There are a handful of sacred NASCAR races, and the Brickyard 400 is one of them. Perhaps the biggest race of the year for the Sprint Cup Series, the Brickyard is a place for power, speed and even rejuvenation. With past winners boasting names like Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and Bill Elliott, NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 is a pivotal and very prestigious race that few have won and even fewer have won more than once.

This year, Jimmie Johnson will go for No. 4 (and No. 3 in a row) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Johnson, the reigning champion at the Brickyard 400 and a three-time winner at the race since 2006, sells out NASCAR tickets week after week, and he’ll be a main draw for the July 25 race.

Johnson is a continual superpower on the Sprint Cup Series circuit, shooting for his fifth straight Cup Series title this year, but he’s currently (as of July 19) in third place on the driver standings chart. Though running a relatively subpar year, Johnson historically shines at Indianapolis and has high hopes for the 2010 Brickyard 400.

Last year, No. 48 was practically handed the trophy for the Brickyard by Juan Pablo Montoya, who made a very costly mistake on the track. Montoya led 116 laps at the 2009 Brickyard 400, but he was flagged for speeding on a pit stop with just 35 Viagra Professional laps left in the race, falling back to 11th place and forfeiting the big win to No. 2 – Johnson.

This year, Montoya hopes to avenge his enormous letdown in 2009 with his first Brickyard 400 win. He’s currently in 21st place in driver standings – mostly due to inconsistencies this season – but the Brickyard is one race he favors. He’s also got pressure on him to win the Brickyard because of team owner Chip Ganassi.

Ganassi, who fields Montoya and Jamie McMurray in NASCAR as well as Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti in IndyCar, has had drivers win the two most prestigious races this year so far, with Jamie McMurray taking first at the Daytona 500 and IndyCar heavyweight Dario Franchitti winning this spring’s Indy 500. If one of Ganassi’s NASCAR drivers wins the upcoming Brickyard 400, he will become the first team owner to claim the triple crown of the three biggest races of the year.

Of course, the weight isn’t all on Montoya. Jamie McMurray, currently in 18th place in driver standings, has also had a solid year in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. The Brickyard 400 is continually a strong race for McMurray, as well, and he’s still looking to best his third place finish at the Brickyard in 2003.

Talking to USA Today about his drivers’ successes, Ganassi said, “Our drivers get up for big events. They seem to like those places. Jamie (McMurray) and Juan (Montoya) both like Daytona. Dario (Franchitti) and Scott (Dixon) both like Indianapolis. So many times you have drivers good at a particular type of track, and our guys are good at the tracks that have the big races.”

Will Chip Ganassi become the unprecedented winner of racing’s triple crown after this year’s Brickyard 400 or is another NASCAR driver ready to end Ganassi Racing’s dominance? It’s all to come July 25 when NASCAR’s biggest heavyweights start their engines, and there’s plenty of excitement hinging on the 2010 Brickyard 400.

Author Bio: This article was sponsored by StubHub.com. StubHub is a leader in the business of selling NASCAR tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.

Category: Recreation and Leisure/Sports
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