Road from Indy leads to title?

Consider that the last three Brickyard 400 winners have gone on to win the NASCAR Winston Cup title.

Jeff Gordon became the first two-time Brickyard 400 winner in 1998 and went on to win his third Winston Cup championship that season. Dale Jarrett won his second Brickyard 400 in 1999 and won his only Winston Cup title the same year. And last year, Bobby Labonte's victory over Rusty Wallace at the Brickyard 400 was his signature win in his Winston Cup title season.

Is this a trend or coincidence?

"There is no rhyme or reason that that's happened, and it definitely isn't going to happen forever," said Labonte, who finally broke his 2001 victory duck at Pocono last Sunday. "There is no way that that one race can dictate anything else that is going to happen for the rest of the year.

"I guess it's coincidence, but then again, maybe not. Maybe there is something to that because the teams that do well in the Brickyard 400 are usually the teams that are doing well in the Winston Cup championship."

Coincidentally, prior to the eighth running of the Brickyard 400, the three men at the top of the standings are all former winners of the race. Jeff Gordon heads the points, from Robert Yates Racing duo Ricky Rudd and Dale Jarrett.