Paul Menard stretched his fuel mileage and held off a charging Jeff Gordon to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The victory was Menard’s first as a Sprint Cup driver, and it has catapulted him into contention for a wildcard entry into the Chase.
Gordon, who closed rapidly in the final five laps, crossed the finish line 0.725s behind the season’s fourth first-time winner.
Regan Smith, who claimed his first career victory at Darlington earlier this year, came home third, followed by last year’s Brickyard 400 winner Jamie McMurray.
Matt Kenseth ran fifth, and Tony Stewart salvaged a sixth-place result despite a litany of problems throughout the race.
Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch completed the top 10.
Australian Marcos Ambrose was classified 34th after suffering from gearbox problems.
“It’s a shame we had the gearbox problem, we had overcome some earlier problems to put ourselves back into contention,” Ambrose said, who now sits 22nd in the standings.
“The race was decided on fuel consumption, and I think we would have had something for them at the finish.
“We’ll bounce back from this, Pocono next week will be a good track for us, and I can’t wait to get out there.”
RESULTS: BRICKYARD 400
| FIN | ST | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | PTS/BNS | LAPS | STATUS |
| 1 | 15 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | NIBCO / Menards | 47/4 | 160 | Running |
| 2 | 8 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 43/1 | 160 | Running |
| 3 | 27 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 41/0 | 160 | Running |
| 4 | 16 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker | 41/1 | 160 | Running |
| 5 | 9 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Crown Royal | 40/1 | 160 | Running |
| 6 | 24 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Office Depot | 39/1 | 160 | Running |
| 7 | 18 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | American Red Cross / Type O “Give Blood” | 37/0 | 160 | Running |
| 8 | 12 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | Quaker State / GoDaddy.com | 36/0 | 160 | Running |
| 9 | 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 36/1 | 160 | Running |
| 10 | 29 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s | 34/0 | 160 | Running |
| 11 | 19 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches | 33/0 | 160 | Running |
| 12 | 23 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 32/0 | 160 | Running |
| 13 | 26 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios / Hamburger Helper | 32/1 | 160 | Running |
| 14 | 10 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Ortho Home Defense Max | 30/0 | 160 | Running |
| 15 | 31 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 29/0 | 160 | Running |
| 16 | 22 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Amp Energy / National Guard | 29/1 | 160 | Running |
| 17 | 17 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Huggies Little Movers Slip-On Diapers | 27/0 | 160 | Running |
| 18 | 2 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | Red Bull | 28/2 | 160 | Running |
| 19 | 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools | 26/1 | 160 | Running |
| 20 | 32 | 51 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction / Thank A Teacher Today-Security Benefit | 0 | 160 | Running |
| 21 | 4 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 23/0 | 160 | Running |
| 22 | 6 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Best Buy | 22/0 | 160 | Running |
| 23 | 1 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS / Ned Jarrett NASCAR Hall of Fame | 22/1 | 160 | Running |
| 24 | 30 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Platinum Filter | 20/0 | 160 | Running |
| 25 | 20 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 19/0 | 160 | Running |
| 26 | 39 | 71 | Andy Lally * | Ford | Interstate Moving Services | 18/0 | 160 | Running |
| 27 | 14 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Express | 17/0 | 160 | Running |
| 28 | 7 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 16/0 | 160 | Running |
| 29 | 11 | 13 | Casey Mears | Toyota | GEICO | 15/0 | 160 | Running |
| 30 | 25 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 0 | 160 | Running |
| 31 | 33 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Big Red | 14/1 | 160 | Running |
| 32 | 42 | 32 | Mike Bliss | Ford | TMone “We Drive Sales” | 0 | 160 | Running |
| 33 | 37 | 34 | David Gilliland | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 11/0 | 157 | Running |
| 34 | 21 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley | 10/0 | 157 | Running |
| 35 | 13 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 9/0 | 153 | Engine |
| 36 | 28 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 8/0 | 49 | Accident |
| 37 | 35 | 66 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | HP Racing LLC | 7/0 | 23 | Electrical |
| 38 | 36 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves | 0 | 19 | Overheating |
| 39 | 34 | 37 | Scott Speed | Ford | Green Stuff Absorbent | 0 | 19 | Rear Gear |
| 40 | 38 | 60 | Mike Skinner | Toyota | Big Red | 0 | 16 | Electrical |
| 41 | 43 | 223 | Terry Labonte | Ford | CRMone “We Drive Service” | 3/0 | 15 | Transmission |
| 42 | 40 | 150 | T.J. Bell * | Chevrolet | Green Smoke | 0 | 10 | Brakes |
| 43 | 41 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | Speed Energy | 1/0 | 5 | Engine |
Get the latest NASCAR news, stats, and US racing coverage at Speedcafe US
