Jeff Gordon wins the Crown Royal Presents, The John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard. Gordon was the first NASCAR winner at the inaugural Brickyard 20 years ago at age 23 and now he is the first 5-time winner NASCAR at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“I can’t believe this just happened,” said Gordon. “We got number 5!”
The pivotal point of the race was the final restart with 17 laps to go. Kasey Kayne who had led the most laps, took the inside position on the front row and this was break Gordon needed.
“I was hoping he [Kayne] would take the inside,” said Gordon. “I finally had the restart of my life.”
Gordon was able to take the outside lane and able to blow by Kahne for the lead and from there held on for the historic win.
This is Gordon’s second victory and 14th top-10 finish in 2014. This is his 17th top-10 finish in 21 races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Kyle Busch finished second and posted his eighth top-10 finish in ten races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is his ninth top-10 finish in 2014.
The third place finisher was Denny Hamlin who posted his fourth top-10 finish in nine races at Brickyard. Kyle Larson finished 7th and was the highest finishing rookie.
Jeff Gordon leads the overall season point standings by 24 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Defending Brickyard 400 Champion Ryan Newman, Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet (He won last year’s race while driving for Stewart-Haas Racing in the No. 39 Chevrolet.) finished in 11th place.
The race was a fairly clean race. Only four yellows. On lap 69 Danica Patrick who was running in the top 15 for most of the race, she broke a gear in the rear of her car as she left the pit during a green flag stop. A flat tire sent Trevor Bayne nearly into the war. Trevor Bayne had a flat tire going into turn 3. He was able to avoid the outside wall but he was not able to avoid the inside wall.
Chevrolet Domination: Ford teams have won the last four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, but they will have to stop a lengthy win streak by Chevrolet teams at Indy if the auto maker hopes to keep the streak alive. Chevrolet teams have visited Victory Lane the last 12 times (2003-14) the series has competed at Indy. Toyota, on the other hand, is still looking for its first win at the Brickyard.
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Active NASCAR Drivers and former Brickyard 400 Winners: Jeff Gordon (5), Jimmie Johnson (4), Tony Stewart (2), Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman (1).
Roush-Fenway released their line up for next year and Carl Edwards will be racing for a new team in 2015. Could it be Gibbs Racing?
Race Results:
Fin Driver Team
1 Jeff Gordon
2 Kyle Busch
3 Denny Hamlin
4 Matt Kenseth
5 Joey Logano
6 Kasey Kahne
7 Kyle Larson
8 Kevin Harvick
9 Dale Earnhardt
10 Austin Dillon
11 Ryan Newman
12 Brad Keselowski
13 Greg Biffle
14 Jimmie Johnson
15 Carl Edwards
16 Clint Bowyer
17 Tony Stewart
18 AJ Allmendinger
19 Brian Vickers
20 Jamie McMurray
21 Aric Almirola
22 Marcos Ambrose
23 Juan Pablo
24 Ricky Stenhouse
25 Martin Truex
26 Michael McDowell
27 Justin Allgaier
28 Kurt Busch
29 Josh Wise
30 Landon Cassill(i)
31 Michael Annett
32 Cole Whitt
33 Casey Mears
34 Paul Menard
35 David Ragan
36 David Gilliland
37 Bobby Labonte
38 Reed Sorenson
39 Travis Kvapil
40 Alex Bowman
41 Ryan Truex
42 Danica Patrick
43 Trevor Bayne(i)
Story and Photos by
Kevin Proot
Larry Vancil
St. Louis Motor Racing News / STLRACING.COM