INDIANAPOLIS -- Coming to Indianapolis Motor Speedway never gets old for Jeff Gordon, and why should it?

He visited often as a kid, watching one Indianapolis 500 in person and many others on television. When the Cup Series started coming to the track to run races in 1994, it was Gordon who won first -- and has won the most often, capturing a total of four victories at the Brickyard.

Lineup

Allstate 400 / Brickyard

Pos.	Driver	Speed	Time
1.	J. Johnson	181.763	49.515
2.	M. Martin	181.393	49.616
3.	R. Newman	180.970	49.732
4.	K. Kahne	180.810	49.776
5.	J. Gordon	180.545	49.849
6.	E. Sadler	180.397	49.890
7.	Ku. Busch	180.343	49.905
8.	J. McMurray	180.321	49.911
9.	C. Edwards	180.209	49.942
10.	M. Kenseth	179.917	50.023

• Lineup | Videos | Photos

Gordon qualified fifth for this Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and will start on the inside of Row 3. Coupled with the fact that his No. 24 Chevrolet was the fastest in the next-to-last practice session Saturday at Indy, registering a top lap speed of 174.496 mph, it's understandable why he is confident about his chances of capturing his first win of the 2008 season.

"It's just the thoughts of memories that I had as a kid watching at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indy 500, the legends that raced here," Gordon said. "The fact that I get to race on that track, the one those greats competed on when I was watching on TV as a kid, it's just awesome.

"Ever since the first year that we came here and won, having that win under our belt just gets me excited about coming back here each and every year. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of year we're having. I just always feel like we can come here and be competitive."

Of course, Gordon is not the only driver who enters Sunday's event with high hopes. Optimism is running rampant throughout the Hendrick Motorsports operation, with teammate Jimmie Johnson having won the pole in qualifying trim with a speed of 181.763 mph in his No. 48 Chevy and finishing Saturday's final practice session atop the speed charts in race trim with a top lap speed of 175.298 mph.

Gordon posted the second-fastest lap speed in the final practice session (174.958 mph), followed by Denny Hamlin in his No. 11 Toyota (174.408 mph); Carl Edwards in his No. 99 Ford (174.118 mph); and Ryan Newman in his No. 12 Dodge (174.068 mph). Rounding out the top 10 were Mark Martin in the No. 8 Chevy (174.024 mph); Jamie McMurray in the No. 26 Ford (173.839 mph); Kasey Kahne in his No. 9 Dodge (173.564 mph); and rookie Sam Hornish Jr. (173.427 mph), who is no stranger to Indy because the former open-wheel star once won the Indy 500.

Those who struggled during the final practice session included defending race champion Tony Stewart, who has won the event two of the past three years (with Johnson winning the one in between); and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Stewart qualified 14th and ranked just 27th in the final practice session with a top speed of 171.910 mph. Earnhardt, who qualified 11th, posted a top speed during the final practice session of 172.894 mph that ranked 18th on the speed charts.

"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