There was a time when the Brickyard 400 was, arguably, the most anticipated event in NASCAR’s history.
The reason was simple: It was going to be the first major league stock car race ever held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the venerated, 2.5-mile track that had been staging races since 1911 and was considered the shrine of American motorsports.
But for decades only open-wheel racecars competed there. These aerodynamically sound, custom-built, slim vehicles certainly did not look like anything that traversed the highways. But they were the pinnacle of speed – and excitement.
Their showcase event was the Indianapolis 500, which has long become the single largest, well-attended race in the United States and one of the world’s most significant sporting events.
That it had reached such a lofty status is perhaps one reason it disdained nearly all other forms of motorsports – including NASCAR.
For decades, Indianapolis and its president, Tony Hulman, made it clear that NASCAR, with its “taxi cab” racecars, would never be allowed to compete on their holy ground. It was that way for decades.
However, by 1992, word leaked out that NASCAR President Bill France Jr. and Tony Hulman George, Indy’s ambitious new boss, were discussing the possibility of staging a NASCAR Cup Series event at Indy.
George was considerably more open-minded than earlier management. He recognized NASCAR’s surging popularity and reasoned that its presence at Indianapolis would serve the track well.
An agreement was reached to stage a Cup race at Indy, following tire tests which were, in reality, practice sessions open to all competitors.
The inaugural race was scheduled for Aug. 6, 1994. Naturally, all NASCAR competitors and fans were thrilled that, at long last, there was going to be a stock car race at the world’s most famous speedway.
No one was more thrilled, nor more anxious to compete than Dale Earnhardt.
As the reports and rumors of the first Brickyard 400 heated up, Earnhardt grew more impatient and restless. He had to know the latest news. Heck, he had to know everything. He called me more than once to say: “What have you heard?”
I once asked him why he was so anxious about Indy.
“You don’t always get to be part of NASCAR history,” he replied. “And at Indianapolis, I intend to be a big part of it.”
I didn’t have to ask him how he was going to do that. It was easy to see he was determined to win the inaugural Brickyard 400.
So much so that when that practice session began – covered by an army of media and attended by thousands of fans – Earnhardt made it clear he was going to be the first driver on the track. Which he was.
“I have never seen him more excited,” team owner Richard Childress said.
After he completed just a single lap, Earnhardt radioed Childress.
I was standing next to Childress when he received the message. He broke out in laughter. Naturally, I asked him what Earnhardt had said.
“You can’t print it,” said a giggling Childress.
“I reckon not, but what was it?” I asked.
Childress replied that Earnhardt told him he was “so excited that (insert your word of choice here) was harder than Chinese arithmetic.”
I’ll leave it at that.
For that first Brickyard 400, in which an astonishing 84 cars attempted to qualify, the atmosphere was electric and vibrant. The attendance numbers have varied but it was clearly into six figures and the highest-attended event in NASCAR history.
Earnhardt started on the front row but didn’t win. His cause was not helped with a whack of the wall in the early going and he finished fifth behind Jeff Gordon, who was from nearby Pittsboro and ignited that city in celebration – not to mention most of Indiana.
“I’m disappointed, sure,” Earnhardt said. “It’s always tough to take when you lose. But this is extra tough.”
Earnhardt’s disappointment was eased somewhat after he won the 1994 Cup championship, the seventh and final of his career.
Earnhardt, of course, wanted badly to win at Indy in 1995 and to help his cause, Richard Childress Racing built and prepared a new Chevrolet. It was so new, in fact, that its only on-track appearances were 40 laps of practice.
“We came here with that new car and with only a bit of practice, so it didn’t seem like we could have learned much about it,” Earnhardt said. “But really, we had a mighty good feeling it would do well.”
It did.
Rain postponed the start of the race from 1:15 p.m. to 4:25 p.m. and when the green flag finally flew, thousands of fans who departed the track were scrambling to get back to their seats.
Earnhardt’s victory was fashioned by the last pit stop, which ended on lap 137 of 160. The RCR pit crew put its driver into the lead ahead of Rusty Wallace and Bill Elliott.
Earnhardt led the final 28 laps, although it wasn’t easy. A determined Wallace made every effort to take the point but finished just 0.37 seconds behind.
“OK, this isn’t the Daytona 500 but I’ll take it,” Earnhardt said. “The Brickyard 400 is a very special race and I’ve wanted to win it ever since I heard we were coming here.
“I’m only one of two drivers to win it. And I’m the first man to win it.”
Earnhardt’s jab at Gordon was good-natured. The two competitors were friendly.
“To win at this track is an honor for me,” Earnhardt continued. “This is the track where Rick Mears, the Unsers and all those other great names have won.
“To have your name included with all those who have won at Indy – either in the Indianapolis 500 or the Brickyard 400 – that’s pretty impressive.”
Earnhardt’s impressive victories included major events at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Indianapolis and Talladega Superspeedway. But one was still missing.
“Yeah, I can’t believe how many times we have come so close to winning the Daytona 500 only to have it slip out of our hands for one dumb thing or another,” Earnhardt said. “I have got to get the monkey off my back somehow.”
Indeed, he finally did that.
But it took almost three years.
Steve Waid has been in journalism since 1972, when he began his newspaper career at the Martinsville (Va.) Bulletin. He has spent over 40 years in motorsports journalism, first with the Roanoke Times-World News and later as publisher and vice president for NASCAR Scene and NASCAR Illustrated.
Steve has won numerous state sports writing awards and several more from the National Motorsports Press Association for his motorsports coverage, feature and column writing. For several years, Steve was a regular on “NASCAR This Morning” on FOX Sports Net and he is the co-author, with Tom Higgins, of the biography “Junior Johnson: Brave In Life.”
In January 2014, Steve was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame. And in 2019 he was presented the Squier-Hall Award by the NASCAR Hall of Fame for lifetime excellence in motorsports journalism. In addition to writing for Frontstretch, Steve is also the co-host of The Scene Vault Podcast.