The Brickyard has been known to bring out the best, and passion, in Tony Stewart (20) and Jeff Gordon (24). Jason Smith/Getty Images

They have been uncharacteristically quiet this season, two past champions who have yet to reach Victory Lane in 2008. Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon have both been overshadowed by the ruthless dominance of Kyle Busch through 19 races, but this duo is still very much alive in the title hunt.

Here's what each driver needs to do to break through on Sunday at Indianapolis, earn that elusive first win of '08 and, more importantly, generate some momentum as the regular season hits its stretch run.

Tony Stewart

Stewart has, at times, flashed the type of performance he did in 2005 when he won his second championship. He's had the fastest car in the field in no fewer than four races -- at Daytona in February, Bristol in March, Charlotte in May, and Daytona in July -- but he's winless due to an assortment of mistakes on the track, mistakes in strategy, mistakes on pit road, and just plain bad racing luck.

"It's been one of those years where everything we do seems to backfire on us," says Stewart. "That just happens sometimes in racing."

Still, Stewart must be considered the favorite to win on Sunday at the Brickyard. He won here in '05 and '07 -- two victories that he says are the most treasured of his stock-car career. Stewart grew up in nearby Columbus, and before the '05 season moved from Charlotte back into the house in which he was raised. I've spent time with Stewart in Columbus, and it's not a stretch to say that about one-fourth of the town's 40,000 residents will be at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. Stewart's friends and family will view the action from a suite above Turn 2 and, if Stewart is in contention late, he'll look up into the suite every time he passes by and try to find his father Nelson, who often uses hand gestures to pass along advice to his son.

But it's not just his personal connection to the Brickyard -- Stewart first trekked to the track with his dad on a bus trip before he was even in junior high -- that makes this an important race for him. Currently 10th in the points, Stewart needs a solid finish at one of his best tracks on the circuit to give him some breathing room from 13th place. T

This is Stewart's final season at Joe Gibbs Racing -- he'll be driving the No. 14 Chevy for Stewart Haas Racing next year -- but I don't think he will start focusing on distant horizons until the Chase is over. This season, after all, may be his final legitimate chance to win a championship, given that Haas Racing will essentially be a start-up team in 2009. So the stakes are high for Stewart at the Brickyard.

Thing is, he has a history of delivering when it matters most, which is why he's my pick to win on Sunday.

Jeff Gordon

Like Stewart, Gordon grew up in the Hoosier State (Pittsboro.) and still says the biggest win of his Cup career came when he took the checkers in August 1994 at the inaugural NASCAR race at the Brickyard. A four-time winner at Indy, Gordon knows his way around the 2.5-mile oval as well as anyone on the circuit. On Sunday, he should have an excellent chance to snap his 24-race winless streak, a drought that stretches back to last October.

Gordon hasn't been anywhere near as dominant as he was in 2007, when he won six races, captured the regular season points title, and ended up second in the standings behind Jimmie Johnson. Gordon is currently sixth in the points, and while he's consistently been in the top-15 -- in his last 10 starts, he's been out of the top-15 just twice -- he hasn't shown the kind of the speed this season that he did in '07.

Gordon's biggest problem? Getting caught in traffic. When his No. 24 Chevy is close to other cars on the track, Gordon experiences handling problems, which cause him to lift off the gas and lose valuable speed.

Gordon and his crew chief Steve Letarte have been trying to solve this problem for the better part of the season, and both honestly feel like they're on the cusp of a breakout. If it comes on Sunday at the Brickyard, it could portend big things for the 24 team. After all, six of the last nine winners at Indy have gone on to win the championship.

Why?

Because the cream always rises at the Brickyard and this track requires both an abundance of horsepower for the long straightaways and excellent handling to cut through the corners. So this weekend is a big test for Gordon and Letarte, and we should learn a lot on Sunday as to whether this duo will be a serious player in the Chase.