It’s Old Home Week in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS — “Back Home Again in Indiana,” the theme song of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, has never been as appropriate as it is for today’s Brickyard 400. The field is sprinkled with Hoosiers.

Jeff Gordon, the pole-sitter and defending champion, is from Pittsboro, an Indianapolis suburb where a street was named in his honor Wednesday, his 28th birthday.

Tony Stewart, the leading rookie in Winston Cup racing and a veteran of four Indianapolis 500s, is from Columbus, about 35 miles south of Indianapolis.

John Andretti, whose family name is synonymous with racing at Indianapolis, lives in the western suburb of Brownsburg.

Kenny Irwin Jr., last year’s Winston Cup rookie of the year, is a hometown Indianapolis product.

All four came up racing--and winning--on the short tracks of Indiana in karts, midgets, sprint cars and modifieds, on dirt and pavement alike, before moving into NASCAR with its stock cars, superspeedways and million-dollar payouts.

All grew up hoping to race here, but in the Indianapolis 500, the only event held on the hallowed 2 1/2-mile track until 1994, when the inaugural Brickyard 400 broke tradition and gave them a second outlet.

“I’ve been adopted as a native Hoosier,” said Gordon, who was born in Vallejo and lived in California until he was 13. “I’m proud to be considered from Indiana. I have a lot of reasons that the state is special to me.”

Gordon, who won the first Brickyard 400 and became the first two-time champion last year, won the pole with a track-record run of 179.612 mph in his No. 24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo on Thursday.

“I miscalculated, I meant to qualify third,” joked Gordon, who started third in both races he won.

“To me, winning that first Brickyard 400 was like living through a fantasy, like you’re really not sure if you’re sleeping and dreaming or if it’s really happening. Nothing will ever compare to that.”

Mired in sixth place in the Winston Cup standings after failing to finish a number of races, Gordon said he believes that points leader Dale Jarrett, a Ford driver, is beyond catching in the championship race. Jarrett, who is starting in the second row, has a 254-point lead over Mark Martin, who will start alongside Gordon today in a Ford.

“I don’t see anyone touching Jarrett as long as he keeps doing what he’s been doing,” Gordon said.

Surprisingly, Stewart, the rookie, is fifth, 43 points ahead of Gordon. He qualified 11th in a Pontiac at 178.348 mph.

“We’re pretty happy with where we’re starting,” said Stewart, still looking for his first Winston Cup win. “If we could win here, there would be a very large party. It would probably last two or three days right here in Indianapolis.”

Although Stewart is a stock car rookie, he has driven in four Indy 500s as one of the Indy Racing League’s marquee drivers.

“There’s a big difference between the IRL and NASCAR, starting with qualifying,” Stewart said. “The IRL car, when you qualify you hold it wide open for four laps. It’s a good thing it’s only one lap [for NASCAR] because you can only hold your breath for about 50 seconds and that’s how long it takes to get around here. You have to work a lot harder.”

Andretti, who qualified 10th, looks on Indy as a family obsession.

“I always enjoy coming here, because my family is here and it’s home, but Indy has never been very kind to the Andrettis,” he said. In all, Andrettis have started 50 times in Indy 500s and five Brickyard 400s with only one win.

Uncle Mario won the 1969 Indy 500 and although he was the favorite at least a dozen other times, he never won again in 29 starts. Cousin Michael tried 11 times and finished second once. Another cousin, Jeff, was in three 500s.

John has started seven 500s and all five 400s. His best finishes have been a fifth in the 1991 500 and a seventh in last year’s 400.

He drives for another legendary racing name, Richard Petty.

Irwin, 30, has been coming to the Speedway for 25 years, but until this year, he was never on the track, except for riding around in a tour bus.

“Winning this race would be unbelievable,” he said. “I would say that winning a go-kart race here would be unbelievable.”

Brickyard 400 Facts

* When: 10 a.m. PDT today.

* Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (oval, 2.5 miles, nine-degree banking in turns), Indianapolis.

* Television: Channel 7.

* Race distance: 400 miles, 160 laps.

* Last year: Jeff Gordon won his second Brickyard 400, holding off Mark Martin. Gordon also won in 1994.

* Fast facts: Gordon has failed to finish five times in 19 races this year. He was running at the end of all but two of 33 races last season. . . . Brett Bodine has not recorded a top-five finish in 156 races. His last top-five was in the inaugural Brickyard 400, in 1994.