Juan Pablo Montoya has had a dismal year in the Sprint Cup Series this season. The former open-wheeled champion, who made the Chase for the Sprint Cup last season after winning his first race, sits well outside the top twelve this season.
But as Earnhardt Ganassi Racing arrived at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they had high hopes that maybe this was set to be their weekend. After all, Ganassi had already won the two biggest events in U.S. auto racing, the Daytona 500 with Jamie McMurray and the Indianapolis 500 with Dario Franchitti.
And it all appeared to be going as planned, with Montoya starting the Brickyard 400 from the pole position, and by leading a race-high 86 of 160 laps. But when the field hit pit road with 21 laps to go, it all came to a heartbreaking halt for the second straight year.
Montoya, leading at the time of the caution, elected to take four tires and fuel, while many other leaders, including Montoya’s teammate Jamie McMurray, choose to change only two tires.
Montoya restarted seventh and seemed to have trouble handling his racecar in traffic, making little progress on the racetrack. Then, with fifteen laps remaining, his lost control of his Chevrolet and crashed into the outside wall, severely damaging his car. He drove his car to the garage and refused to comment to reporters.
Montoya mishaps, meanwhile, left the door wide open for teammate McMurray, who charged to the lead and never looked back; leading 15 of the final 20 laps to capture his second victory of 2010.
“When Juan was leading and I was in second, I am a big believer in fate, and I thought this was just the way it is meant to be,” McMurray said. “I won the 500, Dario (Franchitti) won the Indy 500 and Juan is gonna win this race. I really thought it was his day. We didn’t have the best car.
“When Kevin [Harvick] got by me a few laps from the end, I thought it was over. Our car was a little tight, but with 10 laps to go, you just do what you’ve got to do.”
The victory gives Ganassi the rare triple crown in being the winning owner in the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, and Brickyard 400. McMurray becomes just the third driver to win both the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same season, joining Dale Jarrett in 1996 and Jimmie Johnson in 2006.
Kevin Harvick finished second and remained the series points leader with only six races left before the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins. Greg Biffle was third, followed by Harvick’s teammate Clint Bowyer in fourth. Tony Stewart rounded out the top five.
Mayetta, Ocean County native Martin Truex Jr. started 12th but finished 26th after struggling at Indy.
Nationwide Series: Kyle Busch held off a charge by the newer-tired Carl Edwards machine to win the Kroger 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Indiana. Busch led 144 of 201 laps en route to his series-leading eighth victory of 2010.
Edwards was second, followed by Aric Almirola in third, Polesitter Trevor Bayne in fourth, and Reed Sorenson in fifth.
Camping World Truck Series: Ron Hornaday snapped a 22-race winless streak, leading 129 of 200 laps to win the AAA Insurance 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Kyle Busch was second, followed by Matt Crafton in third, Johnny Sauter in fourth, and James Buescher in fifth.
Coming Up: The Nationwide Series heads to Iowa Speedway, while the Camping World Truck Series will visit Pocono Raceway for the first time ever. The Sprint Cup Series follows suit at Pocono on Sunday.
Bruce Knoll, 18, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at bknoll jr4cmcherald@yahoo.com
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
