How the Brickyard 400 was won

Instead of winning races and championships, however, the combination of the crew chief with the three-time NASCAR Winston Cup driver did not begin with success.

Hard as it may be to believe, there was a time last year when Gordon had become the forgotten man in NASCAR Winston Cup racing. The magical combination of Gordon and crew chief Ray Evernham had ended in September 1999 when Evernham decided to take a job that would lead Dodge back into stock car racing.

When Gordon became the first three-time winner in Brickyard 400 history by winning Sunday's race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Loomis and Gordon had achieved redemption.

And Gordon did it in Jordan-like fashion by driving to victory and coming through when it mattered the most. He started 27th and steadily drove through the field until he was finally in the lead for good on the 136th lap.

That came after Loomis made a major pit strategy decision for Gordon's car when he pitted for two tyres rather than four. Gordon pitted on lap 132 after the yellow flag was waved for debris in the third turn. That put Gordon in second place behind race leader Sterling Marlin, who did not pit. When the green flag waved on lap 136, Gordon went to the inside of Marlin's Dodge entering the first turn to take the lead. It was a lead he would never lose as he went on to score the 56th Winston Cup victory of his career.

"I'm just very thankful for this opportunity to be with this team," Loomis said. "What the tools team owner Rick Hendrick gives us is unbelievable. We have so much information to draw from, it's a matter of getting the right stuff in the car.

"I try to be thankful every day for the opportunity that I have. I enjoyed all my years with Petty Enterprises. Today is really special to be here with Jeff."

When Gordon came into Winston Cup racing in 1993 with Ray Evernham as his mentor, the combination ultimately resulted in 47 Winston Cup wins and three Winston Cup titles. Gordon won two races with Brian Whitesell as his crew chief at the end of the 1999 season and won three races with Loomis as the crew chief last year.

This year, Gordon and Loomis are on pace for a Winston Cup championship. Sunday's victory was Gordon's fourth of the season and he now leads Dale Jarrett by 160 points in the battle for the title.

"The great thing about Robbie is it goes beyond just winning races," Gordon said. "He is somebody that thinks a lot about the people that he works with. It was a big decision for him to step away from a great organisation at Petty Enterprises where he was surrounded by great people. I worked him over pretty hard as a salesman to get him to join us. I saw something in Robbie that was a great quality in his personality as much as his talents.

"This is great redemption as far as I'm concerned because I said a lot of things to get him here and then we had a bad year last year. To be able to come back and be strong like this, it makes me happy to be able to give something back to a guy who made a big decision to come over."

Last year was a difficult time for Gordon as he was being forgotten as a threat in the sport. It came after a magical streak of success where he was the dominant driver in NASCAR.

"Last year, Jeff didn't get the respect he deserved," said team owner Rick Hendrick. "To finish in the top 10 and win three races, that would be a great year for a lot of people here. We went through a tough time and I remember the first race where people came up to Robbie and said you are ruining Jeff's career. I put my arm around Robbie and told him not to worry about it and let it get him down, we just have to keep digging.

"Through all the down times, Jeff stepped up and he became the leader. He assumed the role and tried to comfort everybody on the team. We decided at Charlotte last year that we were going to win together or lose together, but we were going to do it together. Everybody knows who has seen Jeff Gordon drive a race car that writing him off is a big mistake. He redeemed Robbie and me. I'm real proud for Robbie and for Jeff."

It was that confidence in each other's abilities that helped Gordon drive through the field to ultimately win Sunday's race after starting 27th on a track that is considered so difficult to pass.

"You really had no idea what is going to happen," Gordon said. "When they dropped the green, we were going backwards instead of forwards. We knew then track position wasn't that important because we had to get the car handling a little bit better. Once we did that, then we started thinking about track position.

"There were times that Robbie needed to calm me down because I was getting fired up. It finally got to the point where I realised the car was not as bad as I thought. We went for track position and once we got into clean air, the car started handling pretty good."

When Gordon won the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994, he said he was familiar with the name Ray Harroun - the driver who won the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911.

On Sunday, after Gordon became the first three-time winner of the Brickyard 400, he was asked if he had heard of Louis Meyer - the first three-time Indy winner.

"I knew who Ray Harroun was, but Mr Meyer is someone I'm not familiar with," Gordon said. "It's just a great feeling to win here at Indianapolis. I love this place. It's just a dream for me to be here. I thought I would be here in an Indy car, but there is nothing sweeter to me than doing it in a stock car."

It also made it even sweeter because it was the first time he took Loomis to victory lane at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"What makes me so proud of Robbie is he saw an opportunity for him to shine and to be a part of something special," Gordon said. "That goes a long way. Robbie went through a lot of abuse last year from a lot of different angles. That is what makes me so proud to be able see him to go victory lane at Indianapolis. This is the moment he was looking for.

"It's a great feeling to be a part of that."

And it was a great feeling for Gordon to be back home again in Indiana and win the Brickyard 400 for a record third time. It was the reception Gordon got from the fans in Indiana, who cheer him on as a conquering hero, that made this win so special.

"It's not too often you can hear the cheers over the engines when you are idling around here," Gordon said. "I saw races here when I was growing up and when you grew up as an open-wheel driver, I had it embedded in my head that someday I'm going to be an Indy 500 driver."

Instead, Gordon has become a Brickyard 400 legend.