History Says Indy Road to Title

Race To The Chase: Indy History In NASCAR Brief But Bold

In 1994, NASCAR roared into Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a brand-new race and a brand-new star named Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet). Gordon won the inaugural Indy event — just two months after he had won one of NASCAR’s then-established “majors,” the Coca-Cola 600.

Gordon was off and running toward his place in history. Ditto for the Allstate 400 at The Brickyard, which 14 years later has become quite established itself, as the clear highlight in the “Race to the Chase,” the 10-race stretch that precedes NASCAR’s “playoffs” known as the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

After 14 runnings of the 400, the trend is etched in stone …  er, brick:

Only big guns win Indy.

Check it out:

Six times in the 14 races, the winner at Indianapolis has gone on to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

The first four of those special sweeps came in consecutive years; Gordon (1998), Dale Jarrett (‘99), Bobby Labonte (No. 43 Cheerios/Totinos Dodge) (2000) and Gordon again (’01).

12 of NASCAR’s Brickyard events have been won by series  champions and the two exceptions — Ricky Rudd in 1997 and Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet) in 2003 — were by no means upset results.

On the other hand, there was a memorable upset in the summer of 2002, by former series champion Bill Elliott (No. 21 Motorcraft Ford), then amid a late-career resurgence with the new Ray Evernham-led Dodge operation.

Road To the Series Title Runs Through Indy

Driver              Year of Indy Win/Series Title
Jeff Gordon              1998
Dale Jarrett              1999
Bobby Labonte         2000
Jeff Gordon               2001
Tony Stewart            2005
Jimmie Johnson       2006