The is an annual 400-mile (644 km)
NASCAR Nextel Cup points race held each
August at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway in
Speedway, Indiana . From 1994 to
2004 , the race was known as the '''Brickyard 400''' (a name by which many attending fans still refer to it), and was held on the first Saturday in August until NASCAR's
2001 television contract moved the race from a 12:15 PM EST start on Saturday to 1:45 PM EST (2:45 PM EDT in 2006 because of new Indiana Daylight Savings Time rules) on the Sunday afterwards.
Over its twelve year history, the winner of the race has gone on to win an "Brickyard-title double," the race and the NASCAR championship in the same year, five times, with
Jeff Gordon achieving the feat in
1998 and 2001, and
Dale Jarrett ,
Bobby Labonte and
Tony Stewart doing so in
1999 ,
2000 and
2005 respectively. Six of the eight drivers who have to date won the event have been NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champions at some point during their careers, with
Ricky Rudd (race winner, 1997) and
Kevin Harvick (race winner, 2003) as exceptions. Among those six, only
Dale Earnhardt and
Bill Elliott did not capture both in the same year.
Also, six races have been won by car numbers which have not been used on entries that have won the
Indianapolis 500 -- #10 (1997), #18 (2000), #29 (2003), and #88 (1996, 1999). The winningest car number at the 500 has only won once -- 1995 -- and has not been used since 2000.
In 1996, Dale Jarrett and his Robert Yates Racing crew began the custom of having the entire team come to the start-finish line and kissing the bricks.
Televised from 1994 to 2000 on has televised the race since 2001, with coverage currently scheduled to transfer back to ABC in 2007. The race has been broadcast live over radio each year since its inception on the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network .
