It was almost unthinkable before April of 1992 that stock cars would ever lay a wheel on the historic 2�-mile oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
From the time the track opened as a brick-covered test course in 1909, and from the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911, the sprawling venue was a place for open-wheel, open-cockpit cars.
A lot of eyebrows were raised when speedway boss Tony George and his family, which owns and operates the speedway, allowed IROC cars -- basically stock cars that are identically prepared -- to test on the track in the spring of 1992.
That was a hint of things to come.
That summer, a group of NASCAR Cup teams were invited to test at the Indy track following a race in nearby Michigan.
It was billed as an exhibition, but stock car fans didn�t care. Thousands of people turning out to watch the stock cars zoom around the big track.
The drivers were just as excited.
�It just gave me chills to drive on the same track where Foyt and Andretti and Mears and all those great drivers raced," Rusty Wallace said. �You can just feel the history when you�re there."
The first Brickyard 400 in 1994 drew a sellout crowd of more than 250,000, and little has changed in the intervening years -- the race now is called the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
Sunday�s Brickyard winner will get to kiss the yard of original brick that serves as the start-finish line, a tradition now as ingrained as the winner of the Indy 500 drinking cold milk.
�Winning at Indy ranks right up there with winning the Daytona 500," said Kevin Harvick, who won in 2003. �I grew up an open-wheel fan and a huge fan of Rick Mears and always wanted to race in the Indy 500.
�Winning at Indianapolis was pretty special, and every time we go there it�s just the history and the mystique of the whole racetrack that I enjoy. You�ve got the old grandstand and just everything about Indy is just neat for everybody."
Ricky Rudd, who won the 1997 race, still gets excited about going to Indy.
�Going there as a young kid and seeing the museum and taking the [bus] tour around the speedway really left a lasting impression on me," he said.
�I think what helps make winning at the Brickyard such a unique experience is the fact that for many years they only had the Indianapolis 500. And with that one race, there was just so much prestige in a victory there. It�s just such a historical facility, and I think that�s why it carries so much glory when you have the chance to win there."