most significant events in American auto racing history.
Gordon became the first driver to win a race at IMS in a stock car, as only open-wheel Indy cars had raced at the fabled facility since it opened in 1909. His win at the most famous racetrack in the world also further ignited a new explosion of popularity for NASCAR that expanded its fan base far beyond its traditional Deep South roots, helping to also trigger a track construction boom in the late 90s that saw ovals built all over the United States.
Legendary seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt started second beside surprise pole sitter Rick Mast, but his usual aggression cost him after brushing the wall while trying to take the lead in Turn 1 at the start. His No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet started to drop through the field, and Earnhardt ended up fifth, leading just two laps.
Gordon, who started third in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, slipped past Ernie Irvan on Lap 145 but couldn’t pull away. Irvan went high in Turn 3 and passed Gordon in Turn 4 on Lap 150.
It appeared Gordon would wait until the final few laps to make a move for the win. But Irvan slid high in Turn 1 on Lap 156 after apparently running over debris on the frontstretch, and Gordon pounced.
Gordon dove under Irvan’s car and grabbed the lead, the 21st lead change of the day. Gordon crossed the finish line .53 of a second ahead of Brett Bodine.
The “Boy Wonder” who moved from his native California to nearby Pittsboro, Indiana, as a teenager to race USAC open-wheel cars became an indelible part of IMS lore and began his journey toward American mainstream sports stardom.