INDIANAPOLIS — With a fifth Brickyard 400 victory on the line Sunday, Jeff Gordon looked like the driver he was 20 years ago.
Gordon nailed the final restart of the race — no given because restarts have been Gordon's Achilles heel — to pass Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne with 17 laps remaining at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
MORE: How Gordon won | Carl Edwards future |
His power move from the outside lane past Kahne put Gordon out front for good, and he kicked it into cruise control for a NASCAR-record fifth victory at historic Indy. The win came on the 20th anniversary celebration of Gordon's win in the inaugural Brickyard 400, and on "Jeff Gordon Day" as declared by the Mayor of Indianapolis.
The win moved Gordon into a tie with Michael Schumacher, whose five Formula One victories at Indy had been the gold standard.
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 160 laps, 138.4 rating, 47 points.
2. (12) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 160, 116.8, 42.
3. (27) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 160, 109.4, 42.
4. (13) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 160, 104.1, 40.
5. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 160, 109, 40.
6. (10) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 160, 132.7, 40.
7. (15) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 160, 104.4, 38.
8. (1) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 160, 114.6, 37.
9. (23) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 160, 83.2, 35.
10. (17) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 160, 89.7, 35.
11. (4) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 160, 88.9, 33.
12. (3) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 160, 85.3, 32.
13. (19) Greg Biffle, Ford, 160, 71.9, 31.
14. (11) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 160, 91.9, 30.
15. (18) Carl Edwards, Ford, 160, 79, 29.
16. (16) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 160, 87.9, 29.
17. (6) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 160, 81.7, 27.
18. (36) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 160, 62.7, 26.
19. (5) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 160, 90.3, 25.
20. (24) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 160, 73.5, 24.
21. (41) Aric Almirola, Ford, 160, 64.2, 23.
22. (22) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 160, 67.9, 22.
23. (8) Juan Pablo Montoya, Ford, 160, 58.5, 21.
24. (21) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 160, 54.4, 20.
25. (25) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 160, 66.7, 19.
26. (28) Michael McDowell, Ford, 160, 51.8, 18.
27. (31) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 159, 58.2, 17.
28. (7) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 159, 69.7, 16.
29. (30) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 159, 44.2, 15.
30. (37) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 158, 41.1, 0.
31. (33) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 158, 48.5, 14.
32. (39) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 158, 35.5, 12.
33. (26) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 158, 34.8, 11.
34. (29) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 158, 47, 10.
35. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 158, 36.6, 9.
36. (34) David Gilliland, Ford, 157, 40.9, 8.
37. (43) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 157, 34.5, 7.
38. (42) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 156, 29.9, 6.
39. (40) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 156, 26.9, 5.
40. (35) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 156, 24.8, 4.
41. (32) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 149, 34.2, 3.
42. (14) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, rear gear, 114, 67, 2.
43. (20) Trevor Bayne, Ford, accident, 96, 50, 0.
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Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 150.297 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 39 minutes, 41 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 2.325 seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 16 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K.Harvick 1; J.Gordon 2-21; J.Logano 22-31; K.Kahne 32-37; K.Larson 38-42; A.Dillon 43; D.Hamlin 44-54; K.Harvick 55-65; D.Hamlin 66-72; K.Kahne 73-98; C.Bowyer 99-101; K.Kahne 102-126; J.Gordon 127-129; M.Annett 130; K.Kahne 131-143; J.Gordon 144-160.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Kahne, 4 times for 70 laps; J.Gordon, 3 times for 40 laps; D.Hamlin, 2 times for 18 laps; K.Harvick, 2 times for 12 laps; J.Logano, 1 time for 10 laps; K.Larson, 1 time for 5 laps; C.Bowyer, 1 time for 3 laps; A.Dillon, 1 time for 1 lap; M.Annett, 1 time for 1 lap.
Wins: J.Johnson, 3; Bra.Keselowski, 3; D.Earnhardt Jr., 2; C.Edwards, 2; J.Gordon, 2; K.Harvick, 2; J.Logano, 2; A.Almirola, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; Ky.Busch, 1; D.Hamlin, 1.
Top 12 in Points: 1. J.Gordon, 717; 2. D.Earnhardt Jr., 693; 3. Bra.Keselowski, 666; 4. M.Kenseth, 661; 5. J.Johnson, 628; 6. Ky.Busch, 609; 7. R.Newman, 606; 8. C.Edwards, 603; 9. J.Logano, 591; 10. C.Bowyer, 577; 11. D.Hamlin, 572; 12. K.Harvick, 565.