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Chevrolet Seeks Yet Another Brickyard Triumph

There is little question as to which automaker has dominated Sprint Cup racing at the Brickyard 400.

In the previous 18 runnings, Chevrolet cars have gone to victory lane 13 times and are riding a nine-race winning streak entering today's race. Jeff Gordon took a Chevrolet Lumina to victory lane in the inaugural Brickyard in 1994, the final year for that nameplate.

Dale Earnhardt helped christen the Monte Carlo by winning the '95 edition of the race, one of 21 victories out of 31 races for Chevrolet that season.

Ford took back to back wins with Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd in 1996 and 1997. Gordon won twice more in 1998 and 2001, sandwiched around wins by Jarrett (Ford) in 1999 and Bobby Labonte (Pontiac) in 2000. Georgia's Bill Elliott grabbed the 2002 race for Dodge, the last win to date for a car not carrying the iconic bowtie on the hood.

Kevin Harvick began the streak in 2003, winning from the pole. Gordon won the 2004 race to give him a record four wins, tying him for the track's oval configuration record with Indy 500 champs A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, and Rick Mears. In 2005, Tony Stewart became the first native Hoosier to win at Indianapolis since 1939. Stewart added another win in 2007, while Jimmie Johnson took his own Chevy to victory lane in 2006, 2008, and 2009 (the only driver to ever win back-to-back 400s). Jamie McMurray took the largest upset in the race's history up to that point in 2010, before Paul Menard snatched that distinction away last season with his first-career win.

Photographs by coka_koehler used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.