Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for so many years, was hallowed ground only raced on by the men and women of open wheel racing. Then, everything changed when NASCAR came to town in the 1990s, and the Brickyard 400 was born. Today’s Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 race was yet another classic to go down in the track’s storied history.
For the second week in a row, Carl Edwards (#19 Stanley Tools Toyota) claimed the pole position, in a weekend dominated by the speed of Joe Gibbs Racing. As the race began though, the battle seen very often this season between Gibbs and Penske took to the front of the field, as Joey Logano (#22 Shell Pennzoil Ford) battled for the lead.
However, a third team would join the battle for the front in the early stages of the race. That team was Stewart-Haas Racing, as three of their four cars would battle at the front throughout the first half, including owner-driver Tony Stewart (#14 Mobil 1 Chevy).
Meanwhile, the last race at IMS for Jeff Gordon (#24 3M Chevy) did not go as planned. Qualifying nineteenth, Gordon was never in contention for the lead and would tangle with Clint Bowyer (#15 5-Hour Energy Toyota), ending his day early with damage. It was an unceremonious end to say the least for Gordon at his home track.
A variety of pit strategy would be employed throughout the race, including short pitting and reverse counting in order to try and squeeze as much fuel out of the tanks as possible. With a caution with forty laps to go for Brian Scott (#33 Shore Lodge Chevy) in the wall hard, everyone would be trying to stretch their fuel to the end.
On the restart, David Ragan (#55 Aarons Toyota) would lead the field to green, but would pit shortly with hopes of a caution or other drivers running out of fuel. He would turn the lead over to Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski (#2 Miller Lite Ford), who would have to pit as well. But a caution would wave with only twenty laps to go, and the question became – does this change the finish?
A number of cars would pit under caution, including race leader Keselowski. Kevin Harvick (#4 Jimmy Johns Chevy) would lead the field down for another crazy restart on the day, until Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88 Nationwide Chevy) spun in Turn 1 just one lap later.
As the drivers saved fuel, and lined up to go green once again, there would be less than ten laps remaining at Indy. And on the restart, Kyle Busch (#18 Skittles Toyota) emerged ahead of Kevin Harvick. But would he be able to hold on, as a caution came out with only five laps to go.
There would be only two laps to settle this. And in those two laps, it would be all Busch. Kyle Busch would sweep the weekend at Indianapolis, and win the Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400.
With the win, Kyle Busch ties the mark of Jimmie Johnson (#48 Lowe’s Chevy) for the most wins on the season, and has won four of the last five races. Busch still needs to climb into the top thirty in points to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but now he is only 23 points away.
Up next for the Sprint Cup Series – a return to three turns. The Pocono Raceway is the stop, and you can see the action next Sunday on NBCSN.
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