It's off before Indianapolis, where dreams come true

The race season never really stops, every now and then it just slows down a little bit. There is always plenty to do, plenty to see and lots to talk about. Some people believe that actually hurts the sport. Die-hard fans can never get enough. That's something else we can talk about.

For the teams that race in the Nextel Cup Series, this is not "an" off-weekend but The Off Weekend. It has moved around a little bit the past few years, but this year it comes in mid-July. The Brickyard 400 is July 29th. The season finale in Homestead is November 18th. That is 17 consecutive weeks of racing, including the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup.

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Teams have been through it before and this year they will do it again; it is a grind. Saturday night races help. Races close to Charlotte help. ... Races in California and Phoenix can really take their toll. So this is the last pit stop on the road to the championship.

Sure, many drivers will be racing at various tracks across the country, but this weekend is not really about giving the drivers a weekend of rest, it is more about giving the crew a weekend of rest. Then it is back to work. And it is not just back to work for any race; it is back to work for the Brickyard 400. It is back to work at Indianapolis.

Teams like to take the schedule one race at a time, but before the season even starts, just about every person on every race team can tell you three race dates without looking at a calendar; two of those races are at Daytona. The other one is at Indianapolis.

I know, every race is big -- and they all paid the same amount of points. But, face it: They all don't pay the same amount of prestige. Indy is Indy. Win there and you get to brag about it forever.

I remember Jamie McMurray in Victory Lane at the Pepsi 400: "I can't believe I won at Daytona." Well, that is the same feeling drivers get at Indianapolis. The track was not designed for stock cars, we all know that. And from green flag to checkered flag it is not the most exciting race when it comes to side-by-side racing.

But at this track with these cars you have to appreciate everything that happens during the race to enjoy the race, and those events hopefully set the stage for an exciting finish.

Can 43 cars make it through turn one on the first lap? Don't run out of fuel on the frontstretch, you'll never make it back. Pit road is long and narrow, the pit crew has to be good, and the driver has to be lucky. Be careful on restarts, through the years the Brickyard 400 has had more than its' share of trouble on restarts.

And then what about pit strategy?

Remember the caution with 15 laps to go in 2005? Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne had been battling for the lead. Then the yellow flag flew. Stewart and crew chief Greg Zipadelli had to agree on a decision. Pit or stay out. Stewart told Zipadelli he was too nervous to make the call. They stayed out. Stewart caught Kahne, made the pass, pulled away and was unchallenged at the checkered flag.

"You guys helped me live my lifelong dream today," Stewart told his team on the radio after the race. He drove by some friends in a suite, and then climbed the fence on the frontstretch.

"If I die tomorrow or die right now, my life is complete," said Stewart, who grew up about 45 minutes down the road. (Continued)