Chevrolet keeps conquering Brickyard 400

INDIANAPOLIS — Friday is the annual "Chevy Day at the Brickyard," a fan fest with driver appearances and autographs.

But unofficially, "Chevy Day at the Brickyard" could also describe all of the Sprint Cup Series races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway over the last decade.

Chevrolet drivers have been that dominant in the 400-mile race, which will see its 21st running Sunday.

Chevy has won 15 of NASCAR's 20 events at Indianapolis, including 11 in a row. That streak is two wins shy of the all-time manufacturer record, held by Chevy at Talladega Superspeeday (13 consecutive victories from 1999-2005).

So why are the Chevy cars so good at this storied 2.5-mile layout?

"I think it boils down to the teams," Kevin Harvick said Thursday at a golf tournament held just outside the track walls. "Chevy has a lot of great teams, obviously, and everybody puts a lot of effort into this race. It kind of sets the tone for the second half of the year and the Chase."

Last year, Chevrolet had six of the top seven finishers at the Brickyard — including race winner Ryan Newman among the top four. All were driving cars with Hendrick Motorsports engines, which now include drivers from Hendrick, Stewart-Haas Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing.

The performance was so impressive, it helped convince crew chief Rodney Childers to leave Michael Waltrip Racing's Toyota team and join Harvick at SHR when he moved there this season.

"We went to Indy and you see the SHR car (Newman) wins the race," Childers told USA TODAY Sports. "All the Hendrick-powered cars were up front. I'm sitting there thinking, 'If I'm ever going to win the Daytona 500 or the Brickyard 400 or any of these big races, I'm going to have to be associated with that group somehow.'"

The favorite could come from that contingent again this year, though Ford's Team Penske drivers — Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano — have showed increasing strength.

Still, Ford's last victory at Indy was 1999 with Dale Jarrett, and Toyota has never won here.

Hendrick-powered cars haven't been the only successful Chevy teams during the streak. Earnhardt Childress Racing engines won the race with Paul Menard (2011) and Jamie McMurray (2010).

"Chevy has a lot of really strong race teams," Dale Earnhardt Jr. crew chief Steve Letarte told USA TODAY Sports. "Those teams build a lot of new cars for this race, because the Brickyard is kind of like Daytona — you have it circled on your calendar."

It often seems drivers who have strong runs in the Brickyard end up being championship contenders — the Indy winner has gone on to become that season's champion eight times — and Chevy has won eight of the last nine titles (six of them with Johnson).

Jim Campbell, Chevrolet's U.S. vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports, said Thursday he considered Indy to be the manufacturer's "home track" because company co-founder Louis Chevrolet competed in early Indianapolis 500s with brothers Arthur and Gaston. Chevy branding is highly visible at the track, which includes the pace car.

Before the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Letarte said the Brickyard used to be an indication of strength because the best teams would put extra resources into the race. These days, it's proof of whether a team is geared up for a 10-week playoff run in the fall.

"The Brickyard, especially since it comes off an off-weekend, it's a really unique opportunity," he said. "It's a great place to bring out your newest motor package or your newest chassis package — what you think is going to carry you from September on.

"With the Chase, I think you see the teams who contend for the championship are the ones who have stuff figured out all the way back in July and August."

Said Harvick: "I think at this point of the year, you kind of know where you're at performance-wise. If you've been running good at the beginning of the year, you usually run well here."

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