Brickyard 400

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909, and the first Indianapolis 500 was held in 1911. After initially hosting multiple race meets in 1909–1910, it became tradition that the Indianapolis 500 would be the only race held at the track annually. As the NASCAR Winston Cup Series grew in stature during the 1980s and early 1990s, speculation grew about a possible race at Indy. From 1971 to 1980, NASCAR had held races at Ontario Motor Speedway, which was built as a replica of Indianapolis, and it was presumed stock cars would perform equally well on Indy's nearly identical layout.

Through the tenures of speedway presidents Tony Hulman (1946–1977), John Cooper (1980–1982), and Joe Cloutier (1978–1979, 1983–1989), the idea of a second race was periodically considered but not seriously pursued. The aging Gasoline Alley garage area, narrow pit lane, and existing retaining walls were considered insufficient for the large, heavy stock cars, requiring significant capital improvements. Cloutier in particular was resistant. Around 1969, USAC proposed a race for the USAC Stock Car division tentatively called the "Tony Hulman Classic," but management declined.

In 1980, Bill France Sr. threatened to move the NASCAR Firecracker 400 to Indianapolis during a tax dispute with Daytona Beach, but the parties reconciled. When Cloutier died in December 1989, Tony George was named speedway president and immediately began taking the facility in new business directions. In December 1991, he proposed to the board of directors a plan to hold a second major event; the board approved the measure.

In March 1992, NASCAR drivers Dave Marcis, Jim Sauter, and Dick Trickle were invited to test IROC cars at the speedway. On June 22–23, 1992, nine top NASCAR Winston Cup teams were invited to participate in a Goodyear tire test — an unofficial compatibility test watched by an estimated 10,000 spectators. Following the test, the speedway undertook an extensive improvement project: the outside retaining wall and catch fence were replaced, the pit area was widened, individual pit stalls were replaced in concrete, and a new warm-up lane was constructed. On April 14, 1993, Tony George and NASCAR president Bill France Jr. jointly announced the inaugural Brickyard 400 would be held August 6, 1994.

1994: The first running drew the largest crowd to that date for any NASCAR event. Rick Mast won the pole position and became the first stock car driver to lead a lap at Indianapolis. Young second-year driver Jeff Gordon took the lead late in the race after Ernie Irvan suffered a flat tire and drove to a historic win.

1995: Rain delayed the start until late afternoon; Dale Earnhardt cruised to victory in a race slowed only once for four laps under yellow.

1996: Dale Jarrett and his Robert Yates Racing crew began the tradition of the winning driver and crew kissing the row of bricks at the start-finish line, a tradition that carried over to the Indianapolis 500. Jarrett became the first driver to win both the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year. Kyle Petty was injured when he blew a tire and slammed into the outside and inside wall off turn four before being T-boned by Sterling Marlin.

1997: Ricky Rudd drove the final 46 laps without a pit stop to win after a fuel gamble, and remains to date the only owner/driver to win the Brickyard 400.

1998: Jeff Gordon became the first repeat winner, holding off Mark Martin. It was the first victory in the Winston No Bull 5 program.

1999: Dale Jarrett earned his second victory by taking only two tires on his final pit stop, becoming the second two-time winner.

2000: Bobby Labonte took the lead on the backstretch from Rusty Wallace, who had led 114 laps, and pulled away for the win in a race slowed by only two cautions.

2001: Jeff Gordon passed Sterling Marlin on a restart with 25 laps to go and became the first three-time winner.

2002: Veteran Bill Elliott won, with Rusty Wallace finishing second for the third time in his career at the event. Kurt Busch and Jimmy Spencer collided on lap 36 due to a long-running feud.

2003: Kevin Harvick used lap traffic to pass Matt Kenseth with 16 laps to go and held on to become the first driver to win the race from the pole position.

2004: Jeff Gordon secured a record fourth victory, the first year the race was extended by a green–white–checkered finish, in an incident-filled final lap that saw Casey Mears blow a tire, Ricky Rudd hit the wall, and Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffer tire failures. Gordon joined A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr., and Rick Mears as four-time winners at Indianapolis.

2005: Tony Stewart won his first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and climbed the catch fence to celebrate.

2006: Jimmie Johnson passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. with six laps left to win and became only the second driver to win both the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year, after Jarrett in 1996.

2007: Tony Stewart won his second Brickyard 400. Juan Pablo Montoya became the first (and to date only) driver to race in all three major events hosted by Indianapolis Motor Speedway — the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400, and the U.S. Grand Prix — finishing second.

2008: The Car of Tomorrow was used at Indy for the first time. Goodyear tires suffered bad wear patterns, causing blowouts after only ten laps of green-flag racing; lengthy competition cautions were called at roughly ten-lap intervals, angering fans and media. Jimmie Johnson won for the second time.

2009: Jimmie Johnson held off polesitter Mark Martin after Juan Pablo Montoya, who had led 116 laps, was penalized for speeding in the pits with 35 laps to go. Johnson became the second three-time winner and the first back-to-back winner of the Brickyard 400.

2010: Jamie McMurray passed Kevin Harvick on the final restart to win. McMurray became the third driver to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season. The win also made Chip Ganassi the first team owner to win the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, and Brickyard 400 in the same season.

2011: Paul Menard stretched his fuel to hold off Jeff Gordon on the last lap, scoring his first career Cup victory — the only driver to date to have scored their first Cup win at the Brickyard.

2012: Jimmie Johnson held off Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle to tie Jeff Gordon with four Brickyard 400 victories.

2013: Ryan Newman took two tires on his final stop while Johnson took four after a lug nut broke loose, emerging with a seven-second lead and holding on for the victory.

2014: Twenty years after the inaugural race, Jeff Gordon passed Kasey Kahne on a restart with 17 laps to go and won for a record fifth time. It was the last race broadcast on ESPN.

2015: Kyle Busch won his first Brickyard 400, holding off Joey Logano in a green–white–checkered finish, and swept the weekend by also winning the Xfinity race on Saturday. A new "high-drag" aerodynamic rules package was introduced. The race was first broadcast on NBCSN.

2016: Kyle Busch won his second Brickyard 400 in overtime and swept the Xfinity race for the second consecutive year. Jeff Gordon came from retirement to fill in for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was recovering from a concussion.

2017: In the first Brickyard 400 to include stage racing, Kasey Kahne won in overtime after multiple rain delays, red flags, and crashes extended the race to nearly 9:00 p.m. eastern — the longest event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since the 1913 Indianapolis 500. Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. were taken out in an accident on lap 111. Brad Keselowski, who had led late, was outrun by Kahne on the final restart. It was the tenth victory for Hendrick Motorsports in the Brickyard 400.

2018: Rain washed out all practice and qualifying, postponing the race from Sunday to Monday. Brad Keselowski caught Denny Hamlin going side by side down the backstretch and took the lead coming off turn four to give Team Penske its first Brickyard 400 win.

2019: Kevin Harvick led 118 of 160 laps to win. Jimmie Johnson failed to make the playoffs for the first time in his career after crashing late. Harvick and owner Tony Stewart climbed the fence after the race, giving Stewart his fourth win at the event (two as driver, two as owner).

2020: The race moved to Independence Day weekend. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was held without spectators. Kevin Harvick won in overtime after Denny Hamlin's right front tire failed with six laps to go while he was leading, sending him into the outside wall. Harvick became the third driver to win the race in back-to-back years and claimed his third Brickyard 400.

After the 2020 race, Indianapolis Motor Speedway replaced the oval event with the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard on the road course configuration for three seasons (2021–2023).

2024: The Brickyard 400 returned to the oval for its 30th anniversary. Kyle Larson grabbed the lead from Ryan Blaney on an overtime restart. Brad Keselowski had led much of the race but ran out of fuel and was forced to pit as the field approached the overtime restart. Attendance exceeded 70,000 spectators, greater than the most recent oval runnings in 2018–2019 and the first year-over-year attendance growth since 2002.

2025: Bubba Wallace held off defending winner Kyle Larson in an overtime finish over 168 laps to win his first Crown Jewel. Indiana-native Chase Briscoe started on pole, winning Stage 1; Ryan Blaney won Stage 2. Austin Cindric led the most laps (40) before blowing a tire while leading, handing the lead to teammate Joey Logano, who also suffered a blowout. The race was the fifth and final event of the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge.

Jeff Gordon holds the record for most victories with five (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2014). Jimmie Johnson has four wins (2006, 2008, 2009, 2012). Kevin Harvick has three wins (2003, 2019, 2020). Dale Jarrett (1996, 1999), Tony Stewart (2005, 2007), and Kyle Busch (2015, 2016) each have two driver wins. Tony Stewart added two further victories as an owner in 2019 and 2020.

From 2005 to 2009, the race was known as the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. From 2012 to 2016, Crown Royal was the title sponsor; the naming program honored an armed forces member or first responder selected by fans, whose name was incorporated in the race title. From 1994 to 2000, the race was broadcast on ABC Sports. From 2001 to 2006 it moved to NBC. ESPN held television rights from 2007 to 2014. NBC/NBCSN carried the race from 2015 to 2024. Under a new deal from 2025 to 2031, the race is broadcast on TNT. All races have been broadcast on radio through the IMS Radio Network; since 2004, Performance Racing Network has co-produced the race.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.