SPEEDWAY, IN. (July 17)- - Jeff Gordon took to the track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a two day test session on July 15-16 in preparation for the Brickyard 400 on August 4. The winner of the Brickyard 400 has gone on to win the Winston Cup title the past four seasons.

Gordon won the event in 1994, 1998, and 2001 and looks to become the first repeat stock car winner at the Brickyard. He's also won three poles at the race. "It's been a very special place," said Gordon, who spent his formative racing years living in nearby Pittsboro, Indiana. "Just to come here and be able to be a part of the inaugural Brickyard 400, that was all my dreams come true."

"They've done some grinding on the track, so there's a lot of grip," Gordon said. "We're just trying to see how things have evolved for our cars, the tires, and also with the track. We learned quite a bit. I think the speeds are going to be really fast. I'm hoping that we do have a little more tire wear than we had at most places, because that way it won't come down to a fuel mileage deal. It will come down to putting new tires on. Not a whole lot of an outside groove, because of all the rubber build-up that's been thrown out there. I just don't know if we'll be able to make the groove wide enough." State of the art soft wall technology was implemented at the track for the Indianapolis 500 in May. The safer barriers will remain in place for the August NASCAR event. "We're excited to have it there," Gordon said. "None of us want to use it and find out how well it works. It's nice to know that they're taking extra measures to make the track safer for all of us. I think it's a good thing." Regarding his past success at Indy, Gordon sees it as a combination of factors. "Sometimes it's liking the track, sometimes it's putting a good setup under the car, and sometimes it's just getting some good, lucky breaks. We've had all those things fall in our favor when we've been here in Indianapolis, and we hope we can do that again this year."

JG AUDIO (mp3 files):
+Jeff talks about winning the inaugural NASCAR race at Indy
+Jeff talks about his racing heroes

Brickyard Testing Photos:
+Jeff in the garage | +Jimmie Johnson on pit road

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