Paul Menard fulfilled a lifetime dream by kissing the bricks at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Menard, who grew up in Eau Claire, WI and raced throughout the Midwest earlier in his career, conserved enough fuel and held off a hard-charging Jeff Gordon in the closing laps to win one of the most prestigious Sprint Cup Series events of the season—the Brickyard 400.
The 30-year-old Menard became the first driver to win his maiden Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis. He also became the fourth first-time race winner in the series this season, joining Trevor Bayne (Daytona 500), Regan Smith (Darlington) and David Ragan (Daytona July race). MiamiHereald.com
Regan Smith finished third in the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, while 2010 winner Jamie McMurray was fourth in the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet. Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five in the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford.
The race largely was free of major crashes and Kasey Kahne showed early strength, leading a race-high 48 laps in his No. 4 Red Bull Toyota. He finished 18th.
Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. also led seven laps before finishing 16th and Jimmie Johnson — Earnhardt’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, the reigning five-time Cup champion and a three-time winner at Indy — finished 19th.
Carl Edwards remained the points leader after his 14th-place run. He holds an 11-point advantage over Jimmie Johnson, who finished 19th. Kevin Harvick is 12 markers behind Edwards after placing 11th.
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis - Race Results
Paul Menard Holds Off Jeff Gordon to Win Brickyard 400 NASCAR Race at Indianapolis
RANK DRIVER POINTS BEHIND 1 Carl Edwards 682 Leader 2 Jimmie Johnson 671 -11 3 Kevin Harvick 670 -12 4 Kyle Busch 666 -16 5 Matt Kenseth 666 -16 6 Kurt Busch 664 -18 7 Jeff Gordon 630 -52 8 Ryan Newman 618 -64 9 Tony Stewart 609 -73 10 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 606 -76 11 Denny Hamlin 587 -95 12 Clint Bowyer 574 -108 13 Greg Biffle 560 -122 14 Paul Menard 553 -129 15 Kasey Kahne 551 -131 16 David Ragan 546 -136 17 A.J. Allmendinger 537 -145 18 Mark Martin 536 -146 19 Joey Logano 529 -153 20 Juan Montoya 527 -155 21 Brad Keselowski 511 -171 22 Marcos Ambrose 505 -177 23 Martin Truex Jr. 505 -177 24 David Reutimann 456 -226 25 Jeff Burton 454 -228 26 Regan Smith 451 -231 27 Brian Vickers 444 -238 28 Jamie McMurray 441 -241 29 Bobby Labonte 427 -255 30 David Gilliland 358 -324 31 Dave Blaney 289 -393 32 Casey Mears 282 -400 33 Andy Lally* 233 -449 34 Robby Gordon 194 -488 35 Tony Raines 123 -559 36 Bill Elliott 100 -582 37 J.J. Yeley 77 -605 38 Michael McDowell 75 -607 39 Ken Schrader 73 -609 40 Terry Labonte 71 -611
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