Gordon started 27th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, faded out of the top 30, then staged one of the most remarkable comebacks in the final 100 miles to win for the third time at the fabled raceway, with 320,000 auto racing fans watching.

His pit crew made myriad changes during every pit stop. They added air, then took away air from the tires. They adjusted the springs. And they skipped the chance for four new tires to gain the track position that Gordon needed most.

''We worked and worked and worked on the car, then we turned Jeff loose,'' said crew chief Robbie Loomis. ''Jeff was really aggravated with us early in the race. We started out so bad, but when you have a team like this and Jeff Gordon driving the car, you've always got a chance.

''Once Jeff could see the front, that's all it took.''

Gordon, who grew up 20 miles away in Pittsboro, Ind., stormed past Sterling Marlin on a restart with 24 laps to go, and he never looked back. His eyes filled with tears as he took the checkered flag and thousands roared in appreciation.

''I never dreamed this at the beginning,'' Gordon said. ''We were way off. We kept making adjustments. I think it was more the traffic than the car, but at the end, the car was pretty good.''

The fastest move, however, came with 26 laps to go, when Loomis decided to give his driver only two new tires during a final pit stop. The little traction he lost with two old tires was made up with track position. Before the final stop, Gordon was fifth. After the stop, he was second.

''We haven't had too many pit strategy things go our way, but this one did,'' Gordon said. ''Sometimes things just work in our favor. I didn't think we had the car to do it. But we just kept working on it and the guys (on pit road) never gave up.''

The victory bodes well for Gordon, who turned 30 a day earlier. The last three winners of the Brickyard 400 - Gordon in 1998, Jarrett in 1999 and Bobby Labonte in 2000 - went on to win the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship. Sunday's win gave Gordon a 160-point lead over Dale Jarrett in the current standings, and it helped him distance himself from other championship challengers. Two races ago, Gordon trailed Jarrett in the points race.

It didn't take long for some of the contenders to eliminate themselves. Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth were two of five drivers involved in a second-lap crash in the first turn. Andy Houston's car spun out of control in the corner, and a handful of trailing cars ran into each other trying to miss the accident.

Ricky Rudd, who started fourth, fell off the pace on the 21st lap when a belt fell off the water pump. Ryan Newman, who started fifth, was knocked into the second turn wall by Jimmy Spencer on the 32nd lap. Defending race champion Bobby Labonte ran out of gas just short of the 300-mile mark. And Tony Stewart, who grew up in nearby Columbus, Ind., lost his chances when he bounced off the first turn wall on the 135th lap.

Steve Park once enjoyed a four-second lead in the final 100 miles, but he lost that advantage - and more - after a caution period for a piece of debris in the third turn with 29 laps to go. A stop for gas and four new tires dropped him back to seventh place and out of contention.

Gordon started 27th and was behind Houston when he crashed early in the race. He veered to the track apron to miss the melee and spent the next 250 miles making adjustments to his car in a methodical march to the front.

He made up the most ground during the late caution for debris when his crew decided to save time with only two new tires. That vaulted him to second place behind Marlin, who gained track position by skipping the final pit stop.

On the restart, Gordon won the drag race to the first turn with 26 laps to go, and from there he coasted to his third victory in eight Winston Cup Series races at the Brickyard.

''We keep getting skunked on the restarts,'' Marlin said. ''I don't know why. Jeff came up and hit me on the back end. When you do that, you usually take off and get going.''

Johnny Benson finished third, while Rusty Wallace was fourth. The finish was especially interesting to NASCAR since Gordon was in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Marlin was in a Dodge Intrepid, Benson was aboard a Pontiac Grand Prix and Wallace was in a Ford Taurus.

Rookie Kurt Busch was fifth, followed by Ward Burton in sixth, Park in seventh, Bill Elliott in eighth, Ricky Craven in ninth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 10th.

Reach Don Coble at doncoble@bellsouth.net.