Tony Stewart will look for his third Indianapolis win this weekend.

From NASCAR Press Release

(DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.) - In 1994, NASCAR roared into Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a brand-new race and a brand-new star: Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Chevrolet). Gordon won the inaugural Indy event - just two months after he had won one of NASCAR's then-established "majors," the Charlotte 600.

Gordon was off and running toward his place in history. Ditto for the Brickyard 400, 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 (1999), Bobby Labonte (No. 43 Dodge) (2000), and Gordon again (2001).

The most recent two Indy-Cup pairs came in 2005 and 2006, as Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, respectively, were doubly victorious.

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 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 Ford), then amid a late-career resurgence with the new Ray Evernham-led Dodge operation.

Martin guarantees Indianapolis triumph; uses PIR as justification

Mark Martin (No. 8 Chevrolet) climbed out of the car last month at Pocono Raceway and immediately started talking Indy.

Driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc., Martin qualified third at Pocono. After qualifying, Martin boldly looked ahead, past the upcoming event.

“I'm planning on winning the Brickyard in the 8 car,” Martin said. “We've got the stuff. We've got the team. The cars are awesome on flat tracks … I have never planned on anything any more than my plan is for the Brickyard. That's the crown jewel.

“And if you look at how that car ran at Phoenix (a fifth-place finish after leading 68 laps), I believe that we can adapt that setup to work there. The team is strong enough on pit road, and (crew chief) Tony Gibson and those guys that work on that car are due a win.

“They got several disappointments last year when they had great race cars and had failures and what have you. Nothing would make me happier than to see their faces in Victory Lane.”

In 1998, Martin was second in the Brickyard 400. In 14 starts at Indy he has five top-five runs.

Kyle Busch looking to set national series single-season win mark

Kyle Busch (No. 18 Toyota) is set for another NASCAR national series tripleheader this weekend. Three races in a three-day period? That’s no problem for the 23-year-old Busch, seeking to establish a single-season mark for NASCAR national series wins in the “modern era” (1972-present).

Busch has 14 wins this season at the national series level - seven in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, five in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition, and two in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. That has tied Kevin Harvick’s 2001 record. Busch will race Friday night in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Saturday night in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Indianapolis Raceway Park, located just west of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Come Sunday, if Busch needs one more shot at the record this weekend, he’ll get it on one of racing’s biggest stages.

However, much more than sole possession of the record will be at stake.

Much more.

Busch will be out to pad his seemingly certain “top seeding” in the Chase for NASCAR Sprint Cup, which starts September 17 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

NASCAR’s “Emphasis On Winning” initiative, started last year, has evolved into a full-blown season script for Busch in 2008.

The 12 drivers who qualify for the Chase have their point totals reset at the Chase outset to 5000.

They then get 10 bonus points for each race victory achieved during the 26 events preceding the Chase. Those “adjusted” point totals create “seedings” to start the Chase.

Seven wins thus far for Busch equals 70 potential bonus points and a very imposing top seeding. Coming into Indy, Busch has a 50-point spread over the potential second and third seeds, Carl Edwards (No. 99 Ford) and Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Dodge).

Those drivers will definitely be racing to win, to prevent Busch’s starting advantage in the Chase from increasing.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series History at Indianapolis
• There have been 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since the first race there in 1994.
• Rick Mast won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Coors Light Pole Award.
• Jeff Gordon won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
• There have been 11 different Coors Light Pole winners - including 10 straight. Only Jeff Gordon (three) and Ernie Irvan (two) have repeated as pole winners there. All five of their Bud Poles came between 1995 and 1999.
• Nine different drivers have won races at Indianapolis. Jeff Gordon (four), Dale Jarrett (two), and Tony Stewart (two) are the only drivers with multiple wins.
• Opened in 1909, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the second-oldest active track in the world (after The Milwaukee Mile).
• Five drivers have competed in all 14 races at Indianapolis: Jeff Burton, Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, and Mark Martin.
• Rick Hendrick has won five races at Indianapolis - more than any other car owner.
• Jeff Gordon has 11 top-10 finishes in 14 races at Indianapolis. Two of his remaining three finishes have been 33rd or worse.
• Kevin Harvick has posted a top-10 finish in five of his seven races at Indianapolis and has never finished worse than 19th there.
• Tony Stewart has posted a top-10 finish in six of his nine Indianapolis races. His worst finish there has been 17th.
• Eight of 14 races at Indianapolis have been won from a top-10 starting position.
• The race winner has started third three times, the only starting position to produce more than one victory.
• Only one Indianapolis race has been won from the Coors Light Pole: 2003 (Kevin Harvick).
• The deepest in the field that an Indianapolis race winner has started was 27th by Jeff Gordon in 2001.

In Indiana
• There have been 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Indiana: the 14 in Indianapolis, one at Funk’s Speedway in Winchester in 1950, and one at Playland Park Speedway in South Bend in 1952.

• There have been 11 race winners from Indiana in NASCAR’s three national series:

Jeff Gordon*: 81 Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) wins, 5 Nationwide Series (NNS) wins
Tony Stewart*: 32 NSCS, 7 NNS, 2 Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) wins
Ryan Newman*: 13 NSCS, 7 NNS
Darel Dieringer: 7 NSCS
Charlie Glotzbach: 4 NSCS
John Andretti: 2 NSCS
Earl Balmer: 1 NSCS
Larry Frank: 1 NSCS
Dick Passwater: 1 NSCS
Kenny Irwin Jr.: 2 NCTS
Tony Raines*: 4 NCTS

* - denotes driver entered in Brickyard 400

Quick Facts: The Brickyard 400 and Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Race 20 of 36
Sunday, July 27
11:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time (ESPN)

Track Size: 2.5 miles
Race Length: 400 miles (160 laps)
Banking/Corners: 9 degrees
Banking/Straights: 0 degrees
Frontstretch: 3,330 feet
Backstretch: 3,300 feet

Qualifying and Race Data
2007 pole winner: Reed Sorenson, 48.858 seconds, 184.207 mph
2007 race winner: Tony Stewart, 117.379 mph
Track qualifying record: Casey Mears, 48.311 seconds, 186.293 mph (2004)
Track race record: Bobby Labonte, 155.912 mph (2000)
Estimated Pit Window: Every 30-32 laps, based on fuel mileage