Benny Parsons

Tony Stewart says he'd love to be the first guy to win the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard back-to-back, and come Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I give the defending Cup champion a very good shot at pulling off such a feat.  

Working in Stewart's favor
Stewart has done some of his best racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In his seven previous Brickyard starts, he has a win, a pole, three top-fives, and four top-10s.

His average starting position has been 14.3, and his average finishing position has been 8.4. He has completed every lap of every race he's run at Indy, and he has led for nearly 14 percent of those laps.   

Stewart has two wins this season, along with eight top-five finishes and three did-not-finishes. He has led more laps (923) than any other driver, but he's also drawn his share of attention and controversy for some of his actions on the track.

His latest incident came at the July 23 Pocono race when he turned into rookie Clint Bowyer, who had pinched him into the wall. Stewart's move caused a wreck that took out Bowyer and Carl Edwards, likely eliminating both from contention for the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship.

Stewart eventually apologized saying in a statement that the wreck was totally his fault, and that he regretted causing it and took responsibility for it.

Slide show   Hot wheels Click to see images of NASCAR's hottest drivers on the circuit including Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.

But the apology didn't take all the heat off Stewart and that might actually be a good thing for him since he becomes more focused and usually tougher to beat when he hits a stretch of adversity or controversy.

Given all that, and also the fact that he's an Indiana native and racing at a track that is really special to him, Stewart should be primed for a strong run at the checkers on Sunday.

Other drivers to watch
One of Stewart's teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, rookie Denny Hamlin, was nothing short of spectacular a couple of weeks ago at Pocono when he completed a season sweep there. Hamlin will be bringing the same car to Indy that was so dominant at Pocono. Watch out for this rookie on Sunday.

Kasey Kahne has come home in the top-five in both his Brickyard starts. His best finish of second came last year when he led for 39 laps.

The Ray Evernham Motorsports driver has a 100 percent lap-completion rate at Indy, and he tested well at the track a couple of weeks ago when his No. 9 Dodge was among the top 10 fastest cars.

While Jeff Gordon's not my favorite, I wouldn't be totally shocked if he won this race since he has shown in the past that he has the measure of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Gordon has finished eighth or better in 10 of 12 career races at this venue.

The four-time Cup champion won at the Brickyard in 2004, and he will be seeking to become the first five-time winner in the track's 95-year history. Gordon's other wins at Indy came in 1994, 1998 and 2001. He has finished sixth or better in nine of 11 Cup races at Indy.

Mark Martin had a pretty good test at Indy a couple of weeks ago and he's run well at the Brickyard the past few years. Last year Martin placed seventh in this event, one of seven top-10 results he has posted in a dozen Brickyard races.

Carl Edwards won the Busch series race last Saturday in St. Louis, and he will be seeking to carry that momentum into Sunday. During the Indy test session, Edwards had the eighth fastest car.

In five Cup starts at Indy, Kevin Harvick has three top-10 finishes including a win from the pole at the 2003 Brickyard 400.