INDIANAPOLIS — It's enough to make NASCAR fans do a double take, but Jeff Gordon — the one-time "Wonderboy" of stock-car racing — turns 40 next week.
Before he celebrates his birthday Aug. 4, however, Gordon will try to boost his track record of four wins at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with another victory in Sunday's Brickyard 400.
As the Sprint Cup Series returns to the famed 2.5-mile rectangular track, Gordon — a two-time winner this season — is seventh in the standings with seven races left before the Chase for the Cup.
The top 10 drivers after 26 races, along with two wild-card drivers who are between 11th and 20th in points and have the most wins, will compete for the title in the 10-race Chase starting Sept. 18 at Chicagoland Speedway.
A win Sunday also would give Gordon 85 Cup victories and sole possession of third place on the all-time list behind Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105). The four-time Cup champion is tied with Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison.
This is the 18th year NASCAR has raced at Indy, a race that for many Cup drivers is the second most prestigious behind the Daytona 500 because of the history of the century-old speedway.
"It's still like that for me, just an incredible feeling driving here," said Gordon, who spent part of his teenage years in nearby Pittsboro, Ind. He won the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 and won the race again in 1998, 2001 and 2004.
But the race has lost some of its luster in recent years, in part because of a tire debacle in 2008 that forced the cars to pit every 10 to 15 laps, infuriating spectators. While the early crowds topped 200,000 each year, NASCAR estimated last year's attendance at 140,000.
Jimmie Johnson, the reigning five-time Cup champion and Gordon's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, has won three of the last five races at Indy, including the marred 2008 event.
Johnson is second in this year's standings, seven points behind leader Carl Edwards, who never has won the Brickyard 400 in six attempts.
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