Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama arrived in Indiana Wednesday prepared for a full-court press in the state that will determine whether the Democratic presidential primary race will continue beyond Tuesday's voting.

Economics was the name of the game in the hoops-happy Hoosier state. Coming off more news that gas prices were reaching record levels and a stagnant national economic report, Clinton started her day with a campaign supporter in South Bend, Ind., heading to a gas station for a fill-up before going to a sheet-metal factory.

Obama too was talking with working families throughout Indianapolis and hoping to leave behind the controversy surrounding his retired pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., from whom Obama tried to divorce himself on Tuesday. He and wife Michelle Obama dropped by the home of a family living in the mostly white community of Beechgrove outside of Indianapolis to discuss issues facing the middle class.

Primary voting in Indiana and North Carolina takes place in less than a week, little time for Clinton to close the gap between herself and Obama in North Carolina, but ample opportunity to build on a narrow lead in Indiana. The RealClearPolitics.com average of recent polls shows Clinton ahead of Obama by 2.2 percentage points in Indiana, whereas in North Carolina, Obama leads Clinton in the same average by 10.2 percentage points.

Clinton and Obama have been trading barbs over a proposed gas tax holiday as oil prices hover near $120 a barrel. Obama, who has alternately called the plan a "scheme" and a "gimmick," is staunchly opposed to the idea of lifting the federal tax over the summer months, while Clinton says it will give a needed boost to the economy if it can be paid for with windfall profit taxes on oil companies. Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain was the first to propose a gas tax holiday during the heavy driving season.

Although Clinton had been expected to pump the gas at the station she visited with voter Jason Whilfing, the Deluxe Sheet Metal company worker held the pump. The made-for-TV carpool -- billed as a "normal" commute for Whilfing -- gave the two time to discuss her gas tax holiday proposal. Clinton, as expected, picked up the tab: At $3.759 a gallon for about a half tank, the tab -- on Whilfing's boss' Ford 250 truck, to accommodate security -- came to $63.67.

Trailing Wilfing and Clinton was a Secret Service motorcade consisting of six gas-guzzling Suburbans, two squad cars and a green SUV bearing photographers and TV cameras. Several other reporters and cameramen stood shivering in unseasonably cold temperatures, ready to capture the multi-vehicle arrival.

Jobs and work were on the agenda for both candidates throughout the day. The federal government announced early in the day that the economy grew at a limp 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2008, defying forecasts that the U.S. was headed into a recession, but offering little comfort for families facing rising prices.

While speaking with Mike and Cheryl Fischer and their family in Beechgrove,  Obama heard about job woes. Mike Fischer, a machinist with Amtrak, said he hears the rail company will lay off 77 people, and he fears he may have to relocate to stay with the company or else find a new, worse-paying employer. Obama said that with high gas prices America should be focusing on expanding rail service, including high-speed service between cities. The family said they were a rail family and many have worked in the industry for years.

Before he even hit the trail Wednesday, Obama's message started with a swipe at Clinton over a new ad hitting the airwaves there, attacking Obama on his plans for the economy.

Obama's campaign released a statement dismissing the ad, saying, "It puts political point-scoring ahead of progress."

In terms of score-keeping, Obama racked up the support of three new superdelegates on Wednesday -- Rep. Bruce Braley of Iowa, Rep. Lois Capps of California and Rep. Baron Hill of Indiana, who had introduced Clinton at an event last week. Clinton picked up her own superdelegate -- Bill George, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO.

"Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience to jump-start the economy and rebuild the middle class," George said in a written statement released by the Clinton campaign.

FOX News' Aaron Bruns and Bonney Kapp and The Associated Press contributed to this report.