INDIANAPOLIS - No driver wants to win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway more than Tony Stewart.

He grew up in Indiana, about 45 minutes away from the storied track, making deals with his parents that traded good grades and good behavior for trips to the track.

All he's ever wanted is one chance to kiss the famed Yard of Bricks, or drink a glass of milk in Victory Lane. Yet in 10 appearances here - five Indy 500 starts and five in NASCAR's Brickyard 400 - all Stewart has experienced is heartache.

He has led a total of 122 laps in his Indy 500 starts, but two of his chances at victory were crushed by car failure. His luck hasn't been any better in the Brickyard, when opportunities to win were erased the past two years with 12th-place finishes.

So frustrated after the race in 2002, he punched a photographer in the garage area. Last year, he stormed away, leaving car owner Joe Gibbs to speak to yet another "heartbreaking" loss for the "Rushville Rocket."

Stewart heads back to Indy for Sunday's Brickyard 400 looking to finally change his luck.

"Take the one thing in your life that you're the most passionate about and you'll have a good understanding of what Indy means to me," Stewart said. "There's at least something in everybody's life that they're very passionate about, and for me that's winning at the Brickyard.

"I only have one chance out of every 365 days to win at Indy."

Kevin Harvick understands the importance of winning at the Brickyard.

He grew up in Bakersfield, Calif., the same hometown as four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears. All Harvick wanted to do was compete at the same track where his boyhood idol earned most of his glory.

Harvick did even more last year and won the Brickyard.

"Winning the Brickyard is the biggest thing I've done in my career," Harvick said. "To know the aspirations I had as a kid, and to grow up and actually go to Indianapolis and win at the Brickyard is probably almost unrealistic when you think about it.

"When you grow up and you want to do something, nine times out of 10 you don't get to do it that way. I'm pretty lucky to be able to do what I do and to bring back a lot of thoughts and dreams and things."

His return trip for Sunday's race couldn't come at a better time.

The Brickyard was his only victory of last season, and he hasn't won since.

His Richard Childress Racing team failed to finish a race last weekend for the first time in 58 events - his streak of consecutive finishes is the NASCAR record - and his position in the top 10 of the series standings fell into serious jeopardy.

With just six races left before the chase for the championship begins, Harvick is clinging to the 10th spot in the standings, and several drivers are within striking distance of taking away the final playoff position.

"As far as we're concerned, what happened last weekend is well behind us," Harvick said. "All we can do now is try and win the Brickyard for the second time in a row and start a new streak."

If anyone can make it two in a row at Indy - no one has, although Jeff Gordon has three Brickyard wins - it's Harvick. He has a 5.67 average finish at Indianapolis, the best among drivers with two or more starts.

"It's a good race for us, especially at this stage in the chase, and it's exciting for us to go back knowing that we've won there before," Harvick said.

Harvick and Stewart will be challenged by Gordon, another Indiana driver.

He's hoping to join Mears, Al Unser Sr., and A.J. Foyt as the only four-time winners in the track's 94-year history.

Four-time NASCAR champion Gordon counts his 1994 Brickyard victory - the first stock-car event at the track - as his greatest win.

"When I made the move from open-wheeled cars to stock cars, I thought I had lost my chance to race here," he said. "To finally get that chance was a dream come true. I know I'll never be able to accomplish anything greater than winning that race."