Old News: Jeff Gordon wins the first Brickyard 400
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This week 32 years ago, an effort to bring stock car racing to Indianapolis culminated with a 23-year-old who cut his teeth in Pittsboro holding some very historic bricks.
Why it matters: The inaugural Brickyard 400 broke the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's long tradition of hosting only IndyCar, reshaped NASCAR's national map and pumped tens of millions of dollars into Central Indiana's economy.
Driving the (old) news: After the combination of crushed limestone, gravel and tar proved deadly at the track's 1909 debut, crews laid 3.2 million bricks over the oval in 63 days that fall, giving "The Brickyard" its nickname and a safer surface.
- Asphalt slowly covered the bricks between the 1930s and 1961, but IMS kept one yard of the OGs exposed at the start-finish line.
In 1991, IMS leadership voted to pursue a second race, and IMS president Tony George and NASCAR's Bill France Jr. announced the Brickyard 400 in April 1993.
Zoom in: When the race started on Aug. 6, 1994, it happened in front of a sellout crowd estimated at more than 250,000, NASCAR's largest at the time.
- Pole-sitter Rick Mast faded early, and personal issues between brothers Geoff and Brett Bodine resulted in a lap 100 crash that sent Geoff Bodine into the wall.
- Jeff Gordon led 93 laps and took the checkered flag two days after his 23rd birthday, beating Brett Bodine by 0.53 seconds.
Between the lines: The race generated roughly $35 million in annual revenue and helped fund George's Indy Racing League.
- Gordon would go on to win a record five Brickyards.
- And while he isn't a Hoosier by birth, Indiana helped make him. Gordon moved from California to Pittsboro as a teen because he was able to race sprint cars in Indiana before he turned 18.
The latest: On July 1, the IMS Museum opened its first-ever exhibit for a single driver in Gordon's honor, complete with 13 of his race cars and more than 70 helmets.
- Gordon toured it for the first time last month with his parents and son.
- The exhibit will be open through February 2027.