MCMURRAY WINS BRICKYARD 400

By Joe Shivak

Indianapolis, IN ( July 25 )…….Jamie McMurray did not lead the most laps during the Brickyard 400 but he was the leader at the last lap giving him two very important wins during the 2010 Sprint Cup season.  McMurray’s win also makes history for his team owner, Target-Ganassi Racing , who is the only team  to win the tri-ficta , the Daytona 500, the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same year.  The Joplin, MO driver held off the last 11 laps threat from Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle having only led a total of 14 laps.  The Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevy team earned $438,877 for the victory and McMurray becomes the leading money winner in the premier NASCAR  series.  The win was McMurray’s fifth in the Series in 278 attempts in front of a crowd estimated to be 140,000.

               McMurray said in the post race interview, “ Exciting day for us, for Bass Pro Shops, McDonald’s, Coca Cola.  Everyone that is a part of our organization.  Target, it is unbelievable the races that Chip Ganassi Racing has won this year with the Indy 500, and honestly almost winning the 24 Hours of Daytona, too.  It is unbelievable and the greatest racing year of my life.”

               Runner up Harvick said, “ I got tight going into turn 1 in the middle.  I had to wait , and Jamie was able to carry the momentum around the outside. I felt like we had a top-five car but didn’t have  a winning car.  We had a chance to win at the end and came up just a little short.  We took a chance and we were fast enough to take a chance.  Last year we never would have been fast enough to take that chance. “

               Clint Bowyer brought the other RCR ( Richard Childress Racing )  car home in the 4^th position, followed by Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, in the third RCR car , Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and  Kurt Busch.

               The race’s final caution came out on lap #145 when pole sitter Juan Montoya hit the outside turn #4 wall and collected the cars of Dale Earnhardt JR and Marcos Ambrose.  Montoya, who had dominated the race, leading 86 laps to that point, had pitted for tires and fell back to ninth place.  The Columbian driver’s car got wide off the turn and went hard into the wall, and he then cut down into the race grove in an attempt to enter pit road when he collected the other two cars.  Most of the leaders choose to stay out on the track, expect the Hendrick teammates of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, who both struggled in the last half of the race. 

               On lap #137, the yellow flag came out for debris on the track with Montoya leading his teammate McMurray, Biffle, Bowyer and Stewart.  The pit stops jumbled the field with McMurray taking the point over Stewart, Harvick, Martin and Kurt Busch. Montoya dropped to 7^th and was followed by Biffle.                          

               Gordon would have a right rear flat tire on his Dupont Chevy and would pit under green flag racing on lap #129, causing him to loose a lap.  He would recover to finish 23^rd after starting 8^th, in the race which he has won four times.

               Defending race winner  Johnson would lose a lap during a long pit stop on lap #119.  Despite being under caution,  the crew was slow attempting to replace the two front shocks and repair damage to the splitter area.  The miscue moved the Lowe’s Chevrolet down to the 25^th running spot, the first car one lap down.   The repairs did little to help the poor handling on the car and Johnson would continue to lose positions.

               Caution waved again for debris on lap #115 when a piece of body work blew off the Reutimann machine which was involved in an early race incident.  The piece of sheet metal  was almost  run over by  the  leader Montoya.

                Biffle held up the battle for the Ford Motor camp when he lead from lap #63 to #105.  Team Chevy drivers have won 11 of the previous 16 races at the Brickyard and 7 poles for this race.  Quick work by his Roush Racing pit crew kept him at the point during the lap #67 caution period for track debris.  A total of 14 Team Chevy drivers started the race and a Chevrolet has led 1,315 laps ( 51.3% of possible 2,561 ) at IMS.

               On lap #15, the #7 of Robby Gordon blew out a right front tire on the backstretch while at the same time on the opposite  side of the track , Max Papis blew an engine in the #13 bringing out the second yellow flag period.  Papis became the first car out of the race while Gordon would lose 54 laps in the pits making repairs.  He would end his day only completing 68 laps , with a 36^th place finish.

Two of the early  caution periods were caused by debris on the track.  Several drivers including Dale Earnhardt JR, Denny Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger all pitted to clean grass and debris from the front grill areas preventing their cars from overheating.

               Normal back marker runners Joe Nemecheck, Kevin Conway and Landon Cassill each took turns leading a lap at the historic event.  Conway from Cornelius, NC  was the only rookie to make the race driving the Extenze Ford #34 owned by Bob Jenkins. 

               The race had just gotten the green flag with the #18 of Kyle Busch spun in turn #2.  His spin caused a melee behind him collecting the cars of Sam Hornish, David Reutimann, Bobby Labonte, Todd Bodine, Reed Sorenson and Elliot Sadler.  Most cars only received cosmetic damage and everyone was able to drive away.  There were no injuries.

               Sadler summed up his disappointment, “ This is two years in a row where we haven’t made a lap yet.  Last year we had engine problems and oil leaks, and then we wreck today.  The 18 spun out and we were trying to get checked up, but there was nowhere to go.  Somebody ran into the back of me and we all kind of spun out. It’s just a shame.”