BY KEN de la BASTIDE
Tribune enterprise editor
Indianapolis — Car owner Chip Ganassi made history at the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, but it wasn’t with the driver who was expected to accomplish the feat.
Jamie McMurray took the lead on a restart with 11 laps remaining and went on to win his first Brickyard 400 by 1.391 seconds over Kevin Harvick with Greg Biffle finishing third.
McMurray won the Daytona 500 earlier this year and Dario Franchitti captured the Indy 500. Those wins and McMurray’s Brickyard win give Ganassi the trifecta in American motor sports.
Fellow Ganassi driver Juan Pablo Montoya led a race-high 86 laps, but teammate McMurray was the driver who kissed the bricks following the race.
“I need oxygen!” a jubilant Ganassi said from pit road. “I don’t know what to say. My heart goes out to Juan, he had a great day, too.
“But I’ll tell you, this is a big, big day for our team.”
McMurray becomes only the third driver to win both the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year, joining Jimmie Johnson (2006) and Dale Jarrett (1996).
“Honestly, when Juan [Pablo Montoya] was leading and I was in second, I’m a big believer in fate, and I thought this was how it was meant to me. I won at Daytona, Dario won the 500 and I thought Juan was going to win this one,” McMurray said following the win. “I’m just shocked I won the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year.
“We didn’t have the best car,” he continued. “When [Harvick] got by me a few laps from the end, I thought it was over. Our car was a little tight. Ten laps to go, just do what you’ve got to do.”
McMurray’s best previous performance at IMS was a third in 2003, his first start in the Brickyard 400.
Harvick, who took the lead from McMurray just as Montoya crashed, said he didn’t want to see the last restart.
“I got tight going into Turn 1 in the middle,” he said. “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.”
Biffle started 13th and was hoping to break a career-worst 66-race winless streak and bring Ford its first victory of the year. He said despite taking on four tires on the last pit stop to two for McMurray and Harvick, the car was sliding through the corners.
“Jamie was about the same speed as Kevin,” Biffle said, “so I would have had the same issues. “Four tires fell off after five laps. Kevin was protecting the bottom line and Jamie was running a higher line.”
The crucial decision came on lap 138 when McMurray, running second to teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, decided to take two tires on the Bass Pro Shops-sponsored Chevrolet.
Biffle took four tires on the final round of pit stops and came out in the eighth position, gaining five positions on the restart, but he couldn’t get around Harvick, despite scrapping the outside wall several times. He was trying to break a personal 66-race winless streak.
Clint Bowyer finished fourth followed by Tony Stewart.
Pole-sitter Montoya, who led 116 laps during the 2009 race only to see a chance for victory disappear because of a speeding infraction on pit road, again dominated the Brickyard — and again came up short.
Things seemed to be going Montoya’s way when he was able to overcame an unscheduled pit stop on lap 38 caused by a right front tire problem, which got him out of sequence with the leaders. Montoya got the break he needed when the caution flag waved on lap 65 which allowed him to get back in sync with the rest of the contenders.
But during a caution on lap 138, Montoya elected to change four tires while six cars opted for two tires and that put him back seventh which eventually led to more disappointment in the Brickyard.
Montoya got loose in turn four on lap 145 and slapped the outside wall, collecting Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the entrance to pit road.
It was a great day for Richard Childress Racing with all three of its drivers finishing in the top six. Harvick led the team with his runner-up finish, Bowyer was fourth and Jeff Burton came home in sixth. All three drivers are now in the top 12 in the points standings with six races remaining before the Chase.
Harvick extended his points lead to 81 over Jeff Gordon with Denny Hamlin moving past Jimmie Johnson for third.
The expected battle between Ganassi Racing and Hendrick Motorsports failed to materialize. Johnson challenged Montoya for the first 40 laps but then faded badly leaving Mark Martin to lead the team’s effort. Although Martin ran in the top 10 for most of the race, he had to settle for 11th.
Gordon suffered a flat right rear tire on lap 127 and Johnson battled handling problems for most of the race, Earnhardt got caught in the Montoya crash. Johnson finished 22nd, Gordon 23rd and Earnhardt came home 27th.
The race started with a caution involving seven cars in turn two on the first lap when Kyle Busch spun and clipped the rear of Sam Hornish Jr.’s car. Collected in the incident were David Reutimann, Bobby Labonte, Todd Bodine, Reed Sorenson and Elliott Sadler. For the second consecutive year, Sadler failed to complete the first lap.
• The Associated Press contributed to this story.
