Gordon honored at boyhood home before final Brickyard 400

History and sentiment aside, the fact is Gordon has yet to win a NASCAR race this season and is one of only two top 10 drivers who have drawn that blank.

“For teams, this is a last chance tune-up for the August 22 IRWIN Tools Night Race”, said Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager for BMS. Some of Gordon’s most iconic wins have come in the Brickyard 400 and him winning there in his final season would simply add another moment to the list.

Gordon’s fans will be hoping that his last race will conclude with him celebrating his fifth NASCAR championship.

“Getting our Skittles Camry to Victory Lane there would be special for a lot of reasons”. In 40 Cup starts at the Brickyard, Penske’s best finish was second three times with Rusty Wallace (1995, 2000, 2002). He’s got 12 top-five finishes in those 21 starts, leading a track record 528 laps. Many have criticized the capacity to pass and the lack of capacity in the stands.

“You’re always excited to race at home”, Stewart said. “Pittsboro is obviously very memorable to me because we lived here, raced out of here”.

Ty Dillon had a day to remember at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last year, holding off elite drivers Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick as his fuel cell neared empty to win his first XFINITY Series race.

Yet another Hoosier will get his share of the spotlight as well.

$2M – Amount Crown Royal pays to be the Brickyard 400’s title sponsor. But I can’t go his way this time just because I didn’t see enough good things out of him at Pocono Raceway last month.

In the NASCAR community, the words “Gordon” and “Indianapolis” are almost synonymous. This time he will not compete for the Dash 4 Cash bonus. The defending IndyCar champion team owner – and current points leader – advocates a similar system for NASCAR. In the heat of NASCAR’s summer stretch, the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway might just be where a driver’s season is reborn.

“My opinion, without turning a lap, is that I don’t think we’re going to get the passing that NASCAR is hopeful for at Indy”, Johnson said. “Last season when we won the race, the horsepower we had on that final restart put me out front, and we were able to take the checkered flag”. Busch doesn’t have a Brickyard 400 win, but he has the third best average finish among active drivers.

Born in Vallejo, Calif., Gordon moved to Pittsboro as a teenager.

Concocting an aerodynamics package and a race auto for Indianapolis is a hard given the low 12-degree banking in corners, long straightaways and the narrow confines of a track built more than a century ago to test the nascent automobile.

The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup campaign still has yet to see some of its greatest stars earn a victory and earn their berths in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Bristol Motor Speedway Fan Day activities run 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Beginning at Noon, the Speedway will offer interactive displays and kids’ activities including show cars, mascot appearances, photo sharing, inflatables and face painting.