Hendrick boys seemed poised for big day at Indy (cont'd)

"This track has been so feast or famine for us," said Johnson, who has one win and two top-10 finishes but also has failed to finish three times in six career starts at the venue. "We've either won or been on fire or wrecked. We were on fire and wrecked last year. I hope this year it switches over to winning and kissing the bricks on the frontstretch."

“

... if you've got a good pit crew and a clever crew chief, you can employ strategy that gets you up toward the front.

”

DALE EARNHARDT JR.

Unlike Gordon and Johnson, Earnhardt has never won at Indy. And after qualifying 11th and failing to crack the top 11 on the speed charts in the final two practice sessions, his No. 88 Chevy obviously was not as fast as his Hendrick Motorsports teammates on Saturday.

But that doesn't mean Earnhardt isn't confident as well.

"Qualifying is pretty important -- and if you've got a good pit crew and a clever crew chief, you can employ strategy that gets you up toward the front," Earnhardt said. "It's not a multi-groove racetrack in the corners, so passing is really difficult. I don't know how the [new car, which is being run at Indy for the first time] will react. If you can get four tires and be in the top three after the last stop, you should be in good shape.

Strategy is the key, but so is car setup, according to Gordon.

"You've got to have good balance on the car. This is a tough track," he said. "You have long straightaways. You really have to get down the straightaways. So how you get off Turn 2 and Turn 4 is extremely important. You've got to have a car that really gets off the corner pretty neutral. You've got to be able to get into Turns 1 and 3 really good. But you need that power to get you down the straightaways as well. It's total team effort for sure."

Johnson agreed that finding the best way to get through the tricky corners -- each unique in its own way -- is the key at the 2.5-mile track.

"It has to stay turning all day here. These corners are really flat and tight," Johnson said. "They're much faster with a loose racecar than a tight racecar. The goal for everyone will be to keep the car turning throughout the day."

The ultimate goal, of course, is to finish in front of everyone else. Gordon knows more about that at this place than anyone else, and admitted that he would absolutely love to experience that loving feeling yet another time.

"There are not too many guys that race in NASCAR who came to the Indy 500 as a kid. I mean, maybe [Indiana natives] Tony [Stewart], maybe [Ryan] Newman -- but not many," said Gordon, who was born in California but moved to Indiana when he was 5. "So I think those people who have those memories and experiences look at this race and this racetrack in a whole different way. There's no doubt that you get chills coming into this place."

Also
• Johnson turns top lap at Brickyard to edge Martin for pole
• Speeds: Practice 1 | Practice 2 | Practice 3 | Practice 4