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This Sunday, Cup drivers make their only appearance of 2007 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Drivers will make 200 laps around this flat (9 degree corners, 0 degree straightaways), 2.5 mile quad-oval. This legendary track began operating in 1909, and is the second-oldest surviving speedway in the world, second only to the Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin. NASCAR began racing at there in 1994 with the inaugural Brickyard 400.

As I see it, the following drivers have the best chance of pulling out a top finish this Sunday. I have compiled my ranking by analyzing drivers? success at this track and similar tracks such as Pocono, then throwing ol? momentum into the mix by factoring in the last month of racing.

TOP TWENTY
1) 24 Jeff Gordon
2) 17 Matt Kenseth
3) 20 Tony Stewart
4) 11 Denny Hamlin
5) 29 Kevin Harvick
6) 5 Kyle Busch
7) 2 Kurt Busch
8) 99 Carl Edwards
9) 07 Clint Bowyer
10) 01 Mark Martin
11) 1 Martin Truex Jr.
12) 12 Ryan Newman
13) 31 Jeff Burton
14) 48 Jimmie Johnson
15) 26 Jamie McMurray
16) 9 Kasey Kahne
17) 83 Brian Vickers
18) 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
19) 25 Casey Mears
20) 16 Greg Biffle

For the past two years, the winner of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard has gone on to win the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship. In 2005, Tony Stewart notched an emotional win at Indy, and then went on to win the championship. Jimmie Johnson followed up this feat in 2006. In fact, the winner of the Brickyard 400 has won the championship in the same year six times in its 13 year run, the others being Bobby Labonte in 2000, Dale Jarrett in 1999, and Jeff Gordon in 1998 and 2001.

Matt Kenseth will attempt to become the first driver from Roush Fenway Racing to win this race, and he has a pretty impressive record here for a non-winner. The 2003 Cup Champion has finished second twice, and has a series-best Driver Rating of 114.0. He also leads all drivers in Average Running Position (5.8) over the past two years. Kenseth: “Indy ranks right at the top, or close to the top, on races you’d like to win in your career. I think everyone wants to win the Daytona 500, that’s the biggest one you want to win. But, certainly the Brickyard is right there with it. We’ve been close a few times and we’ve been real competitive. I always feel like we’ll have a shot when we go there, and it’s certainly one we’d like to pull off.?

?Indy’s different than any other track we go to because it’s four 90 degree corners instead of two basically 180 degree corners, so that makes it a lot different. It’s definitely narrow and very difficult to run side by side, but yet it’s not difficult to pass. If you got your car where it’s loose enough then you can do some passing. It’s a lot of fun. It’s actually a very challenging track, even when you’re by yourself, to get that little bit of extra speed out of it is real difficult at Indy. You’ve got to have it pretty ‘hung out’ to be able to run fast, which makes it a lot of fun as a driver.”

Kenseth?s Crew Chief Robbie Reiser: “We’re taking the same car that we ran with there last year. It was brand new when we ran it at Indy last year and built specifically with Indy in mind. We tested it there then took it back and were pretty competitive with it. That should give us a pretty good baseline whenever we unload Friday for the two practice session. Hopefully we aren’t too far off and can zero in on what we need for the race. If we can get it to turn like Matt wants it to turn, then I feel pretty good about our chances on Sunday.”

SELECTED INDY HIGHLIGHTS

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)
? Four wins, seven top fives, 10 top 10s; three poles
? Average finish of 9.3
? Second-best Closer ? 17 positions improved in the last 10 percent of laps in each race
? 109 Green Flag Passes

Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford)
? Four top fives
? Average finish of 13.7
? Series-best Average Running Position of 5.8
? Series-best Driver Rating of 114.0
? Third-fastest Green Flag Speed
? Series-high 316 Laps in the Top 15
? 44 Quality Passes, eighth-most

Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet)
? One win, three top fives, five top 10s; one pole
? Average finish of 8.4
? Average Running Position of 11.0, eighth-most
? Driver Rating of 109.2, second-best
? Series-high 31 Fastest Laps Run
? 117 Green Flag Passes, second-most
? 246 Laps in the Top 15, tied for sixth-most
? Series-high 58 Quality Passes

Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet)
? One win, three top fives, four top 10s; one pole
? Average finish of 7.8
? Average Running Position of 9.2, fifth-best
? Driver Rating of 105.3, fourth-best
? 14 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most
? 275 Laps in the Top 15, fourth-most
? 49 Quality Passes, tied for fifth-most

Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack Daniel?s Chevrolet)
? One top five
? Average Running Position of 10.0, seventh-best
? Driver Rating of 100.9, sixth-best
? 10th-fastest Green Flag Speed
? 94% of laps were in the Top 15 (150 total), third-best percentage
? 41 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), best per race average of any driver

Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet)
? One top five, two top 10s; one pole
? Average finish of 19.2
? Driver Rating of 96.9, ninth-best
? 29 Fastest Laps Run, tied for second-most
? 187 Laps in the Top 15, ninth-most

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe?s Chevrolet)
? One win, two top 10s
? Average finish of 20.4
? Driver Rating of 91.6, 11th-best
? 20 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
? Series-high 120 Green Flag Passes
? 184 Laps in the Top 15, ninth-most
? 51 Quality Passes, tied for fourth-most

Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge)
? Two top fives
? Average finish of 14.0
? Average Running Position of 6.4, second-best
? Driver Rating of 107.1, third-best
? 29 Fastest Laps Run, tied for second-most
? Second-fastest Green Flag Speed
? 304 Laps in the Top 15, second-most
? 51 Quality Passes, tied for second-most

Brian Vickers (No. 83 Red Bull Toyota)
? One top five
? Average finish of 16.3
? Average Running Position of 9.4, sixth-best
? Driver Rating of 99.7, seventh-best
? Sixth-fastest Green Flag Speed
? 260 Laps in the Top 15, fifth-most

Other Indy Highlights
? Jeff Gordon won the first NASCAR Cup series race.
? There have been 10 different Bud Pole winners ? including nine straight. Only Jeff Gordon (three) and Ernie Irvan (two) have repeated as pole winners there.
? Nine different drivers have won races at Indianapolis. Jeff Gordon (four) and Dale Jarrett (two) ? are the only repeat winners.
? Eight drivers have competed in all 13 races at Indianapolis: Bill Elliott, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Sterling Marlin, Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek.
? Rick Hendrick has won five races at Indianapolis ? more than any other car owner.

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