2014 Brickyard 400: Indianapolis is special for Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart

INDIANAPOLIS -- Twenty years ago, NASCAR swept into the hallowed grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the inaugural running of the Brickyard 400. In storybook fashion Jeff Gordon, who moved at a young age from Northern California to Pittsboro, Ind., won. It was the first of four victories he would eventually accumulate in front of his home-state fans.

To celebrate the milestone as well as the local boy who made good, Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard declared Sunday, July 27, Jeff Gordon Day. The appreciative Gordon accepted the tribute, but he quickly wondered if any other perks were included.

“I just hope my competitors are respectful of this on Sunday, sort of move out of the way,” Gordon said.

The way he’s been running this season, Gordon doesn’t need anyone to move out of his way.

He enters as the Sprint Cup points leader, a position he’s held 12 of 19 weeks. His May 10 victory at Kansas Speedway assures Gordon that there will be no last-minute scrambling to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup as has been the case each of the past two years.

Knowing he’s playoff bound, Gordon’s mind entering Indianapolis is set solely on one thing: winning. He wants a fifth Brickyard 400 title and a fifth Cup championship, both of which seem obtainable.

“This weekend there’s no doubt I feel like this is the best chance that we’ve had at winning this race legitimately with the speed of the car as we’ve had in a very, very long time,” Gordon said Friday.

Gordon is the sentimental favorite Sunday, though he’s not the only one. Other fellow Hoosiers in the field include defending winner Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart, the latter of which may be the only person more popular than Gordon in the state of Indiana.

Born approximately 40 miles outside of Indianapolis in Columbus, Stewart grew up dreaming of one day competing in the Indianapolis 500.

When NASCAR took to Indianapolis for the first time in 1994, Stewart was making a name for himself in sprint cars. Like many open-wheel loyalists, he was aghast that the track -- previously exclusive to IndyCar -- would allow stock cars to turn a wheel. Stewart’s mind changed when he viewed a replay of that first race, which ended with Gordon celebrating in Victory Lane.

“I was one of them that didn’t like it at first until I actually got back and saw the replay of the race and saw how much excitement it brought,” Stewart said. “It was the month of May historically, and all of a sudden it was the month of May and August now, and you had the same historic racetrack and now you had two events instead of one.”

Eventually Stewart would run in the Indianapolis 500, and his best finish has been fifth. His future, however, was in NASCAR where opportunities to land competitive rides were more readily available than IndyCar.

Stewart finally got his long-sought Indy win in 2005, but it came in the Brickyard 400 not the Memorial Day weekend classic. He would get a second checkered flag two years later.

Now, Stewart badly needs to find a way to win a third.

Thanks to broken leg suffered last August that has kept him at less than 100 percent, his new crew chief Chad Johnston and not to mention various rule changes to the Generation 6 car, Stewart has experienced a rocky season that has left him winless.

Stewart doesn’t have Gordon’s luxury of a points cushion to fall back on. With seven races remaining in the regular season, he is ranked 19th and out of the playoffs. If Stewart is going to return to the Chase after a year’s absence, his likeliest path is through the winner’s circle, ideally the one in Indianapolis.

“It would be the perfect place,” Stewart said, “if you can’t win the Daytona 500, this is the perfect second to get your first win for the year.”

While Gordon and Stewart will still receive enthusiastic support Sunday, the volume continues to diminish with each passing year. Indianapolis, like many tracks on the Cup schedule, has seen attendance wane, but it is here where it is most pronounced.

Last year’s Brickyard 400 drew an estimated 80,000 people, a figure some consider generous, and a steep contrast to the 270,000 that showed in 2007 to watch NASCAR’s second-biggest race. Attendance has dipped so much the track will have the corner grandstands tarped over, a far cry from 20 years ago when people packed Indianapolis to watch stock cars for the first time.

The are plenty of reasons for the precipitous decline many involve the same issues other tracks are encountering. Most often sighted is the expense of attending a race. Not the ticket prices necessarily, which have been made more affordable, but the auxiliary costs related to lodging and travel.

But further escalating the lack of interest in the Brickyard 400 were the events that unfolded in 2008. That was when a faulty Goodyear tire quickly disintegrated at speed. Left with little choice for safety reasons, NASCAR threw the caution flag every 10 to 15 laps.

Fans revolted. The popularity of stock-car racing at Indianapolis went into a tailspin and NASCAR was left with a wound that has yet to fully heal.

“I don’t think we’ll ever trace it back to what it is but that didn’t help by any means,” said Jimmie Johnson, a four-time Brickyard 400 winner. “I feel like we did a nice job recovering coming back the next year and everybody handled it the best they could that weekend. But it didn’t help by any means. But I don’t think that was all of it. If this was the only track on the schedule that had that issue, it would be easy to point a finger at that.”

In the six years since, questions are continually raised at what can be done to restore the prestige. Some suggest changes to the track, which wasn’t constructed for heavy, bulky stock cars that need banking to race side-by-side. Others think the onus is on NASCAR to develop a car that is less aero-sensitive and better allows drivers to run in packs.

Regardless of the number of open seats and a ticket that’s no longer in demand, the significance of Indianapolis still resonates with many. Two drivers in particular would love nothing more than to get another victory in front of their home fans.

“I’m very proud of the ability to race here in Indiana,” Gordon said. “You know, as a kid and to come here to Indianapolis Motor Speedway and compete, it’s just a dream of a kid from California to get this opportunity.”

Said Stewart: “That is sacred ground to me. It always has been, always will be. I don’t care how many times you win there, it’s never enough. It’s nice to have won two races already there. That gives you confidence of knowing what you have to do to win. It’s just a matter of doing it.”