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NASCAR Checkered Countdown: Top-Five Indianapolis Finishes

By Marco Venosta

Jul 26, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Carl Edwards leads the field on the pace lap for the start of the Crown Royal 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 26, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Carl Edwards leads the field on the pace lap for the start of the Crown Royal 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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No. 1 Paul Menard wins his first Sprint Cup race after surviving Gordon’s charge (2011).

The only race that Paul Menard has won so far in his career was the Brickyard 400 in 2011: quite a big one. When the caution waved at lap 121 he and many others pitted knowing that they would need to save a lot of fuel to make it to the finish from there but that ended up being the winning move. The race for the win for him would be against Jeff Gordon who pitted on lap 134 under green for two tires and fuel. After that Gordon was more than a second per lap faster than the leaders and charging towards the front.

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Menard passed Jamie McMurray for the top spot with four laps to go to put as many cars as he could between him and Gordon. The three-time champion caught the lead group and started passing drivers one by one until he only had the yellow car of Menard in front of him with three to go. Those final laps were not enough to make a pass though, as the leader still had a slight advantage and could cruise to victory with the decisive final drops of fuel.

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