Kasey Kahne is looking to join Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson as a Brickyard 400 winner. (Photo: LAT photographic)
As races go, they don’t come much bigger than Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
Yes, the Daytona 500 is still the defining race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule. But the sanctioning body’s annual stop at Indianapolis Motor Speedway holds special significance for the competitors. IMS, after all, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this season, and the importance and history of the fabled track is not lost on the racers, who rank it at or near the top of the races they want to win.
“Winning at the Brickyard and the Daytona 500 are on the top of my list,” said Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge Charger.
As to which one is bigger, Kahne explained it simply. “I think it depends on what type of racing background you have which one is more important to you,” he said. “For me, coming up in the sprint car ranks, I raced in the Indianapolis area a lot and learned early on how significant winning at Indy was.”
And although he’s not won here yet, Kahne has come close, finishing a best of second in 2005.
“When you think about the drivers that have won at Indy throughout the years, it would mean a lot to be able to add my name to that list,” said Kahne, who will make his 200th career Sprint Cup start on Sunday. “We’ve been close a few times and it’s certainly a victory I’d love to pull off.”
There is perhaps no one for whom winning at Indianapolis means more than Tony Stewart, a native of Columbus, Ind., who made frequent trips to the track as a kid. Stewart is a two-time Brickyard winner, having triumphed here in 2005 and 2007. And now that he’s co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, Stewart would love to get a victory as team principal, either in his own No. 14 SHR Chevrolet Impala SS or teammate Ryan Newman in the No. 39 Chevy.
