Will Sunday’s race at Indy identify next NASCAR Sprint Cup champion?

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JULY 25: Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, sits in his car in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents The John Wayne Walding 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25, 2014 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JULY 25:  Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, sits in his car in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents The John Wayne Walding 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25, 2014 in Indianapolis, Indiana.  (Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – JULY 25: Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, sits in his car in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents The John Wayne Walding 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25, 2014 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images)

INDIANAPOLIS — Perhaps more than any other race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, the Brickyard 400 historically has been an excellent predictor of the series championship.

In 1998, Jeff Gordon started a streak of four straight years in which the Indy winner went on to win the title. Dale Jarrett (1999), Bobby Labonte (2000) and Gordon (2001) followed.

In 2005, Tony Stewart won both the Brickyard 400 and the series crown. Jimmie Johnson accomplished the same feat in three of his six championship seasons, 2006, 2008 and 2009.

To Gordon, the very nature of racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway helps explains why eight Brickyard winners within a span of 12 years also won Sprint Cup championships in the same season.

“I think that this is a track that demands the best team, the best cars — because track position is so important here,” Gordon said Friday at IMS. “(It’s) so hard to pass here. And because of that, what happens is that the pit crew becomes crucial. The pit strategy becomes crucial, and the speed of the car, especially in qualifying, becomes crucial.

“I don’t know what the percentage rate is of those who go on to win the championship, but typically, that means the best team is pretty much going to win this race, which means they’re probably going to be the one to beat for the championship.”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.