NASCAR Cup Series

Drivers long for Indianapolis victory

Published Jul. 27, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Jeff Hammond

I tell folks all the time that when it comes to racing and winning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, you have to have the total package.

You have to have a car that handles like a short-track car through the corners. At the same time, it has to have the lowest drag numbers possible to run down those long straightaways. If you have that, then you can take advantage of the horsepower that is available.

Speaking of the engine, it has to have the power to pull off the corner like you want to have at a track such as Richmond International Raceway or a Martinsville Speedway. At the same time, it has to have the juice, like you need at the larger tracks such as Pocono Raceway or Michigan International Speedway.

So that’s why I say you have to have a total package at Indianapolis.

This is one of those racetracks that almost demands perfection. Then, obviously, you have to have a driver that has the feel to take advantage of it. This is a driver’s racetrack.

Figuring out what your car likes and doesn’t like on a track like this is critical. That’s why early on Tony Stewart had an advantage from all the years of racing open-wheel cars at Indy. If you look at the list of winners at the Brickyard, they are all drivers that have exceptional feel.

Ask any driver if he had to race at a track with no fans but still wanted to win, what track would it be? They will easily tell you Daytona International Speedway and Indianapolis. Obviously, the fans make it special, but at a place like Indianapolis, well, the track is the star.

There are simply places that we go to that are special. NASCAR didn’t start racing at Indy until 1994.

Before we got to race there, I thought I knew why the place was special. Then, having the privilege of our team racing there, I quickly saw why it's so special. The atmosphere, the history and the mystique at the Brickyard is similar to what we experience when we pull through the tunnel at Daytona and Darlington Raceway.

You can walk onto those three tracks without a single person there and you still have that feeling. It is a very unique feeling. That’s how special they are to racers. At Indy, when you walk through the garage and out onto pit road, there is a sensation that comes over you.

It’s an inspiring, exhilarating, goose-bump moment. You really do get the sensation of the legends that came before you.

I understand when I walk through those tracks the meaning that particular piece of ground has for our sport. Like winning the Daytona 500, every driver will tell you that winning the Brickyard 400 will define your season.

I am just anticipating an awesome weekend there. With the level of competition we are having this year, and with all the surprises we have already seen, I think anyone can win. This is one of those dates teams circle on their calendars. They’ve probably been working on their Indy package since February.

That’s how important it is.

So watch and see who can capture perfection this weekend. You have to have the perfect car, with the right driver and the perfect strategy, to win the Brickyard 400 this weekend.

It’s just a package of perfection.
 

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