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Busch: Brilliant this year

Twice a year, the motor-racing spotlight in America focuses on the world's largest sporting arena; and twice a year, it usually delivers enough drama for a full season.

Yet it is only since 1994 that the high-powered motors of the NASCAR circuit have used the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as one of their regular annual venues.

Previously, this 250,000-seat bastion of sporting pedigree had been used only for open-wheel racing's most revered sportsmen, and the fabled Indy 500.

But on Sunday, live on Sky Sports 1 from 7pm, the Allstate 400 will showcase the 15th annual outing of the stock car men on the hallowed 'Brickyard', with the Sprint Cup season hotting up.

Technically, it is just outing number 20 of the 26-race regular season before the 10-race dash for the Cup itself; the top 12 are still jockeying for position (in earnest) to make that cut-off; and there are no more points on offer at Indy than any other venue on the NASCAR circuit.

But listen to the drivers and you soon realise this is a race slightly different from any other; the venue and history set it apart from any other (with the possible exception of Daytona).

New chapter

When Jeff Gordon won the inaugural race in 1994, in front of a stunning 350,000 crowd, it opened the book on a whole new chapter of NASCAR folklore (and few American sports do folklore as well as this high-octane circuit).

At the age of 23, Gordon established himself as THE force to be reckoned with on the Indy Speedway, which presented a whole new test to the closed-cockpit men in terms of its competitive set-up - a fast, flat track which rewarded the real craftsmen. There were no 'lucky' wins at Indianapolis - any victory here had to be earned over 400 gruelling laps.

Gordon went on to three more wins on the oval, and, as one of the series veterans these days, he will still be firmly in the frame for a possible victory No 5 on Sunday (Tony Stewart is the only other current driver with more than one win here).

And there will be plenty of people hoping he can do it.

Of course, Kyle Busch is the current unstoppable force of the Sprint Cup series, with an imperious seven wins to date (Carl Edwards is the next best with just three) and a whopping 262-point lead in the standings over Dale Earnhardt Junior.

But there is a growing feeling that Busch and his all-conquering Toyota-powered Joe Gibbs Racing team need to be taken down a peg or two in a world that prizes parity, at least on the starting grid, more than anything else.

Indeed, NASCAR bosses have just introduced a new rule for their Nationwide series which actively targets the Toyota cars, insisting they reduce their raw power output by 15hp in order to bring things back to a level playing field for all concerned.

It is highly unlikely they would attempt to extend the ruling to the Sprint Cup itself, but it serves as a powerful alarm call that the American-engined cars see the 'newcomer' of Toyota as a rapidly-growing threat.

Tense backdrop

It also serves as a tense backdrop to the season's final phase, with the embittered Busch (effectively cast out by the mighty Hendrick Motorsports team last season to make way for Junior) still pushing hard to prove his former bosses wrong.

His current domination is little less than awesome - his 262-point advantage would almost cover the next ELEVEN drivers - and there has been no sign of a chink in his armour in the last two months.

But Indy presents some different challenges with its much less severely banked track, and the likes of Gordon, Stewart, reigning champ Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick (who have won six of the last seven races here) will all approach the start line with extra relish this week.

Frankly, the Sprint Cup urgently needs to see one of those faces in Victory Lane on Sunday night.

Dale Junior would also be a timely winner, but almost anyone not called Kyle Busch would be welcomed with open arms, you feel.

It's not that the commanding Busch has done much wrong this year (and he certainly has a right to feel aggrieved at his former team), it's just that the NASCAR faithful love to see a really wide open, competitive field.

And, right now, with the JGR star having won four races in a row and five of the last seven, his grip on the Series is beginning to resemble a stranglehold, one which could throttle the life (and any serious interest) out of the rest of the season.

So, tune in on Sunday evening to see if the historic Brickyard can summon up another twist to this tale of epic battles - or whether Busch will go on squeezing his rivals to death.