Top 10 Drivers of All-Time at the Brickyard 400

This Sunday will be the 18th time the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series hits the bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  This is a list of the top ten drivers to have ever raced in the Brickyard 400.

I compiled this list from memory. I've been to the previous 17 Brickyard 400s, and I've also factored in the all-time stats.  Some of these may be surprising, and some may not.

10. Bobby Labonte

The 2000 Brickyard 400 champ comes in at number ten.  Labonte had great success at the Speedway early in his career.  He has the distinction of being one of only four drivers to start in every Brickyard 400.

From 1997-2000 he had a string of four straight top-three finishes.  Those were Bobby's good years at the Speedway.  If it wasn't for his recent struggles, he would have come in higher on the list.

In Bobby's 17 career Brickyard 400 starts he has four top 5's, five top 10's, and has led in four races for a combined 30 laps.

9. Mark Martin

Mark Martin may go down as the best driver to never win the Brickyard 400.  He's been so close so many times at Indy, but has never had the opportunity to kiss the bricks.

He's finished runner-up twice in his 17 career starts, including one second-place finish just two years ago. 

Martin, like Bobby Labonte, has started in all 17 Brickyard 400s.

In Martin's 17 starts he has six career top 5's, 10 top 10's, and has led in seven Brickyard races for a combined 67 laps.

If there's one thing that's almost a sure bet at the Brickyard, it's that Mark Martin will be running up front all day.

8. Rusty Wallace

Rusty Wallace ranks up there with Mark Martin as one of the most consistent drivers to have ever run in the Brickyard 400 without winning.

Wallace ran in the top ten year in and year out in Indy.

He made 12 career Brickyard 400 starts with a best finish of second twice.

In those 12 starts Rusty only had one DNF, and in the other 11 races he finished on the lead lap in every race.

Rusty's stats include five top-5 finishes, nine top-10's, and he led in four Brickyard's for a combined 148 laps.

From the first Brickyard in 1994 to 2002, Rusty only finished worse than 8th once in the 400, and that was in 1997 due to a blown engine.

7. Bill Elliott

Awesome Bill from Dawsonville was the 2002 Brickyard 400 Champion.  He became the oldest driver to ever win the Brickyard 400.

Bill's stats are just as amazing as his win in 2002.  He's started in 16 of the 17 Brickyard 400's.  2008 was the lone year Bill didn't race around the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In those 16 starts Bill has five top-5's, nine top-10's, and has led in seven of his Brickyard starts for a combined 157 laps.  The best stat of all is he has 0 DNF's in Indy, and only finished off the lead lap three times.  In those three times that he didn't finish on the lead lap he was only one lap down off the leaders.

6. Kevin Harvick

The 2003 Brickyard 400 champion made an appearance at sixth on the all-time Brickyard 400 driver's list.

Harvick has made ten career Brickyard 400 starts, and only finished outside the top ten three times.

Going along with his ten starts he has four top-5's, seven top-10's and 0 DNF's.

Harvick has led in five of his Brickyard 400 starts for a combined 92 laps.

5. Dale Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt kicks off my top five.  He holds the distinction of winning the only race delayed from the original start time. 

In 1995, Dale's first and only Brickyard win, the race was delayed due to a rainstorm that hit the Indianapolis area.  The race was virtually flawless, and Earnhardt came out on top.

Earnhardt made seven career Brickyard 400 starts and was competitive in all of them.  He has three top-5's, five top-10's and led the Brickyard in four of his seven starts for a combined 37 laps.

He also finished on the lead lap in every race but one.

4. Jimmie Johnson

It's was hard to put the three-time champ fourth, but in the races that Jimmie didn't win at the Brickyard he struggled.

He's on his way up though, and with a few more years running in the top five he could move up to second if not the best of all-time at Indy for the Brickyard.

Johnson is the only driver to have won back-to-back Brickyard 400's.  He also won three Brickyard's in four years.

His recent finishes are 2010- 22nd, 2009-1st, 2008- 1st, 2007-39th, and 2006- 1st.  The years before that we quite back for Jimmie and the #48 Lowe's team.  He had only one top ten and that was his first Brickyard in 2002.

Johnson has made nine career starts in the 400 and has win in three of them.  He has three top-5's, four top-10's and has led in four races for 129 laps. 

3. Dale Jarrett

The two-time Brickyard 400 champ comes in at number three.

Dale was always consistent at Indy and was the first driver driving a Ford to win the Brickyard back in 1996.

Dale made 13 career Brickyard 400 starts and had five top-5's, seven top-10's, and led in only four of his starts for a combined 186 laps.

After a stunning run from 1994-2000, he only had one top five finish from 2001 until his last start in 2006.

2. Tony Stewart

"Smoke" may be one of the best drivers to have ever raced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  He loves this track more than any other competitor to have ever race at Indy.  He grew up about an hour south of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so his passion is great.

In one of the most emotional wins in Speedway history, rivaling Jeff Gordon's in 1994, Tony Stewart climbed the fences in 2005 after his triumphant win.

In 2007, Stewart backed up his 05 win and headed back to victory lane in Indy.

Stewart has made 12 starts in the Brickyard 400, and has a stunning six top-5's and eight top-10's.  What's also impressive is Stewart has led in six of his Brickyard starts for a total of 217 laps.

1. Jeff Gordon

Would it be anyone else for number one?  Jeff Gordon is by far the best driver to have ever raced in the Brickyard 400.  The "Hometown Kid" has demolished the competition year in and year out.

The Inaugural Brickyard 400 champion in 1994 has won three other times at Indy as well.  His four career wins in not only first all-time in the Brickyard 400, but also ties him for most all time in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history.

Gordon has raced in every Brickyard 400 and has an amazing nine top-5 finishes, and 13 top-10 finishes.  That's 13 top 10's in 17 starts.  Amazing!

Gordon also has led in 10 Brickyard's for a lap total that may never be touched, 440 laps.