Jamie McMurray took the lead with 11 laps to go and went on to win yesterday’s
Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For team owner Chip Ganassi, the
win also gave him something that had never been done before. A season series sweep
of the three biggest races in motorsports. The Daytona 500. The Indianapolis 500 and
now the Brickyard 400.

For most of the day, Ganassi’s trifecta win seemed to be a given as McMurray’s
teammate Juan Pablo Montoya led for 86 of the 160 laps and seemed to be well on
his way to becoming the first driver in history to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the
Brickyard 400.

But a late race strategy decision would prove to be Montoya’s downfall as his crew chief
Brian Pattie made the decision to take on four tires instead of two during a caution on
lap 138. While Montoya took on four tires, McMurray and several other drivers opted
to take on only two tires to get back on the track quicker. Montoya was forced to drive
more aggressively to try and catch up with the leaders and on lap 146 he slid up in to
the wall in turn four and then came down in to the path of Dale Earnhardt Jr. ending
Montoya’s bid for the second year in a row to become a Brickyard 400 champion.

Just moments before Montoya’s crash, Kevin Harvick had taken the lead away from
McMurray but when the race restarted with 11 laps to go, Harvick was unable to hold
back McMurray’s Chevrolet.

With the win, McMurray joined Dale Jarrett and Jimmie Johnson as the only drivers in
NASCAR history to win both the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same year.
Tony Stewart finished in 5th position while Ryan Newman finished 17th and Jeff Gordon
finished 23rd.

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